Abstract
Using observational temperature profiles, this study reveals that eddy-induced oceanic vertical temperature anomalies are geographically varying in the South China Sea (SCS). The maximum anomalies are more intensified in the central and south SCS. Due to ocean stratification, the eddy available potential energy (EAPE) can more comprehensively reflect the eddy effect on the ocean vertical structure. The EAPE within a composite eddy is the highest in the northern region and lowest in the southeastern region. The geographical variation of vertical anomalies induced by eddies is because of the combination effect of the ocean stratification, the background energy (available potential energy and barotropic kinetic energy), and the energy conversion rate. The anomalies induced by cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies might be asymmetrical in the same region. For example, in the regions to the west of Luzon Island and in the central west SCS, the temperature anomalies and EAPE within a composite cyclonic eddy are significantly larger than those within an anticyclonic eddy. This variation is owing to the different oceanic stratification along the tracks of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies.
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Data availability
The altimeter data and eddy detections were obtained from the AVISO website (https://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/). The Argo database is available at http://www.argo.ucsd.edu/Argo_data_and.html, the GTSPP database at ftp://ftp.nodc.noaa.gov/pub/data.nodc/gtspp/, the WOD 2018 database at https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/WOD/pr_wod.html, and WOA 2013 at https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/woa13/.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Cathryn Primrose-Mathisen, M.Sc., from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.
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This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC1402304, Grant recipient: Lian Zhan), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41506037, Grant recipient: Lian Zhan), and the NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (Grant No. U1606405, Grant recipient: Wei Zexun).
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Responsible Editor: Guoping Gao
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Lian, Z., Wei, Z., Wang, Y. et al. Geographical variation and controlling mechanism of eddy-induced vertical temperature anomalies and eddy available potential energy in the South China Sea. Ocean Dynamics 71, 411–421 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-021-01441-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-021-01441-4