Impact of Typhoons on Water Dynamics in the Western Part of the South China Sea

Abstract

Restructuring of hydrodynamic processes under the influence of different synoptic conditions in the transition period from winter to summer has been studied for the first time for the coastal waters of Vietnam. This is associated with the need to assess and to predict the impact of the changing hydrodynamics on the natural environment and life activity of the coastal areas of Vietnam and other states of Southeast and East Asia. This study is based on in situ data and numerical modeling. The East Asian monsoon and the most destructive tropical cyclones—typhoons—were considered as the main synoptic processes affecting the hydrodynamic state of the area studied. The main object was the Vietnamese Coastal Current that washes the eastern and southeastern coasts of Vietnam. As a result of this study, the character of changes in the hydrodynamic regime of the coastal waters of Vietnam and the nearest water area of the South China Sea under the influence of these synoptic processes was modeled.