Variations of total heat flux during typhoons in the South China Sea

This study, statistically describes variations of the total heat flux during typhoons over the South China Sea. Total heat flux was considered as a sum of the latent heat flux (LHF) and sensible heat flux (SHF). Typhoons in the South China Sea were selected from 1991 to 2011. These effects were examined based on archived data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) and the number of typhoons from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center during the indicated period. A long-term study on typhoons behavior indicated that on average, the trend of overall heat flux is related to the number of typhoons. By contrast, the results showed that the total heat flux touched its maximum amounts in July and August, and prepared the required energy for typhoon generation, so the number of typhoons enhanced during consequent months, August and September which had maximum number of typhoons during the years. Furthermore, from the spatial point of view, most variations in total heat flux were observed in lower longitudes and latitudes.