Analysis of surface chlorophyll a associated with sea surface temperature and surface wind in the South China Sea
Huynh, H.-N.T.; Alvera-Azcárate, A.; Beckers, J.-M. (2020). Analysis of surface chlorophyll a associated with sea surface temperature and surface wind in the South China Sea. Ocean Dynamics 70(1): 139-161. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10236-019-01308-9
In: Ocean Dynamics. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg; New York. ISSN 1616-7341; e-ISSN 1616-7228, more
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| Author keywords |
Chlorophyll a; Sea surface temperature; Monsoon; ENSO; South China Sea;DINEOF |
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- Huynh, H.-N.T., more
- Alvera-Azcárate, A., more
- Beckers, J.-M., more
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| Abstract |
In this study, the spatial and temporal variability in surface chlorophyll a (Chl-a) in the whole South China Sea (SCS) was investigated in detail by using 8-day, 4-km, gap-free MODIS-A data (2003–2016). Monthly climatology and empirical-orthogonal-functions analysis of Chl-a were performed in association with sea surface temperature and surface wind to aid in better understanding the physical mechanisms responsible for the Chl-a variability. The results are as follows: (1) Chl-a has out-of-phase variability between the coastal and open-sea regions due to different major factors controlling phytoplankton growth in each region; (2) in particular, Chl-a increases in the northern SCS during winter and in the western and southwestern SCS during summer mainly due to the effects of monsoons and orography; and (3) wind-driven coastal upwelling is stronger in the western SCS than in the eastern SCS. A wind-induced coastal upwelling not reported in the literature was detected along Palawan Island (8–12∘N, 117–120∘E) during winter. In the SCS, the Chl-a variability is influenced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation with a time lag of 4–9 months, depending on the variability scales. |
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