Reply to “Comment on ‘A parametric model for the Yellow Sea thermal variability’ by P. C. Chu et al.”

Abstract

In the paper by Chu et al. [1997a] (hereinafter referred to as CETAL) we developed a thermal parametric model that was capable of estimating physical parameters from historical profile data. The output parameters included sea surface temperature (SST), mixed-layer depth (MLD), thermocline depth (THD), thermocline temperature difference (TTD), and deep layer stratification. On the basis of the U.S. Navy's Master Oceanographic Observation Data Set (MOODS) that was taken in the Yellow Sea (YS) from 1950 to 1988, we computed the thermal structure functions and spatial decorrelation scales of the water properties in the Yellow Sea [Chu et al., 1997b]. The results shown in our papers were derived from •35,658 profiles, which have provided us with the statistical seasonal variations of the thermal structure in this region. To our knowledge, these issues have not been addressed in previous observational and modeling studies in the Yellow Sea. We appreciate Lie's [1999] (hereinafter referred to as L99) comments on our two papers. The points he raised, to a certain extent, resulted from an unclear explanation of some aspects of our analysis and from a limitation on access to Asian (especially Korean and Chinese) journals. We were unaware of previous studies on the YS thermal features reported in the Asian literature, such as Kang [1985], Lie [1984], Lie et al. [1986], Nakao [1977], Seung et al. [1990], and Zhao [1989]. On the other hand, most previous work was based on individual hydrographic surveys. Those studies did provide some insights into the seasonal pattern of the thermal structure in the YS for particular years, but they lacked statistical meaning. MOODS has included more than 39 years of observational data in the YS, and our study was the first to provide a statistical pattern of the seasonal variation of the thermal structure in this region. Detailed responses and explanations to L99's comments are given as follows.