A Parametric Model for the Yellow Sea Thermal Variability
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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 102, NO. C5, PAGES 10,499-10,507, MAY 15, 1997 A parametric model for the Yellow Sea thermal variability Peter C. Chu and Charles R. Fralick Jr. Naval PostgraduateSchool, Monterey, California StevenD. Haeger and Michael J. Carron Naval OceanographicOffice, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi Abstract. A thermal parametricmodel has been developedfor analyzingobserved regionalsea temperatureprofiles based on a layeredstructure of temperaturefields (mixedlayer, thermocline, and deep layers).It containsthree major components:(1) a first-guessparametric model, (2) high-resolutionprofiles interpolated from observed profiles,and (3) fitting of high-resolutionprofiles to the parametricmodel. The output of this parametricmodel is a set of major characteristicsof eachprofile: sea surface temperature,mixed-layer depth, thermoclinedepth, thermoclinetemperature gradient, and deeplayer stratification.Analyzing nearly 15,000Yellow Sea historical(1950-1988) temperatureprofiles (conductivity-temperature-depth station, 4825; expendable bathythermograph,3213; bathythermograph, 6965) from the Naval OceanographicOffice's Master OceanographicObservation Data Set by this parametricmodel, the Yellow Sea thermalfield revealsdual structure:one layer (verticallyuniform) duringwinter and multilayer(mixed layer, thermocline,sublayer) during summer. Strong seasonal variations were alsofound in mixed-layerdepth, thermoclinedepth, and thermoclinestrength. 1. Introduction the Naval OceanographicOffice (NAVOCEANO)'s Master OceanographicObservation Data Set (MOODS) from the The Yellow Sea is a semi-enclosedbasin coveringroughly years 1950 to 1988 and to transform each temperature profile 295,000km 2 andis one of themost developed continental shelf into a set of characteristicparameters such as sea surface areas in the world seas[Yanagi and Takahashi,1993]. While temperature(SST), mixed-layerdepth (MLD), thermocline the Yellow Sea coversa relativelylarge area, it is quite shallow, depth, temperaturedifference across the thermocline,and the reachinga maximumdepth of about 140 m (Figure 1). The deep layer stratification. water depth over most of the area is less than 50 m. The deepest water is confined to a north-south oriented trench which runs from the northern boundary south to the 100-m 2. Master Oceanographic Observation Data Set isobath, where it fans out onto the continental break. The (MOODS) gradientsin slope acrossthe bottom are very small. Such a The MOODS is a compilationof observedocean data world- broad and shallow continental shelf leads to the fact that the wide consistingof (1) temperature-onlyprofiles, (2) both tem- water is readilyaffected by seasonallyvarying atmospheric con- peratureand salinityprofiles, (3) sound-speedprofiles, and (4) ditionssuch as heating,cooling, and wind stress.Therefore the surface temperatures from drifting buoys. These measure- seasonalvariation of the water massesis remarkably large. mentsare, in general,irregular in time and space.In this study Another feature of the depth distributionis the east/westasym- we analyze temperature profiles measured from a variety of metry. Extensiveshoals (<20 m) are located in the western instruments.Due to the shear size (more than six million Yellow Sea along the Chinese coast and are not generally profiles)and enormousinflux of data to NAVOCEANO from found in the South Korea coastal regions. Also, the 50-m various sources,quality control is a difficult task. Our study isobath is located more than 100 km from the Chinese coast domain includes the area 32ø-41øN and 118ø-127øE; the data but only about 50 km from the South Korea coast.This asym- set within this region consistedof nearly 15,000profiles after metry in bottom depth is important for the shoalingmixed- rejecting certain data during quality control. These primary layer depth.Furthermore, the hydrographiccharacter of water editingprocedures included removal of profileswith obviously massesin the Yellow Sea alsodepends on the degreeof mixing erroneouslocation, profiles with large spikes,and profiles dis- of freshwater originatingfrom the China continentriver runoff playing features that do not match the characteristicsof sur- with the intrusion of East China Sea and Kuroshio waters. roundingprofiles. In shallowwater this procedurecan be par- Before we sketch vertical structures of the Yellow Sea shelf tially automated but also involves subjective interpretation becauseof the undersamplingof MOODS comparedto the water massesfrom the profiles,we shouldask ourselves how can the thermal fields be described in terms of a set of characteristic spatial and temporal variability of the oceanography. parameters?In this studywe developeda thermal parametric model to analyze 15,000 historicaltemperature profiles from 3. Seasonal Variation of the Atmospheric This paper is not subjectto U.S. copyright.Published in 1997 by the Forcing American GeophysicalUnion. The Asian monsoonstrongly affects the Yellow Sea thermal Paper number 97JC00444. structure. During the winter monsoon season a very cold 10,499 10,500 CHU ET AL.: A PARAMETRIC MODEL FOR YELLOW SEA THERMAL VARIABILITY 41 sphere. The upward buoyancyflux at the air-ocean interface (thermal forcing),together with the strongwind stress(me- 40 chanicalforcing), generates turbulence and mixesthe surface water with the deeperwater. The mixed layer is at its deepest (usuallyfills the whole water column)during winter owingto 39 both convectionand wind mixingby the strongnortheast mon- soonwinds. The changeof seasonbegins in March when the 38 surfaceair temperatureis 5øCwarmer than in February.Rapid weakeningof the Siberianhigh progressesinto April. z In late April the polar front has moved northward toward • 37 Korea with warm, moist air followingbehind. Numerous fron- tally generatedevents occur, making late April and May highly $ 36 variablein termsof windsand cloud amount.By May the daily high surfaceair temperaturesrise to 15ø-16øC.During this period,storms originating in Mongolia may causestrong, warm 35 westerliescarrying yellow desert sand (termed the "Yellow Wind"). By late May and early June the summersurface at- 34 mosphericlow-pressure system begins to form over Asia. Ini- tially, this low-pressuresystem is centerednorth of the Yellow Sea, producingwesterly winds. In late June this low beginsto 33 migrate to the west, setting up the southwestmonsoon that dominates the summer months. The winds remain variable through June until strengtheningof the Manchurian low- 118 119 12o 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 pressuresystem occurs. The jet streamis just southof Korea, Longitude(E),Depth=O(m) and the polar front is just south of Kyushu and Shikoku. De- spite the very active weather systemsthe mean surfacewind Figure 1. The Yellow Sea bathymetry.The data were ob- tained from the Naval OceanographicOffice DBDB5 world speedover the centralYellow Sea in summeris between3 and bathymetrydatabase. Numbers show the depth (meters). 4 m/s, which is weaker than in winter (Figure 2b). June also marks, historically,a jump in precipitation associatedwith warm, moist air south of the polar front [Watts,1969]. Occa- northwest wind blows over the Yellow Sea as a result of the sionally,the Okhotskhigh blocksthe northerlyprogression of Siberianhigh-pressure system. The jet streamis positionedto the polar front. By July, however,high pressure(the Bonin the southof the Yellow Sea and the polar front to the north of high) to the southand low pressureover Manchuriaproduce Philippines.The mean surfacewind speedover the Yellow Sea southerlywinds carrying warm, moist air over the Yellow Sea. in Januaryis nearly 6 m/s (Figure 2a). The sea surfacetem- The summer monthly mean SAT is quite uniform, around perature is 6øC at the northern extent and 10øCat the south- 24ø-26øC,and is usually 1.5ø-2øCwarmer than the mean SST easternextent. The Januarysurface air temperature(SAT) [VanLoon, 1984].The warmer air causesa downwardheat flux variesfrom 0ø to 8øCin the Yellow Sea, roughly2ø-6øC cooler at the air-oceaninterface. This heat flux plusthe strongdown- than SST. The Yellow Sea surface loses heat to the atmo- ward net radiation stabilizesthe upper layer of the water and 1 MONTH WIND 7 MONTH WIND (A) (B) 41 4O 38 '•37 i.. ',•$ 36 ........ .\ x....x.....i..i t.. ..l. .i .. t... ....I'"I'"I 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 Longitude(E), Depth=O(m) Longitude(E), Depth=0(m) Figure 2. Mean atmosphericsurface circulations in the vicinityof the Yellow Sea for (a) Januaryand (b) July (computedfrom the EuropeanCentre for Medium-RangeWeather Forecasts(ECMWF) data). CHU ET AL.: A PARAMETRIC MODEL FOR YELLOW SEA THERMAL VARIABILITY 10,501 JAN 50-88 0 45 MOODS 4. SeasonalVariation of Temperature Profiles -20 The Yellow Sea shelfwater massesexperience a strongsea- sonalvariation (Figure 3). Taking the easternpart of the Yel- -r -40 (a) low Sea around 36øN as an example, the January historical (1950-1988) temperatureprofiles (Figure 3a) showa single- _5< -60 layer structure(i.e., verticallyuniform temperaturefrom sur- face to bottom). The different lengthsof theseprofiles in the -80 vertical are causedby the different water depths where the 10 2'0 4•;15 120 125 130JUN 50-88 00 , 30 observationswere taken (seeFigure 1). This single-layerstruc- MOODS ture meansa very deep mixed layer extendingfrom the surface -20 to bottom.On the other hand,the Junehistorical (1950-1988) temperatureprofiles (Figure 3b) indicatemultilayer structure (i.e., mixed layer,