Inter-monthly regional variation of sea surface salinity and influencing factors in the East China Sea and the adjacent Northwest Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Based on 1871-2010 monthly sea surface salinity (SSS) and flow field data, and the global seabed topography data, the inter-monthly regional variation of SSS in different regions and their influencing factors are discussed after climate zoning in the East China Sea (ECS) and the adjacent Northwest Pacific Ocean (ANPO). Rresults show that: (1) the study area can be divided into the area of the ECS, the Kuroshio area of the East China Sea (KECS) and the ANPO I area, II area and III area. (2) In the continental shelf area of the ECS, the inter-monthly regional variation of SSS is significant, the inter-monthly variation range of feature points is large and the difference of SSS value at each point is great. (3) In the KECS, the inter-monthly regional variation of SSS is small. The SSS at feature points is high and the inter-monthly variation is small. From the inlet to the outlett of the KECS, the SSS value gradually increases. (4) In the ANPO, the inter-monthly regional variation of SSS is the smallest, the SSS at feature points is high, and their inter-monthly variation is small. The SSS increases with increasing longitude at the same latitude, and decreases with increasing latitude at the same longitude.