A morphology-based edge detection method has been used to study sea surface temperature (SST) fronts in the Taiwan Strait and its adjacent area. The method is based on mathematical morphology with multi-dimensional and multi-structural elements. Using six years’ SST data from September 2002 to August 2008, we distinguished the large SST front like Kuroshio Front as well as the smaller ones: namely Taiwan Bank Front, Zhe-Min Coastal Front and Zhang-Yun Ridge Front. The seasonal and monthly variations of these fronts were also studied. Generally, the SST fronts are stronger in winter but weaker in summer. And the fronts are at their active stage during the period from January to May but at their declining stage during the period from July to October.
PI QingLing1,2,3 & HU JianYu1,2 1 State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
