PROCESSES INFLUENCING JELLYFISH PARTICLE TRACKING IN THE YELLOW SEA AND EAST CHINA SEA
黄、东海水母质点追踪影响因素分析

Particle-tracking based on numerical model can provide estimates to drifting pathways and help us understand processes that influence jellyfish gathering and blooming. We released particles in six areas on March 1, April 1 and May 1, respectively, and tracked them until September 30. The following results were obtained. (1) By comparing the tracking of surface particles based on the hydrodynamic model excluding tides and including tides, we found that the temporal and spatial distribution of particles simulated by POM was more reliable. (2) On the basis of POM driven by tides and climatologic forcing and the diel vertical movement, particles drifted more slowly, and less of them entered the Korea/Tsushima Strait compared with the simulation without diel vertical movement. Nearly all of the particles released near the Jeju Island flowed through the Korea/Tsushima Strait and entered the Japan Sea while particles released in the other areas spread widely in the southern Yellow Sea and inner-middle shelf of the East China Sea. The simulated particles mainly aggregated near tidal fronts in the Yellow Sea and along the coastal front in the south of the Yangtze Estuary. (3) We analyzed the final positions of particles released in different months. The particles (i.e. larva medusa) released at an earlier time tended to reach the Korea/Tsushima Strait.