• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.245-252
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• 2004

The mechanism of cold core eddy formation was investigated using boundary conditions between the East China coastal cold water and the Kuroshio Warm Current, wind data related to the monsoon which was measured by QuikSCAT, and the bottom topography of the East China Sea. When winds blow from the southeast at an intensity comparable to that in the winter period in 1999 and 2003, the warm Kuroshio and Tsushima Current became stronger, and temperatures were considerably higher than those of the extended cold water of the coast of the East China. At that time, the cold water was captured by warm water from the Kuroshio and the Tsushima Current. This facilitated the formation of mesoscale cold core eddies with diameter of 150km in the East China Sea in May, 1999 and February, 2003. The cold core eddy which was detected by NOAA, SeaWiFS and QuikSCAT satellites. The East China Sea is considered to be important not only as a good fishing ground but also nursery and spawning area for many kinds of fishes. Therefore, it would be worth studying spatio-temporal variations of the cold core eddy in the environmental conditions of the northwestern East China Sea using systematic remote sensing techniques.