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Lagrangian eddies in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean

  • Physics
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Abstract

The Lagrangian eddies in the western Pacific Ocean are identified and analysed based on Maps of Sea Level Anomaly (MSLA) data from 1998 to 2018. By calculating the Lagrangian eddy advected by the AVISO velocity field, we analyzed the variations in Lagrangian eddies and the average transport effects on different time scales. By introducing the Niño coefficient, the lag response of the Lagrangian eddy to El Niño is found. These data are helpful to further explore the role of mesoscale eddies in ocean energy transfer. Through normalized chlorophyll data, we observed chlorophyll aggregation and hole effects caused by Lagrangian eddies. These findings demonstrate the important role of Lagrangian eddies in material transport. The transportation volume of the Lagrangian eddy is calculated quantitatively, and several major transport routes have been identified, which helps us to more accurately and objectively estimate the transport capacity of Lagrangian eddies in the western Pacific Ocean.

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Data Availability Statement

The El Niño data are obtained from the National Climate Center (https://cmdp.ncc-cma.net/pred/cn_enso.php?product=cn_enso_nino_indices). The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Qiu He, Fenglin Tian, Xiaokun Yang & Ge Chen

  2. Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao, 266237, China

    Fenglin Tian & Ge Chen

  3. Key Laboratory of Urban Land Resources Monitoring and Simulation, Ministry of Natural Resources, Shenzhen, 518034, China

    Xiaokun Yang

Authors
  1. Qiu He
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  2. Fenglin Tian
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  3. Xiaokun Yang
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  4. Ge Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ge Chen.

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42030406), the Marine S&T Fund of Shandong Province for Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) (No. 2018SDKJ0102-8), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2016YFC1401008), the ESA-NRSCC Scientific Cooperation Project on Earth Observation Science and Applications: Dragon 5 (No. 58393), and the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Urban Land Resources Monitoring and Simulation, Ministry of Natural Resources (No. KF-2020-05-085)

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He, Q., Tian, F., Yang, X. et al. Lagrangian eddies in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. J. Ocean. Limnol. 40, 66–77 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-021-0392-7

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