Seasonal Variation of the Surface Kuroshio Intrusion into the South China Sea Evidenced by Satellite Geostrophic Streamlines

Abstract

AbstractThe long-term satellite altimeter and reanalysis data show that large seasonal variations are associated with geostrophic Kuroshio intrusion, but not with the current intensity, width and axis position east of Philippine. To address this issue, we examine the seasonal variability of surface intrusion patterns by a new streamline-based method. The along-streamline analysis reveals that the seasonality of geostrophic intrusion is only attributed to the cyclonic shear part of the flow, while the anticyclonic shear part always leaps across the Luzon Strait. A possible physical mechanism is proposed to accommodate these seasonal characteristics based on globally the vorticity (torque work) balance between the basin-wide negative wind stress curl and the positive vorticity fluxes induced by the lateral wall, as well as locally loss of balance between the torques of frictional stresses and normal stresses owing to the boundary gap. Through modifying the nearshore sea surface level, the northeasterly/southeasterly monsoon increases/decreases the positive vorticity fluxes in response to global vorticity balance, and simultaneously amplifies/alleviates the local imbalance by enhancing/reducing the positive frictional stress torque within the cyclonic shear layer. Therefore, in winter when the positive torque is large enough, the Kuroshio splits and the intrusion occurs, while in summer the stress torque is so weak that the entire current keeps flowing north.