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Modal recovery of sea-level variability in the South China Sea using merged altimeter data

  • Remote sensing
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Abstract

Using 20 years (1993–2012) of merged data recorded by contemporary multi-altimeter missions, a variety of sea-level variability modes are recovered in the South China Sea employing three-dimensional harmonic extraction. In terms of the long-term variation, the South China Sea is estimated to have a rising sea-level linear trend of 5.39 mm/a over these 20 years. Among the modes extracted, the seven most statistically significant periodic or quasi-periodic modes are identified as principal modes. The geographical distributions of the magnitudes and phases of the modes are displayed. In terms of intraannual and annual regimes, two principal modes with strict semiannual and annual periods are found, with the annual variability having the largest amplitudes among the seven modes. For interannual and decadal regimes, five principal modes at approximately 18, 21, 23, 28, and 112 months are found with the most mode-active region being to the east of Vietnam. For the phase distributions, a series of amphidromes are observed as twins, termed “amphidrome twins”, comprising rotating dipole systems. The stability of periodic modes is investigated employing joint spatiotemporal analysis of latitude/longitude sections. Results show that all periodic modes are robust, revealing the richness and complexity of sea-level modes in the South China Sea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Qingdao Collaborative Innovation Center of Marine Science and Technology, College of Information Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Haoyu Jiang  (蒋浩宇) & Ge Chen  (陈戈)

Authors
  1. Haoyu Jiang  (蒋浩宇)
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  2. Ge Chen  (陈戈)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ge Chen  (陈戈).

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41331172, U1406404) and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2013AA09A505)

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Jiang, H., Chen, G. Modal recovery of sea-level variability in the South China Sea using merged altimeter data. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 33, 1233–1244 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-015-4110-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-015-4110-1

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