简介：Theseasonalvariabilityofthesignificantwaveheight(SWH)intheSouthChinaSea(SCS)isinvestigatedusingthemostup-to-dategriddeddailyaltimeterdatafortheperiodofSeptember2009toAugust2015.TheresultsindicatethattheSWHshowsauniformseasonalvariationinthewholeSCS,withitsmaximaoccurringinDecember/JanuaryandminimainMay.Throughouttheyear,theSWHintheSCSisthelargestaroundLuzonStrait(LS)andthengraduallydecreasessouthwardacrossthebasin.Thesurfacewindspeedhasasimilarseasonalvariation,butwithdifferentspatialdistributionsinmostmonthsoftheyear.FurtheranalysisindicatesthattheobservedSWHvariationsaredominatedbyswell.Thewindseaheight,however,ismuchsmaller.ItisthethelargestintworegionssouthwestofTaiwanIslandandsoutheastofVietnamCoastduringthenortheasterlymonsoon,whilethelargestinthecentral/southernSCSduringthesouthwesterlymonsoon.Theextremewaveconditionalsoexperiencesasignificantseasonalvariation.InmostregionsofthenorthernandcentralSCS,themaximaofthe99thpercentileSWHthatarelargerthantheSWHtheoreticallycalculatedwiththewindspeedforthefullydevelopedseasmainlyappearinAugust–November,closelyrelatedtostrongtropicalcycloneactivities.Comparedwithpreviousstudies,itisalsoimpliedthatthewaveclimateinthePacificOceanplaysanimportantroleinthewaveclimatevariationsintheSCS.