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Eddy‐Kuroshio interaction processes revealed by mooring observations off Taiwan and Luzon
Author(s) -
Tsai ChengJu,
Andres Magdalena,
Jan Sen,
Mensah Vigan,
Sanford Thomas B.,
Lien RenChieh,
Lee Craig M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl065814
Subject(s) - pycnocline , sea surface height , geology , anticyclone , eddy , mooring , oceanography , climatology , sea surface temperature , geography , meteorology , turbulence
The influence and fate of westward propagating eddies that impinge on the Kuroshio were observed with pressure sensor‐equipped inverted echo sounders (PIESs) deployed east of Taiwan and northeast of Luzon. Zero lag correlations between PIES‐measured acoustic travel times and satellite‐measured sea surface height anomalies (SSHa), which are normally negative, have lower magnitude toward the west, suggesting the eddy‐influence is weakened across the Kuroshio. The observational data reveal that impinging eddies lead to seesaw‐like SSHa and pycnocline depth changes across the Kuroshio east of Taiwan, whereas analogous responses are not found in the Kuroshio northeast of Luzon. Anticyclones intensify sea surface and pycnocline slopes across the Kuroshio, while cyclones weaken these slopes, particularly east of Taiwan. During the 6 month period of overlap between the two PIES arrays, only one anticyclone affected the pycnocline depth first at the array northeast of Luzon and 21 days later in the downstream Kuroshio east of Taiwan.