Statistical Analysis of Mesoscale Eddies Entering the Continental Shelf of the Northern South China Sea

Abstract

An Archiving, Validation and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic data (AVISO) mesoscale eddy trajectory atlas product is used to analyze the path type and temporal variability of the eddies that entered the continental shelf area of the northern South China Sea (SCS) from 1993 to 2016. A total of 184 mesoscale eddies entered the continental shelf area of the northern SCS during a 24-year period. We classify the mesoscale eddies into four types according to the motion trajectories: along-the-isobath type, intrusion-of-continental-shelf type, local wandering type, and shelf-internal-generation type. The occurrence numbers of these four types were 87, 38, 23, and 36, respectively. The mean amplitude and radius of the along-the-isobath type are the largest, about 18 cm and 153 km, respectively; furthermore, their average lifetime is also the longest, about 93 days. The mean amplitude, radius, and lifetime are the smallest for the shelf-internal-generation type, about 16 cm, 146 km, and 74 days, respectively. The direction and velocity of the background flow field affects the intrusion path of the mesoscale eddies onto the continental shelf of the northern SCS. The seasonal distribution of the mesoscale eddies quantity is also related to the direction and velocity of the corresponding background flow field.