Impacts of the Kuroshio Intrusion through the Luzon Strait on the Local Precipitation Anomaly
The Kuroshio Current has its origin in the northwestern Pacific, flowing northward to the east of Taiwan and the northern part of Luzon Island. As the Kuroshio Current flows northward, it quasi-periodically intrudes (hereafter referred to as Kuroshio intrusion (KI)) into the northern South China Sea...
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1113 |
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| author | Wen-Pin Fang Ding-Rong Wu Zhe-Wen Zheng Ganesh Gopalakrishnan Chung-Ru Ho Quanan Zheng Chen-Fen Huang Hua Ho Min-Chuan Weng |
| author_facet | Wen-Pin Fang Ding-Rong Wu Zhe-Wen Zheng Ganesh Gopalakrishnan Chung-Ru Ho Quanan Zheng Chen-Fen Huang Hua Ho Min-Chuan Weng |
| author_sort | Wen-Pin Fang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Kuroshio Current has its origin in the northwestern Pacific, flowing northward to the east of Taiwan and the northern part of Luzon Island. As the Kuroshio Current flows northward, it quasi-periodically intrudes (hereafter referred to as Kuroshio intrusion (KI)) into the northern South China Sea (SCS) basin through the Luzon Strait. Despite the complex generation mechanisms of KI, the purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of the effects of KI through the Luzon Strait on the regional atmospheric and weather variations. Long-term multiple satellite observations, including absolute dynamic topography, absolute geostrophic currents, sea surface winds by ASCAT, multi-scale ultra-high resolution sea surface temperature (MURSST) level-four analysis, and research-quality three-hourly TRMM multi-satellite precipitation analysis (TMPA), was used to systematically examine the aforementioned scientific problem. Analysis indicates that the KI is interlinked with the consequential anomalous precipitation off southwestern Taiwan. This anomalous precipitation would lead to ~560 million tons of freshwater influx during each KI event. Subsequently, independent moisture budget analysis suggests that moisture, mainly from vertical advection, is the possible source of the precipitation anomaly. Additionally, a bulk formula analysis was applied to understand how KI can trigger the precipitation anomaly through vertical advection of moisture without causing an evident change in the low-level flows. These new research findings might reconcile the divisiveness on why winds are not showing a synchronous response during the KI and consequential anomalous precipitation events. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:13:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e65cec84f8984a70a17be7b9b795509a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:13:58Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-e65cec84f8984a70a17be7b9b795509a2023-11-21T10:34:15ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-03-01136111310.3390/rs13061113Impacts of the Kuroshio Intrusion through the Luzon Strait on the Local Precipitation AnomalyWen-Pin Fang0Ding-Rong Wu1Zhe-Wen Zheng2Ganesh Gopalakrishnan3Chung-Ru Ho4Quanan Zheng5Chen-Fen Huang6Hua Ho7Min-Chuan Weng8Department of Earth Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Tingzhou Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei 11677, TaiwanDepartment of Earth Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Tingzhou Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei 11677, TaiwanDepartment of Earth Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Tingzhou Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei 11677, TaiwanClimate Atmospheric Science and Physical Oceanography, Scripps, Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093, USADepartment of Marine Environmental Informatics, National Taiwan Ocean University, No. 2, Beining Rd., Zhongzheng District, Keelung 20224, TaiwanDepartment of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USAInstitute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, TaiwanDepartment of Earth Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Tingzhou Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei 11677, TaiwanDepartment of Earth Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Tingzhou Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei 11677, TaiwanThe Kuroshio Current has its origin in the northwestern Pacific, flowing northward to the east of Taiwan and the northern part of Luzon Island. As the Kuroshio Current flows northward, it quasi-periodically intrudes (hereafter referred to as Kuroshio intrusion (KI)) into the northern South China Sea (SCS) basin through the Luzon Strait. Despite the complex generation mechanisms of KI, the purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of the effects of KI through the Luzon Strait on the regional atmospheric and weather variations. Long-term multiple satellite observations, including absolute dynamic topography, absolute geostrophic currents, sea surface winds by ASCAT, multi-scale ultra-high resolution sea surface temperature (MURSST) level-four analysis, and research-quality three-hourly TRMM multi-satellite precipitation analysis (TMPA), was used to systematically examine the aforementioned scientific problem. Analysis indicates that the KI is interlinked with the consequential anomalous precipitation off southwestern Taiwan. This anomalous precipitation would lead to ~560 million tons of freshwater influx during each KI event. Subsequently, independent moisture budget analysis suggests that moisture, mainly from vertical advection, is the possible source of the precipitation anomaly. Additionally, a bulk formula analysis was applied to understand how KI can trigger the precipitation anomaly through vertical advection of moisture without causing an evident change in the low-level flows. These new research findings might reconcile the divisiveness on why winds are not showing a synchronous response during the KI and consequential anomalous precipitation events.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1113South China SeaKuroshio intrusionLuzon Straitwindsprecipitationatmospheric responses |
| spellingShingle | Wen-Pin Fang Ding-Rong Wu Zhe-Wen Zheng Ganesh Gopalakrishnan Chung-Ru Ho Quanan Zheng Chen-Fen Huang Hua Ho Min-Chuan Weng Impacts of the Kuroshio Intrusion through the Luzon Strait on the Local Precipitation Anomaly Remote Sensing South China Sea Kuroshio intrusion Luzon Strait winds precipitation atmospheric responses |
| title | Impacts of the Kuroshio Intrusion through the Luzon Strait on the Local Precipitation Anomaly |
| title_full | Impacts of the Kuroshio Intrusion through the Luzon Strait on the Local Precipitation Anomaly |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of the Kuroshio Intrusion through the Luzon Strait on the Local Precipitation Anomaly |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of the Kuroshio Intrusion through the Luzon Strait on the Local Precipitation Anomaly |
| title_short | Impacts of the Kuroshio Intrusion through the Luzon Strait on the Local Precipitation Anomaly |
| title_sort | impacts of the kuroshio intrusion through the luzon strait on the local precipitation anomaly |
| topic | South China Sea Kuroshio intrusion Luzon Strait winds precipitation atmospheric responses |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1113 |
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