Seasonal variation of the circulation in the Taiwan Strait

Long-term variability of sea surface temperature in Taiwan Strait

“…The above-documented winter amplification of long-term SST warming can be explained by the seasonally-reversing, monsoon-driven circulation (Jan et al 2002; Fig. S1).…”

“…The Strait's climate is sensitive to large-scale interannual variations originating in the Tropical Pacific Kuo and Ho 2004). The Strait is a meeting place and a conduit of warm waters of the Kuroshio and SCS, and cold waters of the China Coastal Current (CCC) (Jan et al 2002;Hong et al 2011;Fig. S1 in online supplementary material), with a strong north-south gradient of sea surface temperature (SST), especially in winter (Fig.…”

ENSO effect on the sea surface wind and sea surface temperature in the Taiwan Strait

“…There is always a warm current from south northward into the TS all the year round [Liang et al, 2003]. Meanwhile, the monsoon wind affects the speed of this warm current [Jan et al, 2002], the southwesterly monsoon wind in summer can accelerate the northward warm current but the northeasterly monsoon wind in winter makes it slower [Jan and Chao, 2003]. Besides the northward warm current, the strong northeasterly monsoon in winter always pushes the China Coastal cold current southward into the northwestern TS [Jan et al, 1998], the sea surface patterns are therefore more complicate in winter than summer.…”

Validation of Satellite-Derived Sea Surface Temperatures for Waters around Taiwan

“…Differences in the SST fields between the open ocean and the continental shelf were enhanced in winter (mean SSTs) and spring (standard deviations). In addition to air temperature, the differences are affected by the southward flowing Coastal Cold Waters from the East China Sea during the winter NE monsoon from October to March (Lee et al 2003;Jan et al 2002). The sharp vertical gradient at the sea surface, formed in the heating period (e.g., Yokoyama et al 1995;Kawai and Kawamura 2000;Donlon et al 2002), is a source of deviation between the MCSSTs and the in situ SSTs.…”

“…The region was divided into four subdivisons: A) Kuroshio region; B) southern East China Sea; C) Taiwan Strait; and D) northern South China Sea. The geographic and oceanographic characteristics concerning these subdivisions are available from Xu and Oda (1999), Hu et al (2000), Lin et al (2000), Cho and Matsuoka (2001), and Jan et al (2002).…”