Responses of summertime extreme wave heights to local climate variations in the East China Sea

Abstract

We detected the responses of summertime extreme wave heights (H top10 , average of the highest 10% of significant wave heights in June, July and August) to local climate variations in the East China Sea by applying an empirical orthogonal function analysis to H top10 derived from the WAVEWATCH‐III wave model driven by 6 hourly sea surface wind fields from ERA‐40 reanalysis over the period 1958–2002. Decreases in H top10 in the northern East China Sea (Yellow Sea) correspond to attenuation of the East Asian Summer Monsoon, while increases in the south are primarily due to enhancement of tropical cyclone activities in the western North Pacific.