Eddy energy sources and sinks in the South China Sea

Yang, Haiyuan; Wu, Lixin; Liu, Hailong; Yu, Yongqiang

doi:10.1002/jgrc.20343

Cited by 50 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(87 reference statements)

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“…The seasonal cycle in the baroclinic instability of the background mean circulation significantly influences the seasonal mesoscale properties, at least in the Sargasso Sea [ Halliwell et al ., ], the North Pacific Subtropical Countercurrent [ Qiu , ], and the Gulf Stream region [ Zhai et al ., ]. Energy cycles involve exchanges among barotropic kinetic energy, baroclinic kinetic energy, and available potential energy [ Yang et al ., ]. The calculation of a complete eddy energy balance for the Red Sea is beyond the scope of this study, but some knowledge might be gained by analyzing the climatological baroclinic instability in the Red Sea.…”

Section: The Relationship Between the Eke And The Baroclinic Instabilmentioning

confidence: 76%

Eddies in the Red Sea: A statistical and dynamical study

et al. 2014

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Sea level anomaly (SLA) data spanning 1992-2012 were analyzed to study the statistical properties of eddies in the Red Sea. An algorithm that identifies winding angles was employed to detect 4998 eddies propagating along 938 unique eddy tracks. Statistics suggest that eddies are generated across the entire Red Sea but that they are prevalent in certain regions. A high number of eddies is found in the central basin between 18 N and 24 N. More than 87% of the detected eddies have a radius ranging from 50 to 135 km. Both the intensity and relative vorticity scale of these eddies decrease as the eddy radii increase. The averaged eddy lifespan is approximately 6 weeks. AEs and cyclonic eddies (CEs) have different deformation features, and those with stronger intensities are less deformed and more circular. Analysis of long-lived eddies suggests that they are likely to appear in the central basin with AEs tending to move northward. In addition, their eddy kinetic energy (EKE) increases gradually throughout their lifespans. The annual cycles of CEs and AEs differ, although both exhibit significant seasonal cycles of intensity with the winter and summer peaks appearing in February and August, respectively. The seasonal cycle of EKE is negatively correlated with stratification but positively correlated with vertical shear of horizontal velocity and eddy growth rate, suggesting that the generation of baroclinic instability is responsible for the activities of eddies in the Red Sea.

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Section: The Relationship Between the Eke And The Baroclinic Instabilmentioning

confidence: 76%

Eddies in the Red Sea: A statistical and dynamical study

et al. 2014

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“…The highest EKE is found in the central and northern Red Sea basins during both seasons with a surface intensification. The main EKE strength is stored in the upper 200 m, similar to that in the South China Sea [ Yang et al ., ], yet shallower compared to the North Atlantic [ Zhai and Marshall , ].…”

Section: Discussion and Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yang et al . [] conducted an eddy budget analysis in the South China Sea based on the outputs of LASG/IAP (State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics/Institute of Atmospheric Physics) Climate system Ocean Model (LICOM) and pointed out that the energy released from baroclinic instability, barotropic instability and that transported by horizontal convergence are the three main sources of EKE, and that the generated energy is mainly balanced by turbulent viscosities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The eddy kinetic energy budget in the Red Sea

et al. 2016

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Abstract.The budget of eddy kinetic energy (EKE) in the Red Sea, including the sources, redistributions and sink, is examined using a high-resolution eddy-resolving ocean circulation model. A pronounced seasonally varying EKE is identified, with its maximum intensity occurring in winter, and the strongest EKE is captured mainly in the central and northern basins within the upper 200 m. Eddies acquire kinetic energy from conversion of eddy available potential energy (EPE), from transfer of mean kinetic energy (MKE), and from direct generation due to time-varying (turbulent) wind stress, the first of which contributes predominantly to the majority of the EKE. The EPEto-EKE conversion occurs almost in the entire basin, while the MKE-to-EKE transfer appears mainly along the shelf boundary of the basin (200 m isobath) where high horizontal shear interacts with topography. The EKE generated by the turbulent wind stress is relatively small and limited to the southern basin. All these processes are intensified during winter, when the rate of energy conversion is about four to five times larger than that in summer.The EKE is redistributed by the vertical and horizontal divergence of energy flux and the advection of the mean flow. As a main sink of EKE, dissipation processes is ubiquitously found in the basin. The seasonal variability of these energy conversion terms can explain the significant seasonality of eddy activities in the Red Sea.

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“…Previous studies (e.g., Xu et al [52] and Yang et al [53]) have investigated eddy energy sources and sinks globally and regionally. In this study, we address the sources and sinks from the perspective of eddy numbers.…”

Section: Eddysources and Sinksmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Improved Automatic Algorithm for Global Eddy Tracking Using Satellite Altimeter Data

et al. 2017

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Abstract:In this paper, we propose a new hybrid mesoscale eddy tracking method to enhance the eddy tracking accuracy from global satellite altimeter data. This method integrates both physical and geometric eddy properties (including the distance between eddies, the area and amplitude of eddy, and the shape of the eddy edge) via the output of detection and the calculation of Hausdorff distance, which could describe the similarity between eddy boundaries. We applied the proposed hybrid method to several previously reported eddies and compared the results with those from two traditional tracking methods. A quantitative comparison indicates that the hybrid algorithm can better reveal eddy signals in terms of their spatial scale, amplitude, lifespan, and splitting. The hybrid method was used for global mesoscale eddies tracking from 1993 to 2015. Global distributions of net eddy numbers revealed that the sources of eddies are located along the eastern boundaries of the world oceans, while the sinks of eddies are located along the western boundaries. The lifespan distribution of eddies exhibited steep growth from high and low latitudes to middle latitudes. A clear divergent pathway demonstrates that cyclonic/anticyclonic eddies tend to travel poleward/equatorward in the world oceans.

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Eddy energy sources and sinks in the South China Sea

Cited by 50 publications

References 64 publications

Eddies in the Red Sea: A statistical and dynamical study

Eddies in the Red Sea: A statistical and dynamical study

The eddy kinetic energy budget in the Red Sea

An Improved Automatic Algorithm for Global Eddy Tracking Using Satellite Altimeter Data

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