Ocean and Polar Research

Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (한국해양과학기술원)
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Some High-Frequency Variability of Currents Obtained by "GeoDrifters" in the Tsushima Current Region

  • Received : 2017.03.22
  • Accepted : 2017.07.28
  • Published : 2017.09.30
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Abstract

The "GeoDrifter" is a newly-developed surface drifter with high temporal resolution. It is the first time that high-frequency drifters have been deployed in the East/Japan Sea. The purpose of this study is to introduce the phenomena experienced by these drifters flowing along with the Tsushima Current across the East/Japan Sea, focusing on high-frequency variability, and to discuss them in comparison with previous observations. The observed basin-scale circulation of the Tsushima Current generally coincides well with the known schematic circulation. The GeoDrifter trajectories also show inertial oscillations almost everywhere in the oceanic regions of the East/Japan Sea, strong semi-diurnal tidal currents in the western part of Korea Strait, diurnal currents much stronger than semi-diurnal currents in the upstream region of the Nearshore Branch off the Japanese coast, and many warm eddies in the Yamato Basin, all comparable to the observational results reported in the previous studies. An interesting point is that the semi-diurnal tidal currents undergo a great spatial variation in the western part of the Korea Strait. The observed features that cannot be explained are, among others, strong counter-clockwise motions with oscillating period about 51 hours appearing in the upstream region of the Nearshore Branch off the Japanese coast and the different tidal behaviors between upstream and downstream regions of the latter.

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