Abstract Variability of the Kuroshio path to the south of Japan plays a central role in the local climate change and exerts tremendous influences on the local atmosphere and ocean. In this study, the response of ocean dynamics, in terms of the eddy kinetic energy (EKE), potential vorticity (PV), relative vorticity, and eddy-mean flow interaction, to the Kuroshio path change is discussed. Kuroshio path south of Japan includes the near-shore non-large meander (nNLM), the off-shore non-large meander (oNLM), and the typical large meander (tLM). Analyses reveal that the distribution of EKE, PV, relative vorticity, and energy exchange between the eddy field and the mean flow respectively varies with the Kuroshio path: (1) The tLM has the maximum EKE along the path; (2) The positive and negative PV are located at the onshore and offshore side of Kuroshio axis, respevetively; (3) The distributions of anomalous relative voritcity of nNLM, oNLM, and tLM are consistent with sea surface height anomalies (SSHAs); (4) The tLM has the largest energy exchange between the eddy field and the mean flow in terms of the rate of barotropic energy conversion. On the other hand, the stability analysis of ocean currents suggests that the three Kuroshio paths south of Japan have their own intrinsic properties of the instability.

中文翻译：

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海洋动力学对日本南部黑潮路径的响应

摘要 日本南部黑潮路径的变异性对局地气候变化起着核心作用，对局地大气和海洋产生巨大影响。本研究讨论了海洋动力学对黑潮路径变化的响应，包括涡动能 (EKE)、位涡 (PV)、相对涡度和涡均流相互作用。日本南部的黑潮路径包括近海非大曲流（nNLM）、近海非大曲流（oNLM）和典型大曲流（tLM）。分析表明，涡流与平均流之间的EKE、PV、相对涡度和能量交换的分布分别随黑潮路径而变化： (1) tLM沿路径具有最大的EKE；(2)正负PV分别位于黑潮轴的陆上和海上；(3) nNLM、oNLM和tLM的异常相对涡度分布与海面高度异常(SSHA)一致；(4) 就正压能量转换率而言，tLM 在涡场和平均流之间具有最大的能量交换。另一方面，洋流稳定性分析表明日本以南的三个黑潮路径具有其自身的不稳定性。