TY - JOUR
T1 - Variability of island-induced ocean vortex trains, in the Kuroshio region southeast of Taiwan Island
AU - Zheng, Zhe Wen
AU - Zheng, Quanan
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions for greatly improving the presentation of the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Science Council Taiwan , NSC 101-2611-M-003-001 . This work is also under Taiwan/U.S. joint program of OKMC/OKTV. MODIS SST data were downloaded from http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/ and processed by SeaDAS version 6.4 . Current and sea surface height data retrieved from HYCOM/NCODA system were provided by HYCOM Consortium through http://hycom.org/ . Composite radar reflectivity image was provided by Typhoon DataBase of Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan. We thank Mr. Shi-We Chern for help in SeaDAS data processing.
PY - 2014/6/15
Y1 - 2014/6/15
N2 - This study examines the horizontal scale and spatial characteristics of island-induced ocean vortex trains (IOVTs) in the Kuroshio region southeast of Taiwan Island using European remote sensing satellite ERS-1 SAR imagery. US Aqua satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are used to analyze the sea surface temperature (SST) features of the study area. Seasonal composites of SST images show that the IOVTs are current-induced vortexes rather than wind-induced ones. Furthermore, using the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model/Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation (HYCOM/NCODA) system that generated current and sea surface height anomaly data, the temporal and spatial variability of the Green Island IOVTs is analyzed. The variability of IOVTs within this region shows a distinct seasonality. This seasonal variability of IOVTs is closely associated with the shoreward shift of Kuroshio mainstream driven by the winter northeasterly monsoon. This scenario is verified by vector empirical orthogonal function analysis focused on the weak IOVT period in 2012. In addition to meandering of the Kuroshio, westward-propagating mesoscale eddies and the arrival of typhoons play an important role in modifying the variability of IOVTs at intraseasonal timescale.
AB - This study examines the horizontal scale and spatial characteristics of island-induced ocean vortex trains (IOVTs) in the Kuroshio region southeast of Taiwan Island using European remote sensing satellite ERS-1 SAR imagery. US Aqua satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are used to analyze the sea surface temperature (SST) features of the study area. Seasonal composites of SST images show that the IOVTs are current-induced vortexes rather than wind-induced ones. Furthermore, using the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model/Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation (HYCOM/NCODA) system that generated current and sea surface height anomaly data, the temporal and spatial variability of the Green Island IOVTs is analyzed. The variability of IOVTs within this region shows a distinct seasonality. This seasonal variability of IOVTs is closely associated with the shoreward shift of Kuroshio mainstream driven by the winter northeasterly monsoon. This scenario is verified by vector empirical orthogonal function analysis focused on the weak IOVT period in 2012. In addition to meandering of the Kuroshio, westward-propagating mesoscale eddies and the arrival of typhoons play an important role in modifying the variability of IOVTs at intraseasonal timescale.
KW - Island-induced ocean vortex trains
KW - Kuroshio
KW - SST
KW - Sea surface height anomaly
KW - Synthetic aperture radar
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U2 - 10.1016/j.csr.2014.02.010
DO - 10.1016/j.csr.2014.02.010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84897436760
SN - 0278-4343
VL - 81
SP - 1
EP - 6
JO - Continental Shelf Research
JF - Continental Shelf Research
ER -