On sensitivity of Kuroshio modeling in the Luzon Strait with ERS-1/2 wind field forcing

In this presentation, it is studied that the response of the Kuroshio to forcing provided by three wind products: Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS); Hellerman & Rosenstein objective analysis data set (HR) and observations made by the ERS radar scatterometer. The sea surface currents of the Kuroshio in the Luzon Strait in winter and summer simulated by the Princeton Ocean Model with the three kind of wind fields are compared with the 20-year (1984-2003) mean surface drifter tracks from MEDs/GTS (Marine Environmental Data Service/Global Telecommunications System, Canada). The simulated surface currents from COADS and ERS wind fields are found to be closer to the mean surface drifter tracks in winter. However, the surface current from HR wind field cannot present the surface current pattern of the drifter tracks. And the model results from ERS wind field show a more accuracy surface current which can be seen from the remote sensing data analyzed by Yuan and Han (2006). In summer, the three wind products all can provide a good wind stress and the surface currents from them show the major features of the current field patterns of the drifter tracks. The distribution of the eddies driven by the three kind of wind fields are analyzed in winter and summer time, respectively.