• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.89-102
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• 2007

The surface circulation of northern South China Sea (hereafter SCS) for the period 1987-2005 was studied using the data of more than 500 satellite-tracked drifters and wind data from QuikSCAT. The mean flow directions in the northern SCS except the Luzon Strait (here after LS) during the periods October_March was southwestward, and $April{\sim}September$ northeastward. A strong northwestward intrusion of the Kuroshio through the LS appears during the $October{\sim}March$ period of northeasterly wind, but the intrusion became weak between April and September. When the strong intrusion occurred, the eddy kinetic energy (EKE) in the LS was $388cm^2/s^2$ which was almost 2 times higher than that during the weak-intrusion season. The volume transport of the Kuroshio in the east of the Philippines shows an inverse relationship to that of the LS. There is a six-month phase shift between the two seasonal phenomena. The volume transport in the east of the Philippines shows its peak sis-month earlier faster than that of the LS. The strong Kuroshio intrusion is found to be also related to the seasonal variation of the wind stress curl generated by the north easterly wind. The negative wind stress curl in the northern part of LS induces an anticyclonic flow, while the positive wind stress curl in the southern part of LS induces a cyclonic flow. The northwestward Kuroshio intrusion in the northern part of LS happened with larger negative wind stress curl, while the westward intrusion along $20.5^{\circ}N$ in the center of the LS occurred with weaker negative wind stress curl.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.61-64
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• 2008

Seasonal distribution of the oceanic water intrusion was investigated using satellite SST (sea surface temperature) and chl-a (chlorophyll-a) images taken by the MODIS Aqua sensor. The warm water mass emanating periodically from the meandering Kuroshio Current brings the oceanic water intrusion, known as the 'Kyucho' phenomenon, into Kagoshima bay during the winter. Satellite SST images and buoy robot data show that this warm water intrusion has the characteristics of a semigeostrophic gravity current influenced by the Coriolis effect. However, it is difficult to find the oceanic water intrusion during the summer season considering that it is accompanied by thermal stratification, and SST shows almost the same temperature between the inner side of the bay and the ocean. In this research, the satellite chl-a images taken by MODIS Aqua were employed instead of SST images to reveal the oceanic water intrusion in each season. The enclosed bay has the tendency to undergo eutrophication caused by organic materials from land and differences in chl-a concentration of the bay water and the oceanic water. As a result, distribution of low concentration chl-a with oceanic water intrusion in summer season shows almost the same pattern in winter season. On the other hand, in spring season, both SST and chl-a images are available to differentiate the oceanic water intrusion. Therefore, applying the suitable satellite sensor images for each season is effective in the monitoring of oceanic water intrusion. Moreover, in this area, SST and chl-a distribution reveal not only the oceanic water intrusion into Kagoshima bay but also the intrusion at Fukiage seashore facing East China Sea.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.281-291
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• 1993

A time-dependent primitive two0dimensional calculation is conducted to investigate the variations of Vol. transport onto the Yellow Sea and the Korea Strait with real bathymetries and to tract the Lagrangian movement of water particles. A series of experiment of the barotropic Kuroshio intrusions shows that the eddy induced branching of Kuroshio has sufficient intensity as to modify the continental shelf circulation. This intrusion seems to be one of the important forcing terms such as winds. tides and buoyancy that can also affect the dynamics in the region of the continental shelf. Transport variations across the shelfbreak due to the branching of Kuroshio which come particularly from the southwest of the Kyushu Island, have a strong relationship with the transport variations across the Korea Strait and in the southern area of the Yellow sea. The particle trajectories of the model results are well agreed with the trajectories of satellite tracking drifters obtained by one of the WOCE/TOGA program except the longer travel time period in the present model.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.203-215
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• 1995

Two hydrographic surveys along with direct current measurements using drogues and moored current meters were conducted in Cheju Strait during April and May, 1983. The data clearly demonstrate that a branch of the Kuroshio characterized by high temperature and high salinity enters the Cheju Strait after turning around the western coast of Cheju-Do. The width of the current turning west of Cheju-Do is about 60 km and reduces to 20∼30 km in the strait, resulting in a high speed(＞10 cm/s) at the western entrance and in the middle of the strait, compared with a low speed (＞5 cm/s) west of Cheju-Do. The Tsushima Current water also originating from the Kuroshio shows its influence in the eastern part of the Cheju Strait. Thermohaline fronts formed between the warm current waters and the coastal waters suggest the southward extension of the Yellow Sea Coastal Water west of the Cheju Strait. A warming of the warm current waters occurs in May, while a cooling takes place in other areas. The major freshening and cooling of water take place in the middle of the Cheju Strait in May due to the intrusion of cold and low salinity water from the west of the Cheju Strait.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.219-228
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• 2012

Tintinnid species distribution has been monitored in the northern East China Sea (ECS) in the summer of 2006 through 2011. This is used to understand the water mass movements in the northern ECS. The warm oceanic tintinnid species had largely spread in 2007 in the area, indicating that there was greater warm water extension into the northern ECS. However the extension of neritic water within the Changjiang diluted water mass has strengthened in 2008 and 2010 because the neritic species distribution had relatively grown in both years. These annual results based on the biological indicators of tintinnid species are well matched with the salinity change in the area. The warm oceanic species, Dadayiella ganymedes had frequently occurred over the study years and had shown a significant relationship with the salinity change. This is valuable as a key stone species for monitoring the intrusion of the Kuroshio within the northern ECS. Information from tintinnid biological indicators can support physical oceanography data to confirm ambiguous water mass properties.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.324-331
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• 1992

Water masses and circulations around Korean peninsula are briefly described based on recent studies. The results of theses studies are discussed from the physical point of view. Oceanic conditions in this region are largely due to the roles played by the Tsushima Warm Current, an onshore extension of the Kuroshio, and local conditions such as wind, surface heat flux and fresh water input etc. To the south and west of Korea, the northern/western border of the Tsushima Warm Current Water is roughly the line joining Taiwan and Cheju island. In summer, it is affected by large amount of fresh water discharged from the Changjiang and in winter, an intrusion of this water into the Yellow Sea is induced by the prevailing northwesterly monsoon wind. To the east of Korea, the Tsushima Warm Current Water presents roughly south of the line joining the wast coast of Korea near 37-38$^{\circ}$N and Tsugaru-Soya Straits in the northern Japan. But this situation, together with those in deeper layers, may greatly be changed by winter atmospheric conditions (wind and surface heat flux). The seas around Korea are not yet physically well understood and many problems wait physical explanations. Some problems, along with personal views of them, are mentioned.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2004

The Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and the Yellow Sea Cold Bottom Water (YSCBW) are two protruding features, which have strong influence on the community structure and distribution of zooplankton in the Yellow Sea. Both of them are seasonal phenomena. In winter, strong north wind drives southward flow at the surface along both Chinese and Korean coasts, which is compensated by a northward flow along the Yellow Sea Trough. That is the YSWC. It advects warmer and saltier water from the East China Sea into the southern Yellow Sea and changes the zooplankton community structure greatly in winter. During a cruise after onset of the winter monsoon in November 2001 in the southern Yellow Sea, 71 zooplankton species were identified, among which 39 species were tropical, accounting for 54.9 %, much more than those found in summer. Many of them were typical for Kuroshio water, e.g. Eucalanus subtenuis, Rhincalanus cornutus, Pareuchaeta russelli, Lucicutia flavicornis, and Euphausia diomedeae etc. 26 species were warm-temperate accounting for 36.6% and 6 temperate 8.5%. The distribution pattern of the warm water species clearly showed the impact of the YSWC and demonstrated that the intrusion of warmer and saltier water happened beneath the surface northwards along the Yellow Sea Trough. The YSCBW is a bottom pool of the remnant Yellow Sea Winter Water resulting from summer stratification and occupy most of the deep area of the Yellow Sea. The temperature of YSCBW temperature remains ${\leq}{\;}10^{\circ}C$ in mid-summer. It is served as an oversummering site for many temperate species, like Calanus sinicus and Euphaisia pacifica. Calanus sinicus is a dominant copepod in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea and can be found throughout the year with the year maximum in May to June. In summer it disappears in the coastal area and in the upper layer of central area due to the high temperature and shrinks its distribution into YSCBW.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 1998.09a
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• pp.95-100
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• 1998

The purpose of this study is to describe the change of the spring bloom and oceanographic condition. The variation of pigment concentration derived from the satellite ocean color data has been analyzed. According to the movement of blooming area, blooming was very concerned with a rising trend of sea surface temperature and a supply of nutrients. A nutrient rich water carried by the Oyashio encounters with the warm Core ring, where mixings and blooms are observed. We examined the correlation by using the satellite observations of the temperature and chlorophyll-a for the spring seasons (May, June, July) of 1998 the off Sanriku area (38-43N, 141- l50E). Using the SeaWiFS data, we process the data into the level-3, which contains the geophysical value of chlorophyll-a. And chlorophyll-a data is mapped for the water between 110E and 160E, and 15N and 52N with a 0.08 * 0.05 degree grid for each image. And Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data is produced using the AVHRR onboard the NOAA. The SST is derived by the MCSST. Then, the data is mapped for the water as much as chi-a data. And these gridded image was made by detection of each water masses, which are Kuroshio Extension, the warm-core ring and the Oyashlo Intrusion, etc., using those satellite images to determine short term change. Off Sanriku is a place where warm-water pool and the Oyashio at-e mixed. When warm streamer has intruded in cold water, the volume of phytoplankton increases at the tip of warm streamer. Warm water streamer was trigger of occurring blooming. And also, SeaWiFS images provided as much information for the studies of chlorophyll-a concentrations in the surface.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.19-40
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• 2023

To investigate the role of water masses in the Jeju Strait in summer on the shallow coastal region and the characteristics of water properties in the strait, temperature and salinity were observed across the Jeju Strait in June, July, and August 2019. The cold water pool, whose temperature is lower than 15℃, was observed in the mid-depths of the central Jeju Strait and on the northern bottom slope of the strait. The cold water pools have the lowest temperature in the strait. To identify water masses comprising the cold water pool in the Jeju Strait, mixing ratios of water masses were calculated. The mid-depth cold water pool of the Jeju Strait consists of 54% of the Kuroshio Subsurface Water (KSSW) and 33% of the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water (YSBCW). Although the cold water pool is dominantly affected by the KSSW, the YSBCW plays a major role to make the cold water pool maintain the lowest temperature in the Jeju Strait. To find origin of the cold water pool, temperature and salinity data from the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and Korea Strait in the summer of 2019 were analyzed. The cold water pool was generated along the thermohaline frontal zone between the KSSW and YSBCW in the East China Sea where intrusion and mixing of water masses are active below the seasonal thermocline. The cold water in the thermohaline frontal zone had similar mixing ratio to the cold water pool in the Jeju Strait and it advected toward the Korea Strait and shallow coastal region off the south coast of Korea. Intrusion of the mid-depth cold water pool made temperature inversion in the Jeju Strait and affected sea surface temperature variations at the coastal region off the south coast of Korea.