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The Cold Tongue in the South China Sea during Boreal Winter and Its Interaction with the Atmosphere
| Content Provider | CUSAT-Thesis |
|---|---|
| Author | Babu, C. A. Hamza, Varikoden Samah, A. A. |
| Abstract | A distinct cold tongue has recently been noticed in the South China Sea during the winter monsoon,with the cold tongue temperature minimum occurring in the January or February. This cold tongue showssigni¯cant links with the Maritime Continent's rainfall during the winter period. The cold tongue andits interaction with the Maritime Continent's weather were studied using Reynolds SST data, wind ¯eldsfrom the NCEP{NCAR reanalysis dataset and the quikSCAT dataset. In addition, rainfall from the GOESPrecipitation Index (GPI) for the periods 2000 to 2008 was also used. The propagation of the cold tonguetowards the south is explained using wind dynamics and the western boundary current. During the periodof strong cold tongue, the surface wind is strong and the western boundary current advects the cold tongueto the south. During the period of strong winds the zonal gradient of SST is high [0.5±C (25 km)¡1]. Thecold tongue plays an important role in regulating the climate over the Maritime Continent. It creates azonal/meridional SST gradient and this gradient ultimately leads in the formation of convection. Hence,two maximum precipitation zones are found in the Maritime Continent, with a zone of relatively lowerprecipitation between, which coincides with the cold tongue's regions. It was found that the precipitationzones have strong links with the intensity of the cold tongue. During stronger cold tongue periods theprecipitation on either side of the cold tongue is considerably greater than during weaker cold tongueperiods. The features of convection on the eastern and western sides of the cold tongue behave di®erently.On the eastern side convection is preceded by one day with SST gradient, while on the western side it isfour days. |
| File Format | |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | cold tongue SST gradient wind precipitation |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
