SATELLITE SAR OBSERVATION OF SOLITARY INTERNAL WAVE OCCURRENCE IN THE NORTHERN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from 1995 to 2001 and field measurements of sea surface wind, sea state, and vertical stratification are used for statistical analyses of internal wave (IW) occurrence and SAR imaging conditions in the northern South China Sea (NSCS). Latitudinal distribution of IW packets shows that 22% of IW packets distributed in the east of $118^{\circ}E$ and 78% of IW packets in the west of $118^{\circ}E$. The yearly distribution of IW occurrence frequencies reveals an interannual variability. The monthly SAR-observed IW occurrence frequencies show that the high frequencies are distributed from April to July and reach a peak in June. The low occurrence frequencies are distributed in winter from December to February of next year. These statistical features are explained by solitary wave dynamics.