Spatial variation is important for studying the mesoscale eddies in the SouthChina Sea (SCS). To investigate such spatial variations, this study made aclustering analysis on eddies' distribution using the K-means approach.Results showed that clustering tendency of anticyclonic eddies (AEs) andcyclonic eddies (CEs) were weak but not random, and the number of clusterswere proved greater than four. Finer clustering results showed 10 regionswhere AEs densely populated and 6 regions for CEs in the SCS. Previousstudies confirmed these partitions and possible generation mechanisms wererelated. Comparisons between AEs and CEs revealed that patterns of AE arerelatively more aggregated than those of CE, and specific distinctions weresummarized: (1) to the southwest of Luzon Island, AEs and CEs are generatedspatially apart; AEs are likely located north of 14° N and closer toshore, while CEs are to the south and further offshore. (2) The central SCSand Nansha Trough are mostly dominated by AEs. (3) Along 112° E,clusters of AEs and CEs are located sequentially apart, and the pairs offVietnam represent the dipole structures. (4) To the southwest of the DongshaIslands, AEs are concentrated to the east of CEs. Overlaps of AEs and CEs inthe northeastern and southern SCS were further examined considering seasonalvariations. The northeastern overlap represented near-concentricdistributions while the southern one was a mixed effect of seasonalvariations, complex circulations and topography influences.
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