• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.2
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• pp.688-691
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• 2006

The current system of the East China Sea, a marginal sea in the northwest Pacific, has a seasonal variation. The Changjiang Diluted Water, Chinese coastal water in the East China Sea, has different seasonal paths. It flows southward along the Chinese coast within a narrow band in winter and does northeastward the Korea/Tsushima Strait in summer, which has been a subject to many researchers. In particular, low salinity in the South Sea of Korea in 1996 and 1998 was in discord with the Changjiang River discharge and the Changjiang Diluted Water seems to play an important role in occurrence of red tide in the South Sea of Korea in 1997 and on the contrary, disappearance in the next year. These facts suggested that the Changjiang Diluted Water does not flow along the same path in every summer. According to the analyses for path of the Changjiang Diluted Water using ocean color images by SeaWiFS and salinity observations by shipboard CTD in August for recent years, the Changjiang Diluted Water in summer flowed within the range of direction from southeastward to north-northeastward anticlockwise. However, the Changjiang Diluted Water flowed northeastward toward Jeju Island of Korea for the most part. It is necessary to examine the influence of major factors on path variability of the CDW in summer such as surface wind, the Changjiang River discharge and background current.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.121-132
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• 2023

Marine heatwaves (MHWs), referring to anomalously high sea surface temperatures, have drawn significant attention from marine scientists due to their broad impacts on the surface marine ecosystem, fisheries, weather patterns, and various human activities. In this study, we examined the impact of the distribution of Changjiang diluted water (CDW), a significant factor causing oceanic property changes in the East China Sea (ECS) during the summer, on MHWs. The surface salinity distribution in the ECS indicates that from June to August, the eastern extension of the CDW influences areas as far as Jeju Island and the Korea Strait. In September, however, the CDW tends to reside in the Changjiang estuary. Through the Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis of the cumulative intensity of MHWs during the summer, we extracted the loading vector of the first mode and its principal component time series to conduct a correlation analysis with the distribution of the CDW. The results revealed a strong negative spatial correlation between areas of the CDW and regions with high cumulative intensity of MHWs, indicating that the reinforcement of stratification due to low-salinity water can increase the intensity and duration of MHWs. This study suggests that the CDW may still influence the spatial distribution of MHWs in the region, highlighting the importance of oceanic environmental factors in the occurrence of MHWs in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.89-100
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• 2023

We investigated the spatial distribution of heterotrophic bacteria associated with different water masses in the northern East China Sea(ECS) in summer. The surface water masses were divided into the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) and high salinity water (HSW). In the CDW region, the concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), and micro Chl-a contribution were high; and bacterial abundance (BA) and ciliate abundance (CA) were also high. In the HSW region with relatively low DIN concentrations, Chl-a concentration and micro Chl-a contribution were low, but pico Chl-a contribution was increased compared to those in the CDW region. BA did not show any significant difference from the CDW region, but CA was decreased. BA showed a positive correlation with Chl-a concentration in the CDW region; however, it did not show a significant correlation with Chl-a concentration in the HSW region. The ratio of bacterial carbon biomass/phytoplankton carbon biomass was exponentially increased with a decrease in the Chl-a concentration. Compared to the past (1990-2000s), the surface phosphate concentrations and the size of dominant phytoplankton have recently decreased in the ECS. Considering this trend of nutrient decrease and miniaturization of the phytoplankton, our results indicate that changes in the strength of the oligotrophic water mass could alter the function of the microbial food web.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.421-437
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• 2010

Surface particulate organic carbon (POC) concentration estimated from Maximum Normalized Difference Carbon Index (MNDCI) algorithm using SeaWiFS data is used to determine spatial and temporal variations of the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) in the East China Sea. 10-year monthly POC concentrations (1997-2007) show clearly seasonal variations. Inter-annual variation of POC in whole and three different areas separated by standard deviation is not linearly correlated with the Changjiang River discharge that has decreased after 1998. To determine more detailed spatial and temporal POC variations, we used empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis in summer (Jun.-Sep.) from 2000 to 2007. First mode is spatially and temporally correlated with the area influenced by the Changjiang River discharge. Second mode is temporally less sensitive with the Changjiang River discharge but spatially correlated with north-south patterns. Relatively higher POC variations during 2000 and 2003 were shown in the southern East China Sea. These patterns during 2004 and 2007 moved to the northern East China Sea. This phenomenon is better related to spatial variations of wind-direction than the amount of Changjiang River discharge, which is verified from in-situ measurement.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.351-359
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• 2010

This study examined extensive patches of floating green macroalgal (Ulva prolifera) mats in the northern East China Sea (ECS) using satellite images from mid May through July 2008 and field observation made during early August 2008 cruise. It was previously reported that the massive macroalgal blooms occurred in the coastal areas of Qingdao in China. During our field survey, researchers noticed widely distributed floating patches of macroalgal mats ranging in size from tens of centimeters to a few hundred meters in diameter. Meteorological data in the northern ECS showed high irradiance, high air-temperature, and predominant southerly winds in summer. In the study area during the survey period, surface waters were characterized by the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) mass, which contained high concentrations of nitrate and phosphate. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of U. prolifera found in the northern ECS was the same as those of U. prolifera sampled from Qingdao blooms, suggesting a possibility that U. prolifera found in two regions would be derived from the same origin. We suggest that U. prolifera in the nearshore Jiangsu Province drifted into the northern ECS and proliferated under favorable meteorological and oceanographic conditions during the summer of 2008.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_2
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• pp.1307-1315
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• 2021

The Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) spreads over the East China Sea every summer and significantly affects the sea surface salinity changes in the seas around Jeju Island and the southern coast of Korea peninsula. Sometimes its effect extends to the eastern coast of Korea peninsula through the Korea Strait. Specifically, the CDW has a significant impact on marine physics and ecology and causes damage to fisheries and aquaculture. However, due to the limited field surveys, continuous observation of the CDW in the East China Sea is practically difficult. Many studies have been conducted using satellite measurements to monitor CDW distribution in near-real time. In this study, an algorithm for estimating Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) in the East China Sea was developed using the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI). The Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network (MPNN) method was employed for developing an algorithm, and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) SSS data was selected for the output. In the previous study, an algorithm for estimating SSS using GOCI was trained by 2016 observation data. By comparison, the train data period was extended from 2015 to 2020 to improve the algorithm performance. The validation results with the National Institute of Fisheries Science (NIFS) serial oceanographic observation data from 2011 to 2019 show 0.61 of coefficient of determination (R²) and 1.08 psu of Root Mean Square Errors (RMSE). This study was carried out to develop an algorithm for monitoring the surface salinity of the East China Sea using GOCI and is expected to contribute to the development of the algorithm for estimating SSS by using GOCI-II.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.17-32
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• 2022

The buffer capacity of southern Korean waters in summer was quantified using data set of temperature, salinity, dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity obtained from August 2020 cruise. The geographical distribution and variability of six buffer factors, which amended the existing Revelle factor, are discussed their relationship with the hydrological parameters of temperature and salinity. The calculated results of six buffer factors showed the spatial variations according to the distributions of various water masses. The buffer capacity was low in the East Sea Surface Mixed Water (ESMW) and South Sea Surface Mixed Water (SSMW) where upwelling occurred, and showed an intermediate value in the Yellow Sea Surface Water (YSSW). In addition, the buffer capacity increased in the order of high temperature Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) and Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW). This means that the Changjiang discharge water in summer strengthens the buffer capacity of the study area. The highest buffer capacity of CDW is due to its relatively higher temperature and biological productivity, and a summer stratification. Temperature showed a good positive correlation (R²=0.79) with buffer capacity in all water masses, whereas salinity exhibited a poor negative correlation (R²=0.30). High temperature strengthens buffer capacity through thermodynamic processes such as gas exchange and distribution of carbonate system species. In the case of salinity, the relationship with buffer capacity is reversed because salinity of the study area is not controlled by precipitation or evaporation but by a local freshwater input and mixing with upwelled water.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.259-270
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• 2016

Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) observations from the Aquarius satellite in the East Sea show large systematic biases mainly caused by the surrounding lands and Radio Frequency Interferences (RFI) along the descending orbits on which the satellite travels from the Asian continent to the East Sea. To develop a technique for correcting the systematic biases unique to the East Sea, the least square regression between in situ observations of salinity and the reanalyzed salinities by HYCOM is first performed. Then monthly mean reanalyzed salinities fitted to the in situ salinities are compared with monthly mean Aquarius salinities to calculate mean biases in $1^{\circ}{\times}1^{\circ}$ boxes. Mean biases in winter (December-March) are found to be considerably larger than those in other seasons possibly caused by the inadequate correction of surface roughness in the sea surrounded by the land, and thus the mean bias corrections are performed using two bias tables. Large negative biases are found in the area near the coast of Japan and in the areas with islands. In the northern East Sea, data sets using the ascending orbit only (SCIA) are chosen for correction because of large RFI errors on the descending orbit (SCID). Resulting mean biases between the reanalysis salinities fitted to in situ observations and the bias corrected Aquarius salinities are less than 0.2 psu in all areas. The corrected mean salinity distributions in March and September demonstrate marked improvements when compared with mean salinities from the World Ocean Atlas (WOA [2005-2012]). In September, salinity distributions based on the corrected Aquarius and on the WOA (2005-2012) show similar distributions of Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) in the East Sea.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.189-206
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• 2015

The present study was conducted to investigate the oceanic characteristics of the northern East China Sea through identification of long-term variation patterns of oceanic environment factors, for the objective of gaining understanding of oceanic environment characteristics of the northern waters of East China Sea, which closely influence the oceanic environments of waters nearby South Korea. The study methodology included the use of oceanographic data (water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and chlorophyll-a) on the northern East China Sea from the Korea Oceanographic Data Center (KODC), collected by season for 20 years between 1995 and 2014. Moreover, for the study on the distribution of nutrients, chlorophyll-a. The main water masses that affected the northern East China Sea during the study period were classified as Changjiang diluted water (CDW), Tiawan current warm water (TCWW), Yellow Sea cold water (YSCW), and Kuroshio source water (KW). The forces of CDW and TCWW that forms on the surface and sub-surface layers had weakened for 20 years and the force of KW that forms on the intermediate layer showed a distinctively decreasing trend. However, YSCW showed a trend of expanding its force. Phosphate and silicate exhibited a decreasing tendency and phosphate showed a pattern of being depleted on the surface layer after 2009. It is determined that one of the reasons for this is the concentration of nutrients introduced through CDW and TCWW being too low. The concentration of chlorophyll-a exhibited an increasing tendency during the study period, the reasons for which are determined to be the influences of increase in water temperature, supply of nutrients via YSCW, and increases in light transmission from decrease in suspended solid due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

• 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.