STUDY OF ASSIMILATING THE SATELLITE SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND SEA SURFACE HEIGHT ANOMALY INTO AN EAST CHINA SEA MODEL - A PROGRESS REPORT

摘要

The Kuroshio plays a very important role in both local and global climate changes. Temperature and velocity profiles and their variations are key aspects in understanding the Kuroshio. In this study, the satellite sea surface temperature (SST) data are assimilated into the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) for the East China Seas in which the Kuroshio offers the largest water transport. Compared with the in-situ data and other model outputs, results of this study show that the satellite SST assimilation can help produce a realistic heat flux for the model surface forcing. The sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) assimilation is also tested in the deep Kuroshio area and the results show that the SSHA assimilation can significantly improve the deep ocean temperature and velocity fields. This study has grounded future studies of the Kuroshio under the framework of MOST-ESA Dragon Programme.