Contrasts of Large-Scale Moisture and Heat Budgets between Different Sea Areas of the South China Sea and the Adjacent Land

This study investigates and compares large-scale moisture and heat budgets over the eastern rainy sea area around Dongsha, the western rainless sea area around Xisha, and the northern coastland of the South China Sea. Ten-year (2011–20) surface, balloon-sounding, satellite measurements, and ERA5 reanalysis are merged into the physically consistent data to study annual and vertical variations of the budgets. It shows that the surface and column-integrated heat and moisture budgets have the smallest annual evolution over the coastland. The latent heat as a key heat contributor in summer is mainly offset by total cold advection and partially offset by net radiative cooling. The horizontal moisture advection below 700 hPa presents moistening over the sea whereas drying over the coastland during rainy months, in which the vertical moisture advection presents moistening up to 250 hPa for all three subregions. The horizontal temperature advection is weak throughout the year over the sea but displays strong top warming and bottom cooling in summer and nearly the opposite in winter over the coastland. The diabatic cooling with a peak at ∼700 hPa in winter is largely due to the enhanced radiative cooling and latent cooling. While the diabatic heating with a peak at ∼500 hPa in summer is largely due to the enhanced latent heating. The earliest atmospheric heating and moistening occur in spring over the coastland, inducing the earliest precipitation increase. The enhanced heating and moistening over Xisha have a 1-month lag relative to Dongsha, resulting in lagging precipitation.