Typhoon activity and some important parameters in the South China Sea

Abstract

This study aims to statistically describe temporal and spatial variations of sea surface temperature (SST), latent heat flux (LHF), sensible heat flux (SHF), and precipitation rate with typhoon activity over the South China Sea. The correlations of the parameters and their connections with the physical phenomena are clearly presented. This is fundamental to predict a typhoon's intensity and track. The effects were investigated from 1991 to 2011 based on archived data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) and the number of typhoons were sourced from the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS). The results showed that most typhoons occurred in August and September, which was related to high temperature in the summer season and the southwest monsoon in the area. The maximum mean values of SST in May and June were related to the East Asian Monsoon. The average values of LHF were highest in July, and the mean values of SHF were highest in July and August. SHF varied gradually at different months compared with LHF. In addition, the average of precipitation rate was highest in November, which can be related to the northeasterly winter monsoon. The relationships of the aforementioned parameters were obtained using Pearson's correlation analysis. Moreover, the highest and lowest mean values of the parameters in different areas were considered, and their spatial relationships were analyzed.