Warm eddy movements in the eastern Japan Sea

Abstract

Warm eddy movements and their areal extent in the eastern Japan Sea were described by presenting space-time diagrams for the warm eddy locations and magnitudes. The analyzed data were compiled from Japan Maritime Safety Agency thermal maps at 200 m depth from 1985 to 1992. Two to four warm eddies always existed in the eastern Japan Sea and exhibited both internnual and annual signals. We found that warm eddies were generated in spring around Oki Spur at least three times during the analyzed period of eight years, moved eastward, and interacted with neighboring warm eddies, which were involved in coalescences or separations. The warm eddy distributions off Noto Peninsula have clear seasonal preference. Warm eddies moved eastward from Noto Peninsula in winter-spring to North Japan in the next winter, with mean translation speeds of 0.5–2 cm s−1. Warm eddies reaching North Japan typically decayed during a few month after splitting into two or three mesoscale warm eddies.