A synoptic snapshot in this study is made for the East Cape Eddy (ECE) basedon the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) P14C Hydrographic Section and Shipboard ADCPvelocity vector data collected in September 1992. The ECE is an anticyclonic eddy, barotropicallystructured and centered at 33.64°S and 176.21°E, with warm and salinous-cored subsurface water.The radius of the eddy is of the order O (110 km) and the maximum circumferential velocity is O (40cm s^(-1)); as a result, the relative vorticity is estimated to be O (7 x 10^(-6)s^(-1)). Due to theexistence of the ECE, the mixed layer north of New Zealand becomes deeper, reaching a depth of 300m in the austral winter. The ECE plays an important role in the formation and distribution of theSubtropical Mode Water (STMW) over a considerable area in the South Pacific.
After reviewing the analytical theories of T S curve, some methods of T S relationship, and fuzzy sets for studying water masses, new methods of fitting the membership function of oceanic water masses are presented based on the characteristics of T S curve family of oceanic water masses. The membership functions of oceanic Subsurface Water Mass with high salinity and Intermediate Water Mass with low salinity are fitted and discussed using the new methods. The proposed methods are useful in analyzing the mixing and modifying processes of these water masses, especially in tracing their sources. The principles and formulae of the new methods and examples are given.
