Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCS) and the dispersion of algal bloom and marine debris in the Yellow and East China Sea

Abstract

Series of satellite images show that the development and migration of green macroalgal bloom (known as Ulva prolifera) in the Yellow Sea (YS) and Eastern China Sea (ECS). This presentation will utilize the Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCS) analysis to demonstrate the dispersion pattern of algal bloom patches. Analyzing LCS such as stable and unstable manifolds is one of emerging technologies for characterizing Lagrangian pathways in aquatic environments. This approach is based on the assumption that unstable manifolds such as ridges (i.e., high values) in the finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE) fields coincide with material transport barriers. In this study, the FTLE fields were computed from gridded trajectories using flow fields provided by Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) in the YS/ECS during summer 2011. The results show that there exist two strong transport barriers that lie along the east-west direction, at least, for the simulation period; one is located from the north of Changjiang River mouth to the middle of the Yellow Sea and the other one is stretched from the south of Shandong Peninsular toward east/southeast. This LCS analysis suggests that patches of green algae developed in the coastal region of Jiangsu Province during summer may migrate toward east into the middle of the YS or even toward Korean coast rather than extending along the Jiangsu coast, which is consist (LCS) analysis to demonstrate the dispersion pattern of algal bloom patches. Analyzing LCS such as stable and unstable manifolds is one of emerging technologies for characterizing Lagrangian pathways in aquatic environments. This approach is based on the assumption that unstable manifolds such as ridges (i.e., high values) in the finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE) fields coincide with material transport barriers. In this study, the FTLE fields were computed from gridded trajectories using flow fields provided by Regional Ocean Modeling Sys