Determination of the Current System on Isopycnal Surface Between Mindanao and New Guinea from GDEM

摘要

In this study, we used the Navy's Generalized Digital Environmental Model(GDEM) climatological temperature and salinity data on a 0.5°× 0.5° grid to investigate the seasonal variabilities of the southwest Philippines Sea (0.5° - 9°N, 123.5o - 136.5°) thermohaline structure and circulation. The GDEM for the area was built up on historical (1930 - 1997) temperature and salinity profiles. A three-dimensional estimate of the absolute geostrophic velocity field on isopycnal surface was obtained from the GDEM temperature and salinity fields using the P-vector method. The seasonal variabilities of the thermohaline structure and currents (obtained from the inverse method) such as the Mindanao Current, Mindanao Undercurrent, North Equatorial Counter Current, New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent, and dual-eddieS (cyclonic Mindanao Eddy and anticyclonic Halmahera Eddy) are identified.