• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.40-53
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• 2021

Research vessels(R/Vs) used for ocean research move to the planned research area and perform ocean observations suitable for the research purpose. The five research vessels of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology(KIOST) are equipped with global positioning system(GPS), water depth, weather, sea surface layer temperature and salinity measurement equipment that can be observed at all times during cruise. An information platform is required to systematically manage and utilize the data produced through such continuous observation equipment. Therefore, the data flow was defined through a series of business analysis ranging from the research vessel operation plan to observation during the operation of the research vessel, data collection, data processing, data storage, display and service. After creating a functional design for each stage of the business process, KIOST Underway Meteorological & Oceanographic Information System(KUMOS), a Web-Geographic information system (Web-GIS) based information platform, was built. Since the data produced during the cruise of the R/Vs have characteristics of temporal and spatial variability, a quality management system was developed that considered these variabilities. For the systematic management and service of data, the KUMOS integrated Database(DB) was established, and functions such as R/V tracking, data display, search and provision were implemented. The dataset provided by KUMOS consists of cruise report, raw data, Quality Control(QC) flagged data, filtered data, cruise track line data, and data report for each cruise of the R/V. The business processing procedure and system of KUMOS for each function developed through this study are expected to serve as a benchmark for domestic ocean-related institutions and universities that have research vessels capable of continuous observations during cruise.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2023

The East Sea, one of the regions where the most rapid warming is occurring, is known to have important implications for the response of the ocean to future climate changes because it not only reacts sensitively to climate change but also has a much shorter turnover time (hundreds of years) than the ocean (thousands of years). However, the processes underlying changes in seawater characteristics at the sea's deep and abyssal layers, and meridional overturning circulation have recently been examined only after international cooperative observation programs for the entire sea allowed in-situ data in a necessary resolution and accuracy along with recent improvement in numerical modeling. In this review, previous studies on the physical characteristics of seawater at deeper parts of the East Sea, and meridional overturning circulation are summarized to identify any remaining issues. The seawater below a depth of several hundreds of meters in the East Sea has been identified as the Japan Sea Proper Water (East Sea Proper Water) due to its homogeneous physical properties of a water temperature below 1℃ and practical salinity values ranging from 34.0 to 34.1. However, vertically high-resolution salinity and dissolved oxygen observations since the 1990s enabled us to separate the water into at least three different water masses (central water, CW; deep water, DW; bottom water, BW). Recent studies have shown that the physical characteristics and boundaries between the three water masses are not constant over time, but have significantly varied over the last few decades in association with time-varying water formation processes, such as convection processes (deep slope convection and open-ocean deep convection) that are linked to the re-circulation of the Tsushima Warm Current, ocean-atmosphere heat and freshwater exchanges, and sea-ice formation in the northern part of the East Sea. The CW, DW, and BW were found to be transported horizontally from the Japan Basin to the Ulleung Basin, from the Ulleung Basin to the Yamato Basin, and from the Yamato Basin to the Japan Basin, respectively, rotating counterclockwise with a shallow depth on the right of its path (consistent with the bottom topographic control of fluid in a rotating Earth). This horizontal deep circulation is a part of the sea's meridional overturning circulation that has undergone changes in the path and intensity. Yet, the linkages between upper and deeper circulation and between the horizontal and meridional overturning circulation are not well understood. Through this review, the remaining issues to be addressed in the future were identified. These issues included a connection between the changing properties of CW, DW, and BW, and their horizontal and overturning circulations; the linkage of deep and abyssal circulations to the upper circulation, including upper water transport from and into the Western Pacific Ocean; and processes underlying the temporal variability in the path and intensity of CW, DW, and BW.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.297-306
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• 2023

Saemangeum Lake is the largest artificial lake in Korea. The continuous deterioration of lake water quality necessitates the introduction of novel water quality management strategies. Therefore, this study aims to identify the spatiotemporal water quality characteristics of Saemangeum Lake using data from the National Water Quality Measurement Network and provide basic information for water quality management. In the water quality parameters of Saemangeum Lake, water temperature and total phosphorous content were correlated, and salt, total nitrogen content, pH, and chemical oxygen demand were significantly correlated. Other parameters showed a low correlation. The spatial principal component analysis of Saemangeum Lake showed the characteristics of its four zones. The mid-to-downstream section of the river affected by freshwater inflow showed a high nutrient salt concentration, and the deep-water section of the drainage gate and the lake affected by seawater showed a high salt concentration. Two types of water qualities were observed in the intermediate water area where river water and outer sea water were mixed: waters with relatively low salt and high chemical oxygen demand, and waters with relatively low salt and high pH concentration. In the principal component analysis by time, the water quality was divided into four groups based on the observation month. Group I occurred during May and June in late spring and early summer, Group II was in early spring (March-April) and late autumn (November-December), Group III was in winter (January-February), and Group IV was in summer (July-October) during high temperatures. The water quality characteristics of Saemangeum Lake were found to be affected by the inflow of the upper Mangyeong and Dongjin rivers, and the seawater through the Garuk and Shinshi gates installed in the Saemangeum Embankment. In order to achieve the target water quality of Saemangeum Lake, it is necessary to establish water quality management measures for Saemangeum Lake along with pollution source management measures in the upper basin.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2008

Eight comprehensive oceanographic cruises on a squared $30{\times}30\;km$ area have been made to investigate the short and long-term impacts on the water qualities due to the sand mining operations at Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the central Yellow Sea from 2004 to 2007. The area was categorized to 'Sand Mining Zone', 'Potentially Affected Zone', and 'Reference Zone'. The investigation covered suspended solids, nutrients (nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, phosphate), and chlorophyll-a in seawater and several parameters such as water temperature, salinity, pH, and ORP. Additionally, several intensive water collections were made to trace the suspended solids and other parameters along the turbid water by sand mining activities. The comprehensive investigation showed that suspended solids, nitrate, chlorophyll-a and ORP be sensitively responding parameters of seawater by sand mining operations. The intensive collection of seawater near the sand mining operation revealed that each parameter show different distribution pattern: suspended solids showed an oval-shaped distribution of the north-south direction of 8 km wide and the east-west direction of 5 km wide at the surface and bottom layers. On the other hand, phosphate showed so narrow distribution not to traceable. Also ammonium showed a limited distribution, but its boundary was connected to the high nitrate and chlorophyll-a concentrations with high N/P ratios. From the last 4 years of the comprehensive and intensive investigations, we found that suspended solids, ammonium, nitrate, chlorophyll-a, and ORP revealed the sensitive parameters of water quality for tracing the sand mining operations in seawater. Especially suspended solids and ORP would be useful tracers for monitoring the water qualities of remote area like EEZ in Yellow Sea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.357-365
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• 2011

The variation of the dissolved inorganic nutrients were investigated four times per year in the costal area of Gunsan, Yellow Sea from 2001 to 2010. Water samples were collected at 10 stations and phsico-chemical parameters were analyzed including water temperature, salinity, suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, chlorophyll a and dissolved inorganic nutrients. The average of dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN) for ten years at Gunsan area showed similar concentration between surface and bottom. The average of DIN at surface was 0.421mg/L (0.198~0.846mg/L) and bottom was 0.344mg/L(0.148~0.717mg/L). The highest value of annual average of DIN at surface was 0.846mg/L in 2002 and the lowest value was 0.198mg/L in 2010. The percentage of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate for the average DIN of 10 years showed 27%, 3% and 70% which showed most of DIN was nitrate. Dissolved inorganic phosphate(DIP) for ten years at Gunsan area showed similar concentration between surface and bottom and DIP was decreasing from 2003 to 2010. The average of DIP of 10 years was 0.024mg/L and annual average 0.021mg/L in 2008, 0.007mg/L in 2009 and 0.008mg/L in 2010 which showed decreasing pattern from 2007 to 2010. The average of DIN/DIP ratio from 2002 to 2010 was 6.0(3.2~10.1) at surface and 4.6(2.6~7.0) at bottom. The average value of dissolved inorganic silicate from 2004 to 2010 showed 0.372mg/L at surface layer and 0.352mg/L at bottom layer and was on decreased from 2006 to 2010. The Spearman's correlation analysis was carried out to knowrelation among the salinity and dissolved inorganic nutrients at the surface and bottom layer. The correlation factor of DIN was -0.72, DIP was -0.46 and dissolved inorganic silicate was -0.63 at surface layer and DIN was -0.70, DIP was -0.44 and dissolved inorganic silicate was -0.57 at bottom layer. The dissolved inorganic nutrients at the nearshore of Gunsan was affected from the freshwater discharge of Geum river. Especially, a lot of DIN flowed into the nearshore of Gunsan from Guem river. The concentration of dissolved inorganic nutrients at Gunsan showed high at station 1, 2 and 3 and there was a little concentration differences according to the cruise time. The concentration of dissolved inorganic nutrients showed high value at the station 1, 2, 3 which exist nearshore of Gunsan city and it means these stations mainly affected by Geum river and Gunsan city. The annual average of dissolved inorganic nutrients showed gradually decreased from 2003 to 2010 and we need more research on this conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.924-942
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• 2021

The expansion of the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) plume during summer is known to be a major factor influencing phytoplankton diversity, community structure, and the regional marine environment of the northern East China Sea (ECS). The discharge of the CDW plume was very high in the summer of 2020, and cruise surveys and stationary monitoring were conducted to understand the dynamics of changes in environmental characteristics and the impact on phytoplankton diversity and community structure. A cruise survey was conducted from August 16 to 17, 2020, using R/V Eardo, and a stay survey at the Ieodo Ocean Research Station (IORS) from August 15 to 21, 2020, to analyze phytoplankton diversity and community structure. The southwestern part of the survey area exhibited low salinity and high chlorophyll a fluorescence under the influence of the CDW plume, whereas the southeastern part of the survey area presented high salinity and low chlorophyll a fluorescence under the influence of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC). The total chlorophyll a concentrations of surface water samples from 12 sampling stations indicated that nano-phytoplankton (20-3 ㎛) and micro-phytoplankton (> 20 ㎛) were the dominant groups during the survey period. Only stations strongly influenced by the TWC presented approximately 50% of the biomass contributed by pico-phytoplankton (< 3 ㎛). The size distribution of phytoplankton in the surface water samples is related to nutrient supplies, and areas where high nutrient (nitrate) supplies were provided by the CDW plume displayed higher biomass contribution by micro-phytoplankton groups. A total of 45 genera of nano- and micro-phytoplankton groups were classified using morphological analysis. Among them, the dominant taxa were the diatoms Guinardia flaccida and Nitzschia spp. and the dinoflagellates Gonyaulax monacantha, Noctiluca scintillans, Gymnodinium spirale, Heterocapsa spp., Prorocentrum micans, and Tripos furca. The sampling stations affected by the TWC and low in nitrate concentrations presented high concentrations of photosynthetic pico-eukaryotes (PPE) and photosynthetic pico-prokaryotes (PPP). Most sampling stations had phosphate-limited conditions. Higher Synechococcus concentrations were enumerated for the sampling stations influenced by low-nutrient water of the TWC using flow cytometry. The NGS analysis revealed 29 clades of Synechococcus among PPP, and 11 clades displayed a dominance rate of 1% or more at least once in one sample. Clade II was the dominant group in the surface water, whereas various clades (Clades I, IV, etc.) were found to be the next dominant groups in the SCM layers. The Prochlorococcus group, belonging to the PPP, observed in the warm water region, presented a high-light-adapted ecotype and did not appear in the northern part of the survey region. PPE analysis resulted in 163 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), indicating very high diversity. Among them, 11 major taxa showed dominant OTUs with more than 5% in at least one sample, while Amphidinium testudo was the dominant taxon in the surface water in the low-salinity region affected by the CDW plume, and the chlorophyta was dominant in the SCM layer. In the warm water region affected by the TWC, various groups of haptophytes were dominant. Observations from the IORS also presented similar results to the cruise survey results for biomass, size distribution, and diversity of phytoplankton. The results revealed the various dynamic responses of phytoplankton influenced by the CDW plume. By comparing the results from the IORS and research cruise studies, the study confirmed that the IORS is an important observational station to monitor the dynamic impact of the CDW plume. In future research, it is necessary to establish an effective use of IORS in preparation for changes in the ECS summer environment and ecosystem due to climate change.