Response of the low-frequency fluctuations of sea level to atmospheric forcing along the coasts of the Huanghai Sea and the East China Sea

In this paper, the low-frequency fluctuations of sea level and their relationship to atmospheric forcing along the coasts of the Huanghai Sea and the East China Sea are studied.Spectrum analyses are made for the time series of daily mean sea level, atmospheric pressure and wind stress at seven coastal stations.It is found that at all the stations, the main part of the energy of the sea level fluctuations, within the (2-60)-day period, is concentrated on the (12-60)-day period band and that an obvious spectral peak appears at the 3-day period.Along the coast of the Huanghai Sea, variations in the sea level are greater in winter than in summer.In winter, along the coasts of the Huanghai Sea and the East China Sea there is a kind of sea level fluctuations propagating southwards.Among the many factors causing sea level variation, the most obvious one is atmospheric pressure, followed next by the alongshore wind stress.