Recent studies demonstrate that chlorophyll a (chl a) concentrations in the surface ocean can be significantly enhanced due to typhoons. The present study investigated chl a concentrations in the middle of the South China Sea (SCS) from 1997-2007. Only the Category1 (minimal) Typhoon Hagibis (2007) had a notable effect on the chl a concentrations. Typhoon Hagibis had a strong upwelling potential due to its location near the equator, and the forcing time of the typhoon (>82 h) was much longer than the geostrophic adjustment time (~63 h). The higher upwelling velocity and the longer forcing time increased the depth of the mixed-layer, which consequently induced a strong phytoplankton bloom that accounted for about 30% of the total annual chl a concentration in the middle of the SCS. The implication is that the forcing time of a typhoon should be long enough to establish a strong upwelling and consequently for the induction of significant upper ocean responses.

Within a simple model context, the sensitivity and stability of the thermohaline circulation to finite-amplitude perturbations are studied. A new approach is used to tackle this nonlinear problem. The method is based on the computation of the so-called conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP), which is a nonlinear generalization of the linear singular vector approach (LSV). It is shown that linearly stable thermohaline circulation states can become nonlinearly unstable, and the properties of the perturbations with optimal nonlinear growth are determined. An asymmetric nonlinear response to perturbations exists with respect to the sign of finite-amplitude freshwater perturbations, on both thermally dominated and salinity-dominated thermohaline flows. This asymmetry is due to the nonlinear interaction of the perturbations through advective processes. Abstract Within a simple model context, the sensitivity and stability of the thermohaline circulation to finite-amplitude perturbations are studied. A new approach is used to tackle this nonlinear problem. The method is based on the computation of the so-called conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP), which is a nonlinear generalization of the linear singular vector approach (LSV). It is shown that linearly stable thermohaline circulation states can become nonlinearly unstable, and the properties of the perturbations with optimal nonlinear growth are determined. An asymmetric nonlinear response to perturbations exists with respect to the sign of finite-amplitude freshwater perturbations, on both thermally dominated and salinity-dominated thermohaline flows. This asymmetry is due to the nonlinear interaction of the perturbations through advective processes.

A composite time series of the merged satellite altimeters sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) data and satellite‐observed sea surface temperature (SST) data were used to identify eddies in the Western North Pacific Ocean (WNPO), where there were numbers of intense typhoons. This study systematically investigated 15 super typhoons during the period of 2000‐2008 in the WNPO to study their impacts on the pre‐typhoon ocean features, e.g., the cyclonic ocean eddy (COE) feature (closed contours of SSHA < −6 cm) and neutral condition (SSHA between −6 and 6 cm). Two new COEs are generated by two super typhoons, and 18 pre‐existing COEs are intensified by 13 super typhoons. 5 of the 13 super typhoons each influenced two pre‐exisiting COEs. Although the typhoon‐induced maximum cooling centers had a right bias along the tracks due to wind conditions, pre‐existing COEs also play a significant role in determining the strength and location of large SST cooling. Three possible factors (maximum wind speed, typhoon translation speed and the typhoon forcing time, T_f) are employed to explain the interactions. Above all, the changes of the COE geometric and physical parameters (e.g., effective radius, area, SST, SSHA, and eddy kinetic energy) were mostly related to the typhoon forcing time, T_f. This is because T_f is a parameter that is a combination of the typhoon's translation speed, intensity and size. Although the typhoons may significantly impact COEs, such samples were not commonly observed. Thus, the impact of typhoon on the strength of COEs is generally inefficient.

The Genealogical Evolution Model (GEM) presented here is an efficient logical model used to track dynamic evolution of mesoscale eddies in the ocean. It can distinguish between different dynamic processes (e.g., merging and splitting) within a dynamic evolution pattern, which is difficult to accomplish using other tracking methods. To this end, the GEM first uses a two-dimensional (2-D) similarity vector (i.e., a pair of ratios of overlap area between two eddies to the area of each eddy) rather than a scalar to measure the similarity between eddies, which effectively solves the “missing eddy” problem (temporarily lost eddy in tracking). Second, for tracking when an eddy splits, the GEM uses both “parent” (the original eddy) and “child” (eddy split from parent) and the dynamic processes are described as the birth and death of different generations. Additionally, a new look-ahead approach with selection rules effectively simplifies computation and recording. All of the computational steps are linear and do not include iteration. Given the pixel number of the target region L, the maximum number of eddies M, the number N of look-ahead time steps, and the total number of time steps T, the total computer time is O(LM(N + 1)T). The tracking of each eddy is very smooth because we require that the snapshots of each eddy on adjacent days overlap one another. Although eddy splitting or merging is ubiquitous in the ocean, they have different geographic distributions in the North Pacific Ocean. Both the merging and splitting rates of the eddies are high, especially at the western boundary, in currents and in “eddy deserts”. The GEM is useful not only for satellite-based observational data, but also for numerical simulation outputs. It is potentially useful for studying dynamic processes in other related fields, e.g., the dynamics of cyclones in meteorology.