Strengthening effect of super typhoon Rammasun (2014) on upwelling and cold eddies in the South China Sea

Typhoon is one of the frequent natural disasters in coastal regions of China. As shown in many studies, the impact of typhoons on the South China Sea (SCS) should not be overlooked. Super typhoon Rammasun (2014) was studied that formed in the northwestern Pacific, passed through the SCS, then landed in the Leizhou Peninsula. Remote sensing data and model products were used to analyze the spatiotemporal variations of the cold eddies, upwelling, sea surface temperature, mixed layer depth, rainfall, sea surface salinity, suspended sediment concentration, and surface-level anomaly. Results confirm the constant presence of upwelling and cold eddies in the southeast of Hainan (north of the Zhongsha Islands) and the southeast of Vietnam in July. In addition, we found the strengthening effect of super typhoon Rammasun on the upwelling and cold eddies in the SCS. The major reasons for the continuous decrease in sea surface temperature and the slow regaining of seawater temperature were the enhanced upwelling and vertical mixing caused by the typhoon. The increasing of the surface runoff in the Indochina Peninsula was mainly affected by the typhoon, with some contribution for the southeast of Vietnam’s cold eddy and upwelling.