Temporal and spatial variations of sea surface temperature in the East China Sea

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Sea surface temperature of the East China Sea (ECS) were analyzed using the NOAA/AVHRR SST images. These satellite images reveal surface features of ECS including mainly the Kuroshio Current, Kuroshio Branch Current, Taiwan Warm Current, China coastal water, Changjiang diluted water and Yellow Sea mixed cold water. The SST of ECS ranges from 27 to 29°C in summer; some cold eddies were found off northeast Taiwan and to the south of Changjiang mouth. SST anomalies at the center of these eddies were about 2–5°C. The strongest front usually occurs in May each year and its temperature gradient is about 5–6°C over a cross-shelf distance of 30 nautical miles. The Yellow Sea mixed cold water also provides a contrast from China Coastal waters shoreward of the 50 m isobath; cross-shore temperature gradient is about 6–8°C over 30 nautical miles. The Kuroshio intrudes into ECS preferably at two locations. The first is off northeast Taiwan; the subsurface water of Kuroshio is upwelled onto the shelf while the main current is deflected seaward. The second site is located at 31°N and 128°E, which is generally considered as the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current. More quantitatively, a 2-year time series of monthly SST images is examined using EOF analysis to determine the spatial and temporal variations in the northwestern portion of ECS. The first spatial EOF mode accounts for 47.4% of total spatial variance and reveals the Changjiang plume and coastal cold waters off China. The second and third EOF modes account for 16.4 and 9.6% of total variance, respectively, and their eigenvector images show the intrusion of Yellow Sea mixed cold waters and the China coastal water. The fourth EOF mode accounts for 5.4% of total variance and reveals cold eddies around Chusan Islands. The temporal variance EOF analysis is less revealing in this study area.