ENSO effect on the sea surface wind and sea surface temperature in the Taiwan Strait

Abstract

The ERS scatterometer and NOAA/AVHRR data during 1996/4–2000/12 are used to examine the variations of the sea surface wind and sea surface temperature (SST) in the Taiwan Strait (TS) through Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis. It is found that the sea surface wind in the TS is southwesterly in summer but northeasterly in the other seasons. Meanwhile, the sea surface wind was much weaker during the whole 1997/1998 El Niño year than the 1998/1999 La Niña year. The SST in the TS is colder in the northwestern part and warmer around the southeastern region. In the 1997/1998 El Niño year, it was colder in summer but warmer in winter comparing with the 1998/1999 La Niña year. It is suggested that the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events can affect the wind patterns in the TS, and therefore modulate the sea surface currents to result in the SST change in interannual scale.