Abstract
The seasonal warming over the southwestern Yellow Sea (YS) in the spring is of vital importance to the local ecologic environment, especially to the massive green algae blooms of the YS in late spring and early summer. Based on daily optimum interpolation sea surface temperature (SST) data consisting of satellite derived SST from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and in situ measurements, this study analyzed the spring SST variation over the southwestern YS (SWYS) from 1982 to 2018. The results show that the recent warming trend of spring SST over the SWYS is four-to-six times that of the global average, and as a result, sea water over the Subei Shoal (SBS) shifts about 10–13 days earlier to reach 10 °C in early April. This implies that, accordingly, the micro-propagules of green algae over the SBS may have the chance to germinate earlier. SST variability in early April significantly correlates with northerly wind and exhibits a general warming over the SWYS with an intensified warming anchored along the axis of the submarine canyon off the Yangtze estuary. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) red–green–blue composite images captured the intrusion of the Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) into the SWYS through the submarine canyon during northerly wind relaxation in early April. Ocean remote sensing provides important clues for understanding the regional SST variability in the SWYS. Following this clue, this study finds that the weakening of winter monsoon in the spring leads to northward migration of the TWC and results in enhanced spring warming over the SWYS. The attendant advanced warming in spring, resulting in a favorable temperature condition for early development of green alga, may have contributed to the green tide blooms in the Yellow Sea in the recent decade.
Highlights
Sea surface temperature (SST) is one of the most important indicators in quantifying climate change and has strong influence on regional climate and regional ecosystem studies
This study finds that the weakening of winter monsoon in the spring leads to northward migration of the Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) and results in enhanced spring warming over the southwestern YS (SWYS)
The variation of the spring SST is of vital importance to the ecologic environment over the southwestern Yellow Sea (SWYS, Figure 1)
Summary
Sea surface temperature (SST) is one of the most important indicators in quantifying climate change and has strong influence on regional climate and regional ecosystem studies. SST, little research has been about the variability of the plays a significant role in the development of the green tides, especially at the early stage. Various dynamics mechanisms have been reported to be responsible for the long-term warming: Anthropogenic effects [11], river discharge induced barrier layer [13,18], oceanic advection [19,20], and air–sea heat flux induced by weakened winds [14,20,21]. The variability of the spring SST in April from 1982 to 2018 and related physical mechanism, at the early development stage of the green tide blooms over the SWYS adjacent to the SBS, was examined based on the daily optimum interpolation SST (OISST) data set.
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