SEA-SURFACE HEIGHT VARIATIONS IN THE YELLOW AND EAST CHINA SEAS - 1 -LINEAR-RESPONSE TO LOCAL WIND STRESS

Authors
Citation
Ga. Jacobs, SEA-SURFACE HEIGHT VARIATIONS IN THE YELLOW AND EAST CHINA SEAS - 1 -LINEAR-RESPONSE TO LOCAL WIND STRESS, J GEO RES-O, 103(C9), 1998, pp. 18459-18477
Citations number
29
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Oceanografhy,"Geosciences, Interdisciplinary","Astronomy & Astrophysics","Geochemitry & Geophysics","Metereology & Atmospheric Sciences
Journal title
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
ISSN journal
2169-9275 → ACNP
Volume
103
Issue
C9
Year of publication
1998
Pages
18459 - 18477
Database
ISI
SICI code
2169-9275(1998)103:C9<18459:SHVITY>2.0.ZU;2-W
Abstract
The sea surface height (SSH) variations observed by the TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite in the Yellow and East China Seas are examined over the 3 y ears from 1993 through 1995 assuming a linear response to wind stress across the region. The transfer function relating wind stress to SSH i s modeled by a series of increasingly complex functions that gradually allow wind stress over successively broader regions and time periods to influence the SSH solution at a particular point. The SSH response to instantaneous wind stress at the same point in space implies an Ekm an transport, but the response explains only a small fraction of the S SH variability. Relating SSH to wind stress averaged over two subregio ns and including both instantaneous and 12-hour lagged wind stress ind icates that a significant portion of SSH variability responds to winds that are remote in both space and time. An optimal estimation of the transfer function by minimizing the error variance leads to an extende d empirical orthogonal function (EEOF) analysis of the wind stress fie ld. The SSH response to each wind mode is determined. The analysis sho ws the principle variations in the wind stress to consist of northerly wind bursts during winter, which produce large SSH drops in the Bohai Bay and northern Yellow Sea region. The principal wind mode also is s ignificantly related to variations along the shelf break near the Kuro shio Current. The third and fourth wind stress modes indicate the pass age of typhoons.