Detection and Characters Analysis of Sea Surface Temperature Fronts in The Northwest Pacific Ocean

摘要

Sea Surface Temperature (SST) front is a typical mesoscale phenomenon in the ocean. The SST field of the Northwest Pacific Ocean is complex and the SST fronts are well developed in this area. In this research, the accuracy of SST fusion data product of RSS is validated by Argo buoys and the standard deviation is found to be 0.6K. Additionally, the performance of two front detection methods (temperature gradient and Jensen–Shannon divergence method) is compared and assessed by a simulated temperature field. Results show that the JSD is superior to GM. Consequently, SST fronts in the study area are detected by the JSD divergence method and some characters such as evolution process, seasonal variation, fronts intensity and length are studied. The results show that the front is active in January and weaken in September. The front intensity is maximum in winter and reaches its minimum in summer.