A method for estimating boundary exchanges in the East China Sea based on satellite drifter trajectories

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2018.01.003

Abstract

Abstract: The shelf slope and the Taiwan Strait are two main boundaries of the East China Sea, which obtain considerable heat and salinity as well as nutrients from the northwestern Pacific and the South China Sea. In this paper, based on the satellite drifter trajectories, a reliable method is established for estimating the cross-boundary exchanges by mapping the irregularly-distributed trajectories to the regular homogeneous grid. With this method, the calculated density of trajectories reveals the location of the Kuroshio main axis, and further indicates significant cross-slope exchanges. The statistical results reveal the remarkable region feature of water exchanges along the shelf slope of the East China Sea, showing seven dynamic exchange zones, i.e., three inflow (shoreward) zones and four outflow (offshore) zones. The study also shows that the cross-slope exchange has prominent seasonality. The most significant exchange and the most distinctive inflow occurs in autumn while the weakest in spring. The exchange through the Taiwan Strait is mainly northward and the most intense exchange occurs in the eastern side of the strait. The exchange through the Taiwan Strait reaches the strongest in summer but the weakest in spring and in winter.

Key words: satellite drifter, trajectories, East China Sea, cross-slope, Lagrangian

CLC Number:

P731

WU Ze-zhou,ZHOU Feng. A method for estimating boundary exchanges in the East China Sea based on satellite drifter trajectories[J]. Journal of Marine Sciences, 2018, 36(1): 27-34.

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