• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.581-588
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• 2019

A long-term trend analysis of cold water masses along eastern coast of South Korea was performed during summer, based on wind speed, wind direction, and sea surface temperature (SST) data. Wind data collected over a 22-year period (1997-2011) were compared with another set of data collected over the successive 7-year (2012-2018), highlighting a general decrease in the frequency and speed of south winds. However, both the frequency and speed of these winds have been higher in June between 2012-2018, rather than between 1997-2011. The cold water season between July and August was faster during the 7-year period; moreover, the SSTs registered around Gangneung (EN) rose by $0.5^{\circ}C- 1.8^{\circ}C$, while those around Yeongdeok (EC) and Gijang (ES) increased by only $0.1^{\circ}C-0.3^{\circ}C$. The number of cold water days during the 7-year period, compared to those recorded during previous years (1990-2011, satellite SST data by NOAA/AVHRR), decreased in the proximity of Yeongdeok and Gijang, but increased in the proximity of Kangneung. Additionally, the number of cold water days around Kangneung, Yeongdeok, and Gijang increased in June highlighting a geographical and temporal change in the occurrence of cold waters. These observation can be explained by variations in the pressure distribution that should have weakened the East Asian monsoon, affecting the direction and speed of winds that regulate the flow of cold waters.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.240-249
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• 2005

The normal Indian Ocean is characterized by warmer waters over the eastern region and cooler waters over the western region. Changes in sea surface temperature (SST) over the western and eastern Indian Ocean give birth to a phenomenon now referred to as the Indian Ocean Dipole Mode (IODM). The positive phase of this mode is characterized by positive SST anomalies over the western Indian Ocean and negative anomalies over the southeastern Indian Ocean, while the negative phase is characterized by a reversed SST anomaly pattern. On the other hand, the normal Pacific Ocean has warm (cool) waters over the western (eastern) parts. Positive (negative) SST anomalies over the central/eastern (western) Pacific Ocean characterize the E1 Nino phenomenon. The reverse situation leads to the La Nina phenomenon. The coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon over the Pacific is referred to as the E1 Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. In this study the impact of IODM and ENSO on the East Asian monsoon variability has been studied using observational data and using the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Five sets of model experiments were performed with anomalous SST patterns associated with IODM/ENSO superimposed on the climatological SSTs. The empirical and dynamic approaches reveal that it takes about 3-4 seasons fur the peak IODM mode to influence the summer monsoon activity over East Asia. On the other hand, the impact of ENSO on the East Asian monsoon could occur simultaneously. Further, the negative (positive) phase of IODM and E1 Nino (La Nina) over the Pacific enhances (suppresses) monsoon activity over the Korea-Japan Sector. Alternatively, IODM appears to have no significant impact on monsoon variability over China. However, El Nino (La Nina) suppresses (enhances) monsoon activity over China. While the IODM appears to influence the North Pacific subtropical high, ENSO appears to influence the Aleutian low over the northwest Pacific. Thus, the moisture supply towards East Asia from the Pacific is determined by the strengthening/weakening of the subtropical high and the Aleutian low.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.6_1
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• pp.953-968
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• 2018

In order to understand the change of surface water temperature in the East China Sea (ECS), this study analyzed the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST), air temperature (AT) and heat flux using satellite and model reanalysis data from 2003 to 2017. SST in the ECS showed the lowest (average : $13.72^{\circ}C$) in March and the highest (average : $28.12^{\circ}C$) in August. AT is highly correlated with SST and shows a similar seasonal change. In August, SST is higher than AT and then continuously higher than AT until winter. To analyze the change of the summer SST in the ECS, we used the SST anomaly value in August to classify the periods with positive (04', 06', 07', 13', 16', 17') and negative (03', 05', 08', 09', 10', 11', 12', 14', 15') values. Spatial similarity between the two periods indicates that SSTs are relatively larger variations in the northern part than in the southern part, and in the western part than in the eastern part in the study area. AT and net heat flux values also show similar changes with SST. However, the periods of the positive SST anomaly have the relatively increasing SST, AT and heat flux values compared to the periods of the negative SST anomaly in the summer season of the ECS. Although the change of SST in the summer season generally well correlates with AT, there were the periods when it was different from general trends between SST and AT (10', 12', 15', 16'). SST in August 2010 and 2012 decreased by $0.5^{\circ}C$ from AT. It suggests that the decreasing SST was considered to be caused by the effects of the typhoon passing through the study area. In August 2015, AT was relatively lower than SST (> $0.5^{\circ}C$), which is might be weakening of the East Asian Summer Monsoon. In August 2016, SST and AT show the highest values during the whole study periods, but SST is higher than AT (> $1^{\circ}C$). From satellite and heat flux data, the variations of SST have been shown to be relatively higher in the area of the expansion Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) originated from the China coast. More research is needed to analyze this phenomenon, it is believed as not only the effect of rising AT but also the expansion of the low-salinity water.