The formation of the Kuroshio large meander in summer 2004 was investigated by using the cruise data,Argo profiles data,and satellite remote sensing data.The authors validated the point that cyclonic eddies contrib-uted to the large meander.Besides,.the impacts of ty-phoons on Kuroshio meanders were also studied.From 29 July to 4 August,the typhoons stirred the ocean and up-welled the deep water,which enhanced the existed cyc-lonic eddy,and immediately made a drastic meander of the Kuroshio.Moreover,the unexpected typhoons in June 2004 also contributed to the initial meander at the Tokara Strait.The result suggests an alternative meander mecha-nism of the Kuroshio path via the typhoon-eddy-Kuroshio interactions.It is argued that typhoons accompanied with cyclonic eddies,might play crucial roles in meanders of the Kuroshio.This will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the western boundary flows,like the Kuroshio and the Gulf Stream,and will be useful in eddy-resolution models.
The formation of the Kuroshio large meander in summer 2004 was investigated by using the cruise data, Argo profiles data, and satellite remote sensing data. The authors validated the point that cyclonic eddies contributed to the large meander. Besides, the impacts of typhoons on Kuroshio meanders were also studied. From 29 July to 4 August, the typhoons stirred the ocean and up-welled the deep water, which enhanced the existed cyclonic eddy, and immediately made a drastic meander of the Kuroshio. Moreover, the unexpected typhoons in June 2004 also contributed to the initial meander at the Tokara Strait. The result suggests an alternative meander mechanism of the Kuroshio path via the typhoon-eddy-Kuroshio interactions. It is argued that typhoons accompanied with cyclonic eddies, might play crucial roles in meanders of the Kuroshio. This will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the western boundary flows, like the Kuroshio and the Gulf Stream, and will be useful in eddy-resolution models.