In this article, we analyzed the monthly, seasonal
and annual salinity variations and their relations with sea surface temperature
(SST), rainfall over the Zhejiang province from 2005 to 2017. SST and rainfall
were chosen as the main influence factors. There is an inverse relationship
between rainfall and salinity. And the SST has a positive relation with
salinity, showing slightly seasonal difference. The vertical variation is
checked from surface to 150 meter depth, and 50 m is suggested to be a
separating layer for salinity variations. We found that monthly changes in
salinity are more variable in seawater at different depths. Seasonal changes in
salinity in this area are significant. In winter and spring, the temperature is
low, evaporation is small, and there
is little rainfall, resulting in relatively higher salinity; frequent typhoon
in summer and autumn with a large amount of freshwater input from the Yangtze
River causes a
lower salinity. For annual changes, we found an increasing trend over the
surface as well as in sub-surface.
In addition, we found initially that the stratification of the saline waters in
Zhejiang Province makes the sub-surface salinity higher.
Cite this paper
Zhao, X. , Gui, F. , Mantravadi, V. S. and Wang, L. (2018). Salinity Variations over Zhejiang Province Waters, China. Open Access Library Journal, 5, e4562. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1104562.
Lagerloef, G. (2002) Introduction to the Special Section: The Role of Surface Salinity on Upper Ocean Dynamics, Air-Sea Interaction and Climate. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 107, 8000. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JC001669
Livitus, S. (1986) Annual Cycle of Salinity and Salt Storage in the World Oceans. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 16, 322-343. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1986)016<0322:ACOSAS>2.0.CO;2
Masson, S., Boulanger, J.-P., Menkes, C., Delecluse, P. and Yamagata, T. (2004) Impact of Salinity on the 1997 Indian Ocean Dipole Event in a Numerical Experiment. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 109, C02002. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JC001807
Roemmich, D., et al. (2001) Argo: The Global Array of Profiling Floats. In: Koblinsky, C.J. and Smith, N.R., Eds., Observing the Oceans in the 21st Century, Bureau of Meteorology, 248-257.
Cooper, N.S. (1988) The Effect of Salinity in Tropical Ocean Models. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 18, 1333-1347. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1988)018<0697:TEOSOT>2.0.CO;2
Roemmich, D., Morris, M., Young, W.R. and Donguy, J.R. (1994) Fresh Equatorial Jets. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 24, 540-558. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1994)024<0540:FEJ>2.0.CO;2
Vialard, J. and Delecluse, P. (1998) An OGCM Study for the TOGA Decade. Part I: Role of the Salinity in the Physics of the Western Pacific Fresh Pool. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 28, 1071-1088. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1998)028<1071:AOSFTT>2.0.CO;2
Vialard, J. and Delecluse, P. (1998) An OGCM Study for the TOGA Decade. Part II: Barrier Layer Formation and Variability. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 28, 1089-1106. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1998)028<1089:AOSFTT>2.0.CO;2
Bindoff, N.L. and McDougall, T.J. (1994) Diagnosing Climate Change and Ocean Ventilation Using Hydrographic Data. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 24, 1137-1152. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1994)024<1137:DCCAOV>2.0.CO;2
Wong, A.P.S., Bindoff, N.L. and Church, J.C. (1999) Large Scale Freshening of Intermediate Waters in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Nature, 400, 440-443. https://doi.org/10.1038/22733
Bryden, H.L., McDonagh, E.L. and King, B.A. (2003) Changes in Ocean Water Mass Properties: Oscillations or Trends? Science, 300, 2086-2088. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1083980
Dickson, B., Curry, R. and Yashayaev, I. (2003) Recent Changes in the North Atlantic. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 361, 1917-1934. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2003.1237
Curry, R., Dickson, B. and Yashayaev, I. (2003) Ocean Evidence of a Change in the Freshwater Balance of the Atlantic over the Past Four Decades. Nature, 426, 826-829. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02206
Chang, P.-H. and Isobe, A. (2003) A Numerical Study on the Changjiang Diluted Water in the Yellow and East China Seas. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108, 3299. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JC001749
Roemmich, D. and Gilson, J. (2009) The 2004-2008 Mean and Annual Cycle of Temperature, Salinity, and Steric Height in the Global Ocean from the Argo Program. Progress in Oceanography, 82, 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2009.03.004
Adler, R.F., et al. (2003) The Version 2.1 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979 Present). Journal of Hydrometeorology, 4, 1147-1167. https://doi.org/10.1175/1525-7541(2003)004<1147:TVGPCP>2.0.CO;2
Huffman, G.J., Adler, R.F., Bolvin, D.T. and Gu, G. (2009) Improving the Global Precipitation Record: GPCP Version 2.1. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L17808. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL040000
Reynolds, R.W., Rayner, N.A., Smith, T.M., Stokes, D.C. and Wang, W. (2002) An Improved in Situ and Satellite SST Analysis for Climate. Journal of Climate, 15, 1609-1625. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015<1609:AIISAS>2.0.CO;2
Shen, H., Zhang, C., Xiao, C. and Zhu, J. (1998) Change of the Discharge and Sediment Flux to Estuary in Changjiang River. In: Hong, G.H., Zhang, J. and Park, B.K., Eds., Health of the Yellow Sea, Earth Love Publishing Association, 129-148.
Siswanto, E., Nakata, H., Matsuoka, Y., Tanaka, K., Kiyomoto, Y., Okamura, K., Zhu, J.R. and Ishizaka, J. (2008) The Long-Term Freshening and Nutrient Increases in Summer Surface Water in the Northern East China Sea in Relation to Changjiang Discharge Variation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, C10030. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JC004812
Kim, H.-C. and Coauthors (2009) Distribution of Changjiang Diluted Water Detected by Satellite Chlorophyll-a and Its Interannual Variation during 1998-2007. Journal of Oceanography, 65, 129-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-009-0013-0
Moon, J.H., Pang, I.C. and Yoon, J.H. (2009) Response of the Changjiang Diluted Water around Jeju Island to External Forcings: A Modeling Study of 2002 and 2006. Continental Shelf Research, 29, 1549-1564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2009.04.007
