Changes of temperature and bio‐optical properties in the South China Sea in response to Typhoon Lingling, 2001

Abstract

A large patch of enhanced chlorophyll a concentration (Chla), lower sea surface temperature (SST), and lower sea surface height (SSH) was revealed in the central South China Sea (SCS) in November 2001 after the passage of typhoon Lingling. Maximum SST reduction of 11 degrees C occurred one day after Lingling's passage on 11/11. Subsequently, against a background level of 0.08 mg/m(3), average Chla within the area of 12.60-16.49 degrees N, 112.17-117.05 degrees E increased to 0.14 mg/m(3) on 11/12 and then to 0.37 mg/m(3) on 11/14. Dissolved organic matter and detritus were differentiated from Chla using a recent bio-optical algorithm. They contributed 64% to the increase of total absorption immediately after Lingling, while most of the changes later (74%) were due to phytoplankton. The area under Lingling's impact covered ca. 3 degrees latitude and 4 degrees longitude, which is much greater than the two summer cases previously observed in the northern SCS. This event lasted for ca. 15 days, and resulted in carbon fixation in the order of 0.4 Mt. Such a drastic response was attributed to the coupling of typhoon-induced nutrient pumping with the pre-established cyclonic gyre in the central SCS driven by the prevailing northeast monsoon

Strong enhancement of chlorophyll a concentration by a weak typhoon

“…7b), after which Hagibis crept westward to the coastline southeast of Vietnam. Comparing the present results with those of previous studies (Lin et al 2003, Shi & Wang 2007, Gierach & Subrahmanyam 2008, Shang et al 2008, we determined that the EPV was quite large in the case of Typhoon Hagibis (Table 2); this large value probably reflected the fact that Hagibis passed close to the equator (at 10°N), and the Coriolis parameter was about half that of other typhoons, which were tracked at approximately 20°N. Thus, the potential EPV calculated from Eq.…”

“…In the East China Sea, Typhoon Meari induced a 3-fold increase in primary production, contributing 3.8% of the annual new production (Siswanto et al 2008). For the South China Sea (SCS), it was also estimated that, on average, 30-fold increases in surface chl a concentrations were triggered by Typhoons Kai-Tak (2000) (Lin et al 2003) and Lingling (2001) (Shang et al 2008). Typhoon Kai-Tak (2000) alone and typhoons occurring during the entire year induced from about 2 to 4% and 20 to 30% of the SCS's annual new primary production, respectively (Lin et al 2003).…”

Ocean Responses to Typhoon Namtheun Explored with Argo Floats and Multiplatform Satellites

“…For example, the maximum upwelling depth caused by Typhoon Lingling (2001) was observed to be only 300 db (Shang et al, 2008), and the maximum upwelling depth was less than 200 db in the vicinity of Bermuda (Black & Dickey, 2008). Third, the upwelling of the thermocline had an obvious establishment process.…”

Quantification of Typhoon-Induced Phytoplankton Blooms Using Satellite Multi-Sensor Data

“…Using remote sensing observations, there were many studies showing that under stormy conditions, sea surface Chl-a increases are attributed to the enhanced nutrient supplies caused by the upwelling and vertical mixing [4,[13][14][15]39]. Strong typhoon winds may induce massive entrainment of air bubbles into the water column through the wave breaking; these bubbles have a spectral effect on ocean reflectance, and therefore, the bubble entrainment may affect the estimation accuracy of surface Chl-a concentration from remote sensing observations [40].…”

“…Since the forcing of tropical cyclone winds can induce strong ocean mixing and upwelling, nutrients in the sub-surface can be brought into the ocean surface layer, enhancing photosynthesis and boosting primary productivity at the ocean surface [4,[13][14][15]. After the passage of tropical cyclones, sufficient light provides favorable conditions for the growth of phytoplankton in the upper ocean.…”