Statistical Characteristics of the Response of Sea Surface Temperatures to Westward Typhoons in the South China Sea

Zhaoyue Ma,Renhao Wu,Rong Na,Yuanzhi Zhang

doi:10.3390/rs13050916

Abstract

The strong interaction between a typhoon and ocean air is one of the most important forms of typhoon and sea air interaction. In this paper, the daily mean sea surface temperature (SST) data of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observation System (EOS) (AMSR-E) are used to analyze the reduction in SST caused by 30 westward typhoons from 1998 to 2018. The findings reveal that 20 typhoons exerted obvious SST cooling areas. Moreover, 97.5% of the cooling locations appeared near and on the right side of the path, while only one appeared on the left side of the path. The decrease in SST generally lasted 6–7 days. Over time, the cooling center continued to diffuse, and the SST gradually rose. The slope of the recovery curve was concentrated between 0.1 and 0.5.

Highlights

The cyclonic wind field generated by a typhoon and the associated extensive mixing of seawater has a profound impact on upper ocean dynamics
The Ekman pumping effect cause the cold water in the lower part of the thermocline to rise to the mixing layer, resulting in vigorous turbulent mixing that leads to a decrease in sea surface temperature (SST)
Many scholars have studied observational statistics and the simulation of SST changes caused by typhoons in the South China Sea, most studies have been limited to individual cases [11,52]

Summary

Introduction

A typhoon is a vortex characterized high temperature and a low pressure center structure formed in tropical ocean waters and the atmosphere, accompanied by strong air-sea interaction weather events. Through the strong upwelling, nutrient-rich bottom water is pumped into the upper ocean, promoting the growth of phytoplankton over a large area and resulting in an increase in chlorophyll concentration. This phenomenon expands the primary productivity of the ocean and plays an essential role in the marine ecosystem [3,4,5,6]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion