• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.215-220
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• 1996

Seasonal and interannual variations of the oceanic condition in the surface layer of the northwestern East Sea are described. The seasonal variation shows two types in the water circulation. In the first type the East Korean Warm Current (EUC) Water are dominant in the East Korean Bay in spring, while in summer the cold water region develops as the North Korean Cold Current (NKCC) becomes strong. In the second type the cold water appears in the East Korean Bay from spring, but in summer the EKWC comes close to the coast, thus influencing the coastal cold water region. The characteristics of the interannual variation can be classified into 4 types according to the relative strength between the EKWC and the NKCC, and the paths of these currents. In each case various sizes of cyclonic cold eddies and/or anti-cyclonic warm eddies are formed frequently in the East Korean Bay.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 1992

It is believed that the lower cold water is formed by winter cooling in the north of the East(Japan) Sea. To examine its effect on the general circulation of the East Sea, we performed a two-layer numerical model with realistic bottom topography. First a circulation is generated by imposing only an inflow and an outflow which is then modified by adding the cooling effect in the north. The interface between the two layers rises due to cooling and propagates along the coast as internal Kelvin waves. About 7 months after the cooling starts, all coastal areas of the basin have higher elevation than that in offshore region. This induces baroclinic currents resulting in clockwise(anticlockwise) circulation in upper (lower) layer of the basin. It is concluded that the East Korean Warm Current strengthens as a result of lower cold water formation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.265-272
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• 2002

Spatial distribution of Phytoplankton Pigment Concentration (PPC) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) around the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) was described, using both Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) images and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) images in May, 1980. Water mass in this region can be classified into five categories in the horizontal profile of PPC and SST, nLw (normalized water-leaving radiance) images: (1) coastal cold water region associated with concentrations of dissolved organic material or yellow colored substances and suspended sediments, (2) cold water region of thermal frontal occurred by a combination of phytoplankton absorption and suspended materials, (3) warm water overlay region by the phytoplankton absorption than the suspended materials; (4) warm water region occurred by the low phytoplankton absorption, and (5) offshore region occurred by the high phytoplankton absorption. In particular, the highest PPC (>2.0 mg/m^3) area appeared in the CZCS and AVHRR images with a band shaped distribution of the thermal front and ocean color front region, which is located the coastal cold waters alonB western thermal front of the warm streamer of the EKWC. In this region, the highest PPC occurred by a combination of the high absorption of the phytoplankton (443 nm) and highest reflectance of suspended materials (550 nm). Another high PPC ($\simeq$$6\;mg/m^3$) appeared in the warm water overlay region inside warm streamer. High phytoplankton pigment concentration of this region was corresponding to the short wavelength of 443 nm, which represented phytoplankton absorption of the CZCS image.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 1992

A simple quasi-geostrophic model is considered to explain the separation of the East Korean Warm Current(EKWC) and formation of the North Korean Cold Current(NKCC). In this model, the circulation is driven by inflow-outflow condition and modified by local forcing. The solution is decomposed into inflow-outflow and local modes which describe only the effects of inflow-outflow condition and local forcing, respectively. Results of analyses show that both the surface cooling and positive wind stress curl are favorable for the separation of EKWC and formation of NKCC. This fact is compatible with the present knowledge about heat flux and wind stress field over the Sea of Japan.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.15-28
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• 1992

Temporal variations of the path of the East Korea Warm Current(EKWC) which flows northward along the east coast of Korea were analysed to investigate whether the EKWC directly influences the existence of the so-called Warm Core in the Ulreung basin. From the 13 years(1975-1987) data of the Fisheries Research and Development Agency(FRDA), the $10^{\circ}C$ isotherm at the 100m depth and the depth of $2^{\circ}C$ isotherm and the temperature field at the 200m depth were used for identification of the path and the central position of the Warm Core. Sea surface winds computed from the surface pressure charts gave the monthly-averaged wind stress curl over the East Sea which was used for determination of the Sverdrup transport. And the mass transport stream functions were computed by use of the Sverdrup balance. The variations of the path show that the EKWC does not always have a fixed path and fluctuates with time. And the existence of the Warm Core is independent upon the presence of the EKWC even when the EKWC doesn't flow northward along the east coast of Korea. In view of the mass transport stream functions, the influences of the sea surface winds on the branching of the Tsushima Warm Currents and the presence of the EKWC were investigated. The presence of the EKWC may be hindered by the southward flow driven by the sea surface winds when the Tsushima currents are rather weak. A very weak correlation exists between the north-south component of the Sverdrup transport and the position of the Warm Core. However, a small but significant part of the southward transport across the latitudinal line of $38^{\circ}N$ indicates that cold water from the northern part of the East Sea may be driven and be forced to flow beneath the permanent thermocline in such a way that the thermal structure of the Warm Core and its position might be changed.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.439-447
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• 2019

Some dynamical issues about the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) are reviewed and checked for the remaining unresolved problems, focusing on the formation of the TWC, seasonal variation of its volume transport and its branching in the East Sea. The TWC is a part of the North Pacific (NP) subtropical gyre driven by the NP global wind system. However, the quantitative amount of volume transport is sensitive to friction, basin geometry, barrier effect and so on. Among many causes suggested by many scientists, subpolar winds are found to be most closely related with the seasonal variation of TWC volume transport. However, more studies relating the latter not only to the subpolar winds but also to those including the subtropical winds seem to be required. The branching of the TWC has been known to be due to the western intensification for the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) and to the bottom trapping for the Nearshore Branch. Since the former hypothesis is problematic in explaining the seasonal variation of the EKWC, other candidate mechanisms may need to be considered.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.318-331
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• 2019

In this study, comparative analysis is performed on the long-term persisted warm eddies that were generated in 2003 (WE03) and in 2014 (WE14) over the East Sea using the HYCOM reanalysis data. The overshooting of the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) was appeared during the formation period of those warm eddies. The warm eddies were produced in the shallow Korea Plateau region through the interaction of the EKWC and the sub-polar front. In the interior of the both warm eddies, a homogeneous water mass of about $13^{\circ}C$ and 34.1 psu were generated over the upper 150 m depth by the winter mixing. In 2004, the next year of the generation of the WE03, the amount of the inflow through the western channel of the Korea Strait was larger, while the inflow was lesser than its climatology during 2015 corresponding to the development period of the WE14. The above results suggest that the heat and salt are supplied in the warm eddies through the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC), however the amount of the inflow through the Korea Strait has negligible impact on the long-term persistency of the warm eddies. Both of the warm eddies were maintained more than 18 months near Ulleung island, while they have no common feature on the pathways. In the vicinity of the Ulleung basin, large and small eddies are continuously created due to the meandering of the EKWC. The long-term persisted warm eddies in the Ulleung Island seem to be the results of the interaction between the pre-existed eddies located south of the sub-polar front and fresh eddies induced by the meanderings of the EKWC. The conclusion is also in line with the fact that the long-term persisted warm eddies were not always created when the overshooting of the EKWC was appeared.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.339-342
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• 2003

Sea level variations and sea surface circulations inthe Korean seas were observed by Topex/Poseidon altimeter data from 1993 through 1997. In sea level variations, the West and South Sea showed relatively high variations with comparison to the East Sea. Then, the northern and southern area in the West Sea showed the range of 20-30cm and 18-24cm, and the northern west of Jeju island and the southern west of Tsushima island in the South Sea showed the range of 15-20cm and 10-15cm, respectively. High variations in the West Sea was results to the inflow in sea surface of Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and bottom topography. Sea level variations in the South Sea was due to two branch currents (Jeju Warm Current and East Korea Warm Current) originated from Kuroshio Current (KC). In sea surface circulations, there existed remarkably three eddies circulations in the East Sea that are mainly connected with North Korea Cold Current (NKCC), East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) and Tushima Warm Current (TWC). Their eddies are caused basically to the influence of currents in sea surface circulations; Cyclone (0.03 cm/sec) in the Wonsan bay on shore with NKCC, and anticyclone (0.06 cm/sec) in the southwestern area of Ulleung island with EKWC, and cyclone (0.01 cm/set) in the northeastern area of Tushima island with TWC, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.215-216
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• 2002

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.292-304
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• 1993

The east Sea circulation is numerically modeled with refined grid resolution elaborated open boundary condition, and by directly imposing the measured surface temperature and salinity typical the east Korean Warm current are clearer than those in previous works. among others, The Ulleung warm Water and the Intermediate Water of minimum salinity are nicely reproduced. The latter is formed in the northern/northwestern coastal region in winter and is advocated southward by strong under-current. the former is associated with a locally generated anti-cyclonic gyres. The model indicates strong seasonal variation of Nearshore Current along the Japanese coast from wintertime barotropic to summertime baroclinic structures. the associated strong reversed under-cur-rent in summer is not well understood. Global circulation pattern is characterized by two regions of cyclonic and anti-cyclonic gyres in the north and south, respectively. The presence of these gyres indicates importance of local dynamics in East Sea circulation. This model, however, does not completely resolve the problem of overshooting of the East Korean Warm current.