Data Analysis and Numerical Modeling of Sea Level Anomalies in the South China Sea

摘要

Extreme sea level anomalies (SLAs) associated with the seasonal and short-term forcings can induce serious damages to coastal regions. In order to understand variations of the SLAs in the South China Sea (SCS), multi-year tidal data at stations around the SCS are analysed. The daily to annual variations of the SLAs are identified at key locations. In the SCS, the SLAs are dominantly forced by the long term seasonal monsoons, which induce negative correlation between the SLAs in the northern and southern SCS. The intense horizontal components of winds introduce a second mode of negative correlation of the SLAs along the transversal axis. Numerically, FVCOM model is used to simulate typical surge-induced extreme SLA scenarios. The modelled SLAs have a good agreement with tidal recordings.