Barotropic dominance of intraseasonal to seasonal variability in the western boundary currents east of Luzon revealed by mooring observations

Qingye WANG

doi:10.1007/s00343-026-5241-2

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Barotropic dominance of intraseasonal to seasonal variability in the western boundary currents east of Luzon revealed by mooring observations

Updated：2026-09-15

- Barotropic dominance of intraseasonal to seasonal variability in the western boundary currents east of Luzon revealed by mooring observations
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Pages: 1-17(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Key Laboratory of Ocean Observation and Forecasting and Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
  2.Laboratory for Ocean Dynamics and Climate, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, China
  3.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- Author bio：
  
  wangqy@qdio.ac.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s00343-026-5241-2
  CLC：
- Received：01 July 2025，
  
  Online First：15 September 2026，
- Accepted：
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WANG Qingye.Barotropic dominance of intraseasonal to seasonal variability in the western boundary currents east of Luzon revealed by mooring observations[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,
DOI：

WANG Qingye.Barotropic dominance of intraseasonal to seasonal variability in the western boundary currents east of Luzon revealed by mooring observations[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, DOI：.

摘要

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that east of Luzon both the Kuroshio in upper layer and the Luzon Undercurrent (LUC) in the intermediate and deep layers have significant intraseasonal variabilities associated with eddy activities. However

the integrated behavior of the western boundary currents in the full-depth ranges

the dominant variability mode of the western boundary currents east of Luzon and associated physical processes or underlying dynamics are still unknown. This study investigates the questions by using more than two-year mooring observations at 18°N/122.7°E. The results reveal that the dominant variability of the western boundary currents on intraseasonal to seasonal timescales is primarily barotropic in nature. The barotropic velocity component serves as an effective proxy for this variability and is closely linked to variations in the LUC as well as to temperature changes in the intermediate and deep ocean

typically below 1 000 m. During the observation period

the temporal evolution of the western boundary current is characterized by three abnormal events featuring an intensified LUC

which induce southward barotropic transport at 18°N. The third abnormal event with a temperature drop in observed depth range lasted about 6 months

mainly related to the wind stress curl on the basin scale

while the first two abnormal events have a much shorter duration and are likely related to local subsurface mesoscale or submesoscale eddy activity. Both large-scale wind fields and mesoscale processes may lead to a decrease in ocean temperature in the intermediate and deep layers

resulting in a strengthened LUC

dominating the variability of the western boundary current within the entire water column. This study highlights the important role of intermediate and deep ocean changes caused by large-scale wind fields or mesoscale processes in modulating barotropic velocity and the overall variability of western boundary currents.

关键词

Keywords

references

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Related Institution

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Key Laboratory of Marine Science and Numerical Modeling, First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, and Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology

Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Function Laboratory for Ocean Dynamics and Climate, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology

School of Atmospheric Science and Remote Sensing, Wuxi University

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