Temperature inversion in China seas

Temperature inversion was reported as a common phenomenon in the areas near the southeastern Chinese coast (region A), west and south of the Korean Peninsula (region B), and north and east of the Shandong Peninsula (region C) during October-May in the present study, based on hydrographic data archived from 1930 through 2001 (319,029 profiles). The inversion was found to be remarkable with obvious temporal and spatial variabilities in both magnitude and coverage, with higher probabilities in region A (up to about 60%) and region C (40%-50%) than in region B (15%-20%). The analysis shows that seasonal variation of the net air-sea heat flux is closely related to the occurrence time of the inversion in the three areas, while the Yangtze and Yellow river freshwater plumes in the surface layer and ocean origin saline water in the subsurface layer maintain stable stratification. It seems that the evaporation/excessive precipitation flux makes little contribution to maintaining the stable inversion. Advection of surface fresh water by the wind-driven coastal currents results in the expansion of inversion in regions A and C. The inversion lasts for the longest period in region A (October-May) sustained by the Taiwan Warm Current carrying the subsurface saline water, while evolution of the inversion in region B is mainly controlled by the Yellow Sea Warm Current.