• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.2
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• pp.529-532
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• 2006

The oceanic currents in the South China Sea (SCS) are strongly influenced by monsoon winds. A review on the SCS currents has indicated that previous studies have pointed out an anticyclonic circulation in the area between the southern Vietnam coast and the Spratly Islands. However, its detail is not understood because of less information of in situ observations. The physical-biological interaction is quite new research area, which has been established and promoted by means of the ocean color remote sensing. Temporal/spatial variability of the phytoplankton activities are well captured by ocean color (OC) -derived Chlorophyll-a images. Combining the OC-Chl-a and the other high-resolution satellite data (e.g., SST images), the biological aspects of oceanographic variation is well described. The blooming phenomena in the area between the southern Vietnam coast and the Spratly islands are further investigated. Change in the wind-system related to the El Nino generates upwelling/SST-cooling in the sea south of the Spratly Islands through the air-sea-land interaction was studied. The seasonal upwelling is also associated with the harmful algal bloom (HAB) off two side of Indochina Peninsula have investigated. The seasonal variation of SCS phytoplankton blooming and related oceanic conditions in Vietnam coast was observed. Ocean color satellite data has effective contribute to study the oceanic condition and phytoplankton blooming in South China Sea.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.301-313
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• 2006

Abundance and distribution of phytoplankton in seawater at southwestern East/Japan Sea near Gampo were investigated by HPLC analysis of photosynthetic pigments during summer of 1999. Detected photosynthetic pigments were chlorophyll a, b, $c_{1+2}$ (Chl a, Chl b, Chl $c_{1+2}$), fucoxanthin (Fuco), prasinoxanthin (Pras), zeaxanthin (Zea), 19'-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin (But-fuco) and beta-carotene (B-Car). Major carotenoid was fucoxanthin (bacillariophyte) and minor carotenoids were Pras (prasinophyte), Zea (cyanophyte) and But-fuco (chrysophyte). Chl a concentrations were in the range of $0.16-8.3\;{\mu}g/land$ subsurface chlorophyll maxima were observed at 0-10m at inshore and 30-50 m at offshore. Thermocline and nutricline tilted to the offshore direction showed a mild upwelling condition. Results from size-fraction showed that contribution from nano+picoplankton at Chl a maximum layer was increased from 18% at inshore to 69% at offshore on average. The maximum contribution from nano+picoplankton was found as 87% at St. E4. It was noteworthy that contribution from nano+picoplanktonic crysophytes and green algae to total biomass of phytoplankton was significant at offshore. Satellite images of sea surface temperature indicated that an extensive area of the East/Japan Sea showed lower temperature ($<18\;^{\circ}C$) but the enhanced Chi a patch was confined to a narrow coastal region in summer, 1999. Exceptionally high flux of low saline water from the Korea/Tsushima Strait seemed to make upwelling weak in summer of 1999 in the study area. Results of comparisons among Chi a from SeaWiFS, HPLC and fluorometric analysis showed that presence of Chi b cause underestimation of Chi a about 30% by fluorometric analysis but overestimation by satellite data about 30-75% compared to HPLC data.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.603-613
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• 1996

Hydrographic conditions (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen), nutrients, chlorophyll-a and suspended solid have been studied in the southwestern coastal area of Cheju Island from April 1993 to March 1994. Vertical profile of temperature, salinity and chemical properties (nutrients, chlorophyll-a) distribution in th southwestern sea of Cheju Island showed a upwelling feature. Although it was not clear in winter season, it seems to continued through out the year. In the surface water at the upwelling areas, the ranges of dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate and silicate was $3.30\~8.43\;ml/l,\;0\~7.12{\mu}g/l,\;0.03\~1.75{\mu}g-at/l\;and\;2.75\~22.32\;{\mu}g-at/l$l, respectively. Nutrients was higher in the shore water than in the offshore water, because sufficient supply of nutrients from the bottom water by coastal upwelling. In November, especially high concentration silicate was observed at all the stations and depth in the study area. At all station of bottom water (down to the depth of 60 meter), concentration value of dissolved of gen was as high as 8 ml/l. Mean values of N/P was 8.0, lower than Redifield ratio of 16. The mean values of Si/P was observed to 46.3 in southwest of Cheju Island. Concentration of chlorophyll-a was in the range of $0.04\~2.36\;{\mu}g/l$. Concentration of chlorophyll-a in surface orator at all station was especially higher in spring than in other seasons. Mean concentration value of suspended solids was 3.14 mg/l $(0.75\~8.47\;mg/l)$. Ratio of the volatile suspended solids to the suspended solids was higher in the inshore water $(53\%)$ than in the offshore water $(46\%)$, and higher in the surface water than in the bottom water.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.51-63
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• 2004

Appearance of cold water in the coastal area off Ulsan-Campo, Southeastern coast of Korea, during summer has been well observed. To see the effect of this cold water on zooplankton distribution, we have collected zooplankton at 4 to 8 sites in the near coast as well as off coast for three times about two weeks of interval from July to August, 2001. Appearance of cold water was confirmed and total of about 195 zooplankton taxa were identified. Both the numbers of taxa appeared and zooplankton abundances did not show significant difference among the three sampling periods. On the other hand, the numbers of taxa appeared were generally greater in off coastal area while zooplankton abundances were greater in the near coastal area. These two variables showed different relationship with seawater temperatures. That is, the numbers of taxa appeared showed positive correlation with seawater temperatures (p<0.05) but abundances showed no significant relationship (p>0.05) with seawater temperatures of which variations were comparable with seasonal variations. It was postulated that the upwelling induced appearance of cold water enriched the nutrients, enhanced phytoplankton production and then provided better food conditions for smaller zooplankton in the near coastal part of this study area. In this context it was postulated that zooplankton distribution in the upwelling area might be controlled by food condition rather than seawater temperatures in spite of the large temperature variations caused by the appearance of cold water.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.303-314
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• 2003

The initiation of Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooming in the South Sea of Korea occurs in the sea near Naro-Do in late August. In this paper, the relationships of this annual occurrence with the environmental conditions are presented. In early summer, the winds in the sea near Naro-Do are southwesterly and the upwelling occurs in the near-shore area. The favorable winds to the upwelling are relaxed in August and the downwelling favorable northeasterly winds set in around late August. The change of wind direction causes the onshore transport of warm-and-fresh off-shore water into the sea near Naro-Do and a front between near-shore water and off·shore water is formed. Along the front, downwelling occurs and the environmental conditions for the diatom become unfavorable. When the typhoon and storm bring well-mixed East China Sea water into the sea near Naro-Do in September, the conditions for the dinoflagellates become unfavorable and blooming of C. polykrikoides disappears.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2010

This paper studies the origin of low back-scattering area appeared on the SAR image taken on the coastal waters off the southeast coast of Korea on July 5, 2000. Cold waters were frequently observed during summer on this coastal waters, and quasi-simultaneously taken AVHRR and SeaWiFS images also showed cold surface waters and high concentration of chlorophyll-a, respectively. By synergetic analysis of multi-sensor satellite images, it is strongly suggested that the cold and nutrient rich upwelling waters caused the high phytoplankton density and high biological activities in the water producing natural films for low back-scattering.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.345-352
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• 2010

The objective of this paper is to explore the short-term variability of water temperature and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) derived from in-situ and satellite data (NOAA, Sea WiFS and QuikScat) in the upwelling region of the southeastern part of Korean Peninsula in June and August, 2007. Particularly we focused on the spatial variability of sea surface temperature(SST) and Chl-a in the East Korean Warm Current region. In the results of the in-situ data, the peaks of Chl-a in june was shown at a depth of 50m The peaks of Chl-a in August was shown at a depth of 10m at the stations 4 and 5 near the land, and a depth of 30m at the other stations. The Chl-a concentrations in August were also lower than those in june except for station 5. As a result, the peaks of Chl-a in August occurred at a depth of 20~40 m shallower than those of Chl-a in june. This indicates that the nutrient-rich water within the mixed layer depth may be immediately supplied by the coastal upwelling, which is due to the southerly component of wind. The relationship between SST and Chl-a showed a negative correlation, and the high concentration of Chl-a occurred in the cold water area. The southerly wind and the East Korean Warm Current influenced a remarkable offshore movement of the cold water and Chl-a near the coastal area.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.156-164
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• 2018

In order to investigate the upwelling and island effects following the wind storm events in the East Sea (i.e., Uljin-Ulleungdo-Dokdo line) during spring, we assessed the vertical and horizontal profiles of abiotic and biotic factors, including phytoplankton communities. The assessment was based on the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) and field survey data. A strong south wind occurred on May 3, when the lowest sea level pressure (987.3 hPa) in 2016 was observed. Interestingly, after this event, huge blooms of phytoplankton were observed on May 12 along the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC), including the in the offshore waters of Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Although the diatoms dominated the EKWC area between the Uljin coastal waters and Ulleungdo, the population density of raphidophytes Heterosigma akashiwo was high in the offshore waters of Ulleungdo-Dokdo. Based on the vertical profiles of Chlorophyll-a (Chl. a), the sub-surface Chl. a maximum appeared at 20 m depths between Uljin and Ulluengdo, whereas relatively high Chl. a was distributed equally across the entire water column around the waters of Ulleungdo and Dokdo islands. This implies that the water mixing (i.e., upwelling) at the two islands, that occurred after the strong wind event, may have brought the rapid proliferation of autotrophic algae, with nutrient input, to the euphotic layer. Therefore, we have demonstrated that a strong south wind caused the upwelling event around the south-eastern Korean peninsula, which is one of the most important role in occurring the spring phytoplankton blooms along the EKWC. In addition, the phytoplankton blooms may have potentially influenced the oligotrophic waters with discrete time lags in the vicinity of Ulleungdo and Dokdo. This indicates that the phytoplankton community structure in the offshore waters of Ulleungdo-Dokdo is dependent upon the complicated water masses moving related to meandering of the EKWC.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.435-444
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• 2001

Daily time series of longshore wind at 8 stations, sea surface temperature (SST) at 11 stations in the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula during $1983\~1997$ and the NOAA/AVHRR satellite data during $1990\~1998$ were used in order to study the temporal and spatial variations of the upwelling cold water which occurred in the summer season. The cold water occurred frequently in the eastern coastal waters of Korea such as Soimal, Kijang, Ulgi, Kampo, Pohang, Youngduk, Chukbyun, Chumunjin and Sokcho, During the upwelling cold water phenomenon, SST came down more than $-5^{\circ}C$ in a day. The maximum of the averaged RMS amplitude of daily SST was $5.8^{\circ}C$ along the eastern coast of Korea on Julian day 212 from $1983\~1997$. The cross correlation coefficients were higher than 0.5 between Sokcho and Chumunjin in the northern part of the East Sea, and along Soimal, Kijang, Ulgi, Kampo and Pohang in the southern part of the East Sea. In late July, 1995 the cold water occurred at Ulgi coastal area and extended to Ullung island which is located 250 km off the Ulgi coast. Even though the distance between Soimal and the Ulgi coast area is more than 120 km, the cross correlation coefficient related to the anomalies of SST due to upwelling cold water was the highest (0.7) in the southeastern coastal area of the Korean peninsula. This connection may be due to the cyclonic circulation of the Tsushima Current in this area and the topography of the ocean rather than the local south wind which induced the coastal upwelling.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.2
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• pp.918-921
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• 2006

The short-term variation of sea surface temperature before and after typhoons and increase of chlorophyll a concentration that accompany with the typhoons during summer in the East/Japan Sea were explored by satellite. Four typhoons (NAMTHEUN, MEGI, CHABA and SONGDA) and a typhoon (NABI) passed over the East/Japan Sea in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Decreasing of SST was observed in the every five typhoons, however the magnitude of SST decreasing were various from 1 to $5^{\circ}C$. Chlorophyll a increases were found after the typhoons (0.1-3 ${\mu}g$ $l^{-1})$ except NAMTHEUN, and the area was approximately included in SST decreasing area by the typhoons. It suggests that chlorophyll a increase was caused by nutrient input from subsurface layer by strong mixing. On the other hand, rarely chlorophyll a increase was observed in northern area of polar frontal zone, which is located in $38-41^{\circ}N$, than northern area, and chlorophyll a increase in coastal area was higher (more than 3 times) than offshore area. It might suggest that chlorophyll a increase in the East/Japan Sea is also related with the depth or nitracline depth that affects the amount of nutrients supply to the upper layer by typhoon mixing.