The coastal ocean is characterized by a high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration due to large terrestrial inputs and high primary production. Monitoring the dynamic variation of DOC inventories in coastal oceans provide more information on carbon flux, but is very challenging in practice. We propose a method of estimating DOC inventories in the East China Sea (ECS) by integrating the surface DOC distribution with a vertical model of the DOC profile via satellite data. Surface DOC concentration was retrieved from satellite‐derived chromophoric dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll concentration. Two vertical DOC profile models (uniform model and stratified model) were established based on water‐density profiles, and the usage of these two models was corresponded to water mass classification determined by a water mass index. The average bias of the satellite‐derived DOC inventory, in the euphotic layer was 23.8% in spring, 24.8% in autumn and 14.7% in winter, and in the water column was 15.6% in spring, 12.3% in autumn, and 10.2% in winter. The total satellite‐derived DOC inventory integrated in the water column was about 31.84, 31.96, 28.59, and 31.18 Tg in four seasons in the ECS (5.84 × 10⁵ km²). Sensitivity analysis indicated that the remote‐sensing method of estimating DOC inventory is stable and reliable. The available long‐term and large‐scale satellite‐derived DOC inventories in marginal sea would provide us basic information on carbon cycle, and the difference between the seasonal DOC inventories would help to understand the DOC export and relative biogeochemical processes in the ECS.

Using satellite‐derived water transparency (alias Secchi depth) images, we found clear signals of terrestrial material transport to the southern Okinawa Trough triggered by the Typhoon Morakot in August 2009. Three sources were identified: one is from the eastern coast of Taiwan, another is from the western coast of Taiwan, and the other is from the coast of mainland China. Carried by northward flows, typhoon‐triggered terrestrial materials from both sides of Taiwan's coasts were transported to the region northeast of Taiwan. Moreover, the terrestrial material from the coast of mainland China could cross the Taiwan Strait and be further transported to the region northeast of Taiwan. These typhoon‐induced terrestrial materials off northeastern Taiwan could then be transported to the southern Okinawa Trough along the western edge of the Kuroshio. In addition to the particulate terrestrial material transported, nutrients might also be transported to the Kuroshio main stream. A significant phytoplankton bloom was observed along the Kuroshio path for about 300 km off northeast of Taiwan. Our results indicate that episodic cyclone‐driven terrestrial material transport could be another source of mud in the southern Okinawa Trough.

The geographic character of the inverse cascade is analyzed based on the spectral kinetic energy flux calculated in the global ocean, using sea surface height (SSH) data from satellites, reanalysis data, and model outputs. It is shown that the strongest inverse cascade occurs mostly in high-energy eastward-flowing currents, such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the Kuroshio Extension, and the Gulf Stream, which matches the global distribution pattern of the eddy kinetic energy (EKE). Hence, the eddy scales predicted by the local linear baroclinic instability and from the altimeter observation are mapped out and compared with the energy injection scale and the arrest-start scale of the inverse cascade, respectively. Generally, agrees well with in the midlatitude and high-latitude oceans, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. falls within the arrest ranges of the inverse cascade and is quite close to . Finally, the depth dependence and the anisotropy of the inverse kinetic energy cascade are also diagnosed in the global ocean. We have found that the strength of the inverse cascades decreases with increasing depth, but the global pattern of the strength is nearly invariable. Meanwhile, the variations in depth hardly affect the and . After considering the anisotropy in the spectral flux calculation, a possible inertial range for the zonal spectral kinetic energy flux is expected, where the cascade magnitude will keep a nearly constant negative value associated with the oceanic zonal jets.