Upper Ocean Response to Typhoon Indicated by Different SST Products

In this study, four daily sea surface temperature (SST) products combined with satellite infrared or microwave sensor derived SST data with different spatial resolution and in situ measurements, are used to investigate the SST response to three typhoons in 2014 over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. Before typhoons passes by the studied area, the magnitude and spatial distribution of SST from different products are consistent with each other, and most of the four products show the existence of the cyclonic eddies. However, during the passage of typhoons, the four SST products show significant difference in the extent and intensity of typhoon-induced SST cooling, especially in the mesoscale eddy regions. OISST dataset based on the infrared sensor shows the weakest and smallest surface cooling area. Much more intense decrease in SST is found in MW OISST and MW-IROISST datasets, which integrate a variety of microwave-derived SST. With a higher resolution up to 1 km, MURSST may reveal more detailed features in SST variation. Then the SST products are compared with the in situ observation data, which were from the array deployed in South China Sea in 2014. The comparisons show that MURSST product seems to be more consistent with in situ data.