LAUSR

AbstractSheddings of Kuroshio Loop Current (KLC) eddies in the northeastern South China Sea (SCS) are investigated using mooring arrays, multiple satellite data, and data-assimilative HYCOM products. Based on altimeter sea surface heights between 1992 and 2014, a total of 19 prominent KLC eddy shedding (KLCES) events were identified, among which four events were confirmed by the concurrent moored and satellite observations. Compared to the leaping behavior of Kuroshio, KLCES is a relatively short-duration phenomenon that primarily occurs in boreal autumn and winter. The KLC and its shedding anticyclonic eddy (AE) trap a large amount of Pacific water with high temperature–salinity and low chlorophyll concentration in the upper layer. The corresponding annual-mean transport caused by KLCES reaches 0.24–0.38 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1), accounting for 6.8%–10.8% of the upper-layer Luzon Strait transport. Altimeter-based statistics show that among ~90% of the historical KLCES events, a cyclonic eddy (CE) is immedi...