Forcing mechanisms of heat content variations in the Yellow Sea

Abstract

Forcing mechanisms of heat content variations in the Yellow Sea (YS) are studied through analysis of a hindcast simulator for 1958–2007 using a two–way nested global—Northwest Pacific model. During the cooling season (September to February of next year), changes in heat content integrated over the YS are primarily caused by variations in latent and sensible heat fluxes at surface, which can be further related to variations of the East Asian Winter Monsoon and the Arctic Oscillation. The lateral heat transport by the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) contributes to heat content variation in the deep region. Variation of the YSWC can be related to wind variation over the YS. During the warming season (March to August), variation in the changes of heat content in the upper layer is primarily caused by variation in shortwave radiation at surface, which can be related to variation in the atmospheric pressure system of the Western Pacific Subtropical High that influences the YS in summer.