Variability of the Kuroshio path to the south of Japan plays a central role in the local climate change and exerts tremendous influences on the local atmosphere and ocean. In this study, the response of ocean dynamics, in terms of the eddy kinetic energy (EKE), potential vorticity (PV), relative vorticity, and eddy-mean flow interaction, to the Kuroshio path change is discussed. Kuroshio path south of Japan includes the near-shore non-large meander (nNLM), the off-shore non-large meander (oNLM), and the typical large meander (tLM). Analyses reveal that the distribution of EKE, PV, relative vorticity, and energy exchange between the eddy field and the mean flow respectively varies with the Kuroshio path: (1) The tLM has the maximum EKE along the path; (2) The positive and negative PV are located at the onshore and offshore side of Kuroshio axis, respevetively; (3) The distributions of anomalous relative voritcity of nNLM, oNLM, and tLM are consistent with sea surface height anomalies (SSHAs); (4) The tLM has the largest energy exchange between the eddy field and the mean flow in terms of the rate of barotropic energy conversion. On the other hand, the stability analysis of ocean currents suggests that the three Kuroshio paths south of Japan have their own intrinsic properties of the instability.
1.Nanjing Univ Informat Sci & Technol, Key Lab Meteorol Disaster, Joint Int Res Lab Climate & Environm Change ILCEC, CIC FEMD,Coll Atmospher Sci,Minist Educ KLME, Nanjing 210044, Jiangsu, Peoples R China 2.Nanjing Univ Informat Sci & Technol, Earth Syst Modeling Ctr, Coll Atmospher Sci, Nanjing 210044, Jiangsu, Peoples R China 3.Univ Hawaii Manoa, China US Joint Atmosphere Ocean Res Ctr, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA 4.Univ Hawaii Manoa, Int Pacific Res Ctr, Sch Ocean & Earth Sci & Technol, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA
Recommended Citation:
Ma, Libin. Response of ocean dynamics to multiple equilibria of the Kuroshio path South of Japan[J]. DYNAMICS OF ATMOSPHERES AND OCEANS,2019-01-01,85:57-71