Comparative influence analysis of various tropical cyclones in the South China Sea on the structure of the Vietnamese Current

Abstract

We analyze the water circulation in the zone of the Vietnamese Current in the South China Sea, which is the Western Boundary of the area. We use numerical modeling and calculate the full flow equations in the spring of 1999, what is a transition period from winter to summer. The main goal of the work is a comparative analysis of the influence of various tropical cyclones of the South China Sea on the vertical structure of the Vietnamese Current. We compare the trajectories of the tropical cyclones located in the northern and southern parts of the sea influenced differently at the circulation in the basin. We demonstrate that the tropical cyclones in the southern (northern) parts of the China Sea intensify significantly the Vietnamese Current. This causes the summer type of water transport from south to north named the summer regime of the Vietnamese Current while the other part of the area remains under the influence of the winter regime of water transport with the current propagating from north to south.