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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 113, C05013, doi:10.1029/2007JC004200, 2008

Observations of Kuroshio flow variations in the East China Sea

M. Andres

Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA


M. Wimbush

Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA


J.-H. Park

Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA


K.-I. Chang

Research Institute of Oceanography/School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea


B.-H. Lim

Research Institute of Oceanography/School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea


D. R. Watts

Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA


H. Ichikawa

Institute of Observational Research for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka City, Japan


W. J. Teague

Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA


Abstract

Kuroshio velocity structure and transport in the East China Sea (ECS) were investigated as part of a 23-month study using inverted echo sounders and acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) along the regularly sampled PN-line. Flow toward the northeast is concentrated near the continental shelf with the mean surface velocity maximum located 30 km offshore from the shelf break (taken as the 170 m isobath). There are two regions of southwestward flow: a deep countercurrent over the continental slope beneath the Kuroshio axis and a recirculation offshore which extends throughout the whole water column. There is a bimodal distribution to the depth of maximum velocity with occurrence peaks at the surface and 210 dbar. When the maximum velocity is located within the top 80 m of the water column, it ranges between 0.36 m/s and 2.02 m/s; when the maximum velocity is deeper than 80 m, it ranges between 0.31 m/s and 1.11 m/s. The 13-month mean net absolute transport of the Kuroshio in the ECS is 18.5 ± 0.8 Sv (standard deviation, σ = 4.0 Sv). The mean positive and negative portions of this net flow are 24.0 ± 0.9 Sv and −5.4 ± 0.3 Sv, respectively.

Received 5 March 2007; accepted 29 December 2007; published 10 May 2008.

Keywords: Kuroshio; East China Sea; volume transport; velocity structure; inverted echo sounder; bottom-mounted ADCP.

Index Terms: 4576 Oceanography: Physical: Western boundary currents; 4277 Oceanography: General: Time series experiments (1872, 3270, 4475).

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Citation: Andres, M., M. Wimbush, J.-H. Park, K.-I. Chang, B.-H. Lim, D. R. Watts, H. Ichikawa, and W. J. Teague (2008), Observations of Kuroshio flow variations in the East China Sea, J. Geophys. Res., 113, C05013, doi:10.1029/2007JC004200.