Statistical classification and sea surface temperature characteristics of mesoscale eddies in the Northwestern Pacific

YAO Xiangyu; SHI Yunlong; CHEN Shi

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2026.02.004

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Journal of Marine Sciences ›› 2026, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (2) : 35-42. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2026.02.004

Statistical classification and sea surface temperature characteristics of mesoscale eddies in the Northwestern Pacific

YAO Xiangyu ¹^,² ,
SHI Yunlong ¹^,²^,³^,⁴^,^* ,
CHEN Shi ³^,⁴

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Abstract

Based on a satellite altimetry-derived eddy dataset， this study conducted a classification-based statistical and characteristic analysis of mesoscale eddies in the Northwestern Pacific. A composite analysis method was further employed to reconstruct the spatial structures of sea surface temperature anomalies （SSTAs） and sea level anomalies （SLAs） associated with different eddy categories and to investigate the distribution characteristics of mesoscale eddies in the study area. The study region was divided into three subregions： the North Equatorial Current （NEC）， the Subtropical Countercurrent （STCC）， and the Kuroshio Extension （KE）. November to December and January to April were defined as the cold season， while May to October were defined as the warm season. Eddies were classified， counted， and analyzed according to their polarity. The results show that mesoscale eddies in the study region are generally characterized by cold-core cyclonic eddies and warm-core anticyclonic eddies. However， two types of abnormal eddies， namely warm-core cyclonic eddies and cold-core anticyclonic eddies， are also identified， accounting for approximately 22.5%of the total eddy population. The occurrence probability of abnormal eddies is higher at low latitudes than at high latitudes， and higher in the warm season than in the cold season. For normal eddies， SSTA is positively correlated with eddy amplitude， increases with latitude， and is generally stronger in the cold season than in the warm season. In contrast， abnormal eddies exhibit overall weaker SSTAs than normal eddies and show no obvious regional or seasonal differences. Composite analysis further reveals that compared with normal eddies， abnormal eddies are less circular in shape and have smaller amplitudes and weaker SSTA variations.

Key words

Northwestern Pacific / mesoscale eddy / sea surface temperature anomaly / spatial structure / abnormal eddies / seasonal variability / Subtropical Countercurrent region / Kuroshio Extension

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YAO Xiangyu , SHI Yunlong , CHEN Shi. Statistical classification and sea surface temperature characteristics of mesoscale eddies in the Northwestern Pacific[J]. Journal of Marine Sciences. 2026, 44(2): 35-42 https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2026.02.004

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