DETECTION AND CHARACTERS ANALYSIS OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE FRONTS IN THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC OCEAN

摘要

Sea Surface Temperature (SST) front is a typical mesoscale phenomenon in the ocean. Temperature fronts detection based on remote sensing data plays an important role in marine fishery resources utilization and global water cycle research. Owing to the influence of Kuroshio and Oyashio, the SST field of the Northwest Pacific Ocean is complex and variable and the SST fronts are well developed. In this research, performance of two front detection methods (temperature gradient and Jensen–Shannon divergence method) is compared and assessed by a simulated temperature field. Results show that the Jensen–Shannon is superior to temperature gradient method divergence method when the random error of SST product is 0.6K. Consequently, SST fronts in the study area are detected by temperature gradient method and some characters such as evolution process, seasonal variation, fronts intensity and length is studied. The results show that the front vigorous in January and its wither away in September. Front intensity is maximum in winter and reaches its minimum in summer.