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Hydrographic field investigations in the Northern South China Sea by open cruises during 2004–2013

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  • Earth Sciences
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Science Bulletin

Abstract

In the past 10 years (2004–2013), annual open cruise during late summer provided new opportunities for comprehensive studies in the Northern South China Sea (NSCS). The 10-year field investigation program was carried out by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SCSIO, CAS). Measurements included water mass property, ocean circulation, atmospheric structure, and chemical and biological elements. The observation data collected during these open cruises have been intensively used in the studies of marine oceanographic, meteorological, chemical, and biological processes in the NSCS. In this study, comprehensive assessment of data application in oceanographic and meteorological studies is provided: (1) the property and variability of water masses in different layers; (2) the distribution of main currents and three-dimensional structure of mesoscale eddies; and (3) atmospheric structure and its feedback to the ocean. With the continuance of open cruises, it is feasible to construct high-quality, gridded climatological marine meteorological datasets in the NSCS in the near future.

摘要

南海北部开放航次,是由中国科学院南海海洋研究所组织实施的包括海洋水文、海洋生物和海洋地质等观测在内的综合性考察航次, 旨在探索海上观测平台共享机制,加强海洋现场数据长期积累,促进海洋科学研究多学科交叉与融合。2004~2013年,连续实施了十年的南海北部开放航次为该区域综合性研究带来了新机遇。本文综合回顾了南海北部开放航次观测数据在海洋和气象方面的研究应用:(1)不同深度海洋水团的特征与变化;(2)海洋环流和中尺度涡旋的三维结构;(3)海气通量和大气边界层结构。

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Acknowledgements

Constructive comments by three reviewers are gratefully acknowledged. Special gratitude goes to our colleagues Drs. Rui Shi, Jian Li, and Ke Huang for their help in data collection. This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2011CB403501), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA11010403 and XDA11010302), Sanya and Chinese Academy of Sciences Cooperation Project (2013YD77), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41276024, 41206011, 41106028, 41406038, 41306012, 41306014, 41476014, 41476012 and 41406131), the Infrastructure Facilities Project of Xisha station and Nansha station (KZCX2-EW-Y040), and the Major National Scientific Instrument and Equipment Development Project (2012YQ12003910).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to Dongxiao Wang.

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SPECIAL TOPIC: Land-ocean integrated research and development of carbon sink

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Zeng, L., Wang, Q., Xie, Q. et al. Hydrographic field investigations in the Northern South China Sea by open cruises during 2004–2013. Sci. Bull. 60, 607–615 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-015-0733-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-015-0733-z

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