The wavelet analysis of satellite sea surface temperature in the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean

Using wavelet transform, the sea surface temperature (SST) during the period of 1982–1999 of the South China Sea and the equatorial Pacific, from datasets of NOAA/AVHRR, was analyzed. It is shown that there are 4- and 8-year interannual oscillations in the eastern equatorial Pacific and 8-year interannual oscillation in the western equatorial Pacific. In terms of attractive time-frequency localization and multi-scale properties of wavelet transform, as shown by the Morlet wavelet, it is found that an in-phase coupling oscillation occurs between the SCS and the equatorial Pacific. The SST changes of SCS will have echoed every event of EI Niño (abnormally warm) and La Niño (abnormally cold) in the equatorial Pacific. There is a positive correlation between the SCS and the western equatorial Pacific in the 8-year time-scale. Evidence is presented that the SST anomalies of the equatorial Pacific influence the SST of the SCS.