• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.695-702
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• 2009

This study includes spatial variations in the catch of billfishes in the Pacific Ocean and examines factors affecting interannual changes in the catch. Main billfish species caught by Korean tuna longline fishery were blue marlin and swordfish. A main fishing ground of the species was the tropical Pacific Ocean, while additional fishing ground of billfishes tended to be formed in the Pacific coast of Mexico in the El Nino periods. Further, the catch of billfishes was significantly related to CPUE (tons/average of the used hooks/vessel) in the entire Pacific Ocean as an index of stock abundance and equatorial SOI (EQSOI) as an index of El Nino event. Annual changes in the catch of billfishes in the Pacific Ocean could be regulated mainly by variations of stock abundance. In addition, increase of the density of billfishes in the tropical Pacific and additional formation of fishing ground by El Nino event possibly contribute to increase of the catch of billfishes in the Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, linear regression model may be more adequate in the analysis of relationships between fisheries data and indices made from using some environmental factors.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.351-360
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• 2004

To investigate latitudinal variations in the zooplankton community along the meridian line ($5^{\circ}N-12^{\circ}N$, $131.5^{\circ}W$), we measured temperature, salinity, nitrate, chlorophyll-a and zooplankton at depths above 200 m from July $10^{th}$ to $25^{th}$, 2003. For comparative analysis, data of the physico-chemical properties and chl-a were matched to the two sampling depths (surface mixed layer and thermocline depth-200 m) of zooplankton. Latitudinal differences in the mesozooplankton distribution were mainly influenced by divergence formed at a boundary line formed by currents of opposing directions, consisting of North Equatorial Current (NEC) and North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC). High concentrations of chl-a south of $9^{\circ}N$, caused by equatorial upwelling related nutrients, is thought to be affected by the role of this divergence barrier, supported by relatively low concentrations in waters north of $9^{\circ}N$. The latitudinal differences of the chl-a were significantly associated with the major groups of zooplankton, namely calanoid and cyclopoid copepods, appendicularians, ostracods, chaetognaths, invertebrate larvae, and others. And temperature significantly affected the latitudinal variation of radiolarians, siphonophores, salps and immature copepods. The latitudinal differences in the two factors, temperature and chl-a, which explained 71.0% of the total zooplankton variation, were characterized by the equatorial upwelling as well as the divergence at $9^{\circ}N$. The physical characteristics also affected the community structure and abundance of zooplankton as well as average ratios of cyclopoid versus calanoid copepods. The abundance of dominant copepods, which were consistent with chl-a, were often associated with the carnivorous zooplankton chaetognaths, implying the relative importance of bottom-up regulation from physical properties to predatory zooplankton during the study period. These results suggested that latitudinal distribution of zooplankton is primarily controlled by current-related divergences, while biological processes are of secondary importance in the northeastern Equatorial Pacific during the study period in question.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.105-109
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• 2018

El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ is the largest fluctuation in the climate system, and it can lead to effects influencing humans all over the world. An El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ occurs when sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become substantially higher than average. We investigated the change in sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean during the El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ period of 2015 and 2016 using the advanced very-high-resolution radiometer (AVHRR) of NOAA Satellites. We calculated anomalies of the Pacific equatorial sea surface temperature for the normal period of 1981-2010 to identify the variation of the 2015 El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ and warm water area. Generally, the warm water in the western tropical Pacific Ocean shifts eastward along the equator toward the coast of South America during an El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ period. However, we identified an additional warm water region in the $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ 1+2 and Peru coastal area. This indicates that there are other factors that increase the sea surface temperature. In the future, we will study the heat coming from the bottom of the sea to understand the origin of the heat transport of the Pacific Ocean.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.343-356
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• 2007

This paper explored the characteristics of the interannual sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the equatorial Pacific by analyzing the simulated data from a newly coupled general circulation model (CGCM). The CGCM simulates well the realistic ENSO variability as well as the mean climatologies including SST, seasonal cycle, precipitation, and subsurface structures. It is argued that the zonal gradient of SST in the equatorial Pacific is responsible for the over-energetic SST variability near the equatorial western boundary in the model. This variability could also be related to the strong westward propagation of SST anomalies which resulted from the enhanced the zonal advection feedback. The simple two-strip model supports this by sensitivity tests. Analysis of the relationship between zonal mean thermocline depth and NINO3 SST index suggested that the ENSO variability is controlled by the recharge-discharge oscillator of the model. The lead-lag regression result reveals that heat buildup process in the western equatorial Pacific associated with the increase of the barrier layer thickness (BLT) is a precedent condition for El $Ni\widetilde{n}o$ to develop.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.299-309
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• 2004

Conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data obtained along a meridional section in the eastern tropical Pacific in July 2003 have been analyzed to identify various water masses, and to examine the hydrographic structure and zonal geostrophic currents in the upper 1000 m. Water mass analysis shows the existence of subtropical and intermediate waters, characterized by layers of subsurface salinity maximum and minimum, originating from both hemispheres of the Pacific. Vertical section of temperature in the upper 200 m shows the typical trough-ridge structure associated with the zonal current system for most of the tropical Pacific. Water with the lowest salinity of less than 33.6 was found in the upper 30 m between $8.5^{\circ}N$ and $10.5^{\circ}N$ in a boundary zone between the North Equatorial Current and North Equatorial Countercurrent. Temporal changes in water properties observed at $10.5^{\circ}N$ over a period of 9 days suggest both the local rainfall and horizontal advection is responsible for the presence of the low-salinity water. Development of a barrier layer was also observed at $10.5^{\circ}N$. In the North Equatorial Current region a local upwelling was observed at $15^{\circ}N$, which brings high salinity and cooler subtropical water to the sea surface. A band of countercurrent occurs in the upwelling region between $13^{\circ}N$ and $15^{\circ}N$.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.341-349
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• 2004

Hyrdography and deep currents were measured from 1997 to 1999 to investigate deep-sea environments in the KODOS (Korea Deep Ocean Study) area of the northeastern tropical Pacific. KODOS area is located meridionally from the North Equatorial Current to the boundary between the North Equatorial Current and the Equatorial Counter Current. Strong thermocline exists between 10 m and 120 m depths at the study area. Since that strong thermocline does hardly allow vertical mixing between surface and lower layer waters, vertical distributions of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrients drastically change near the thermocline. Salinity-minimum layer, which indicate the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) and the Antartic Intermediate Water (AAIW), vertically occupies vertically at the depths from 500 m down to 1400 m. The NPIW and the AAIW horizontally occur to the north and to the south of $7^{\circ}N$, respectively. The near-bottom water shows the physical characteristics of $1.05^{\circ}C$ and 34.70 psu at the depths of 10 m to 110 m above the bottom (approximately 4000-5000 m), which was originated from the Antarctic Circumpolar Water. It flows northeastwards for 2 to 4 months at the study area, and its mean velocity was 3.1-3.7 cm/s. Meanwhile, reverse (southwestward) currents appear for about 15 days with the average of 1.0-6.1 cm/s every 1 to 6 months. Dominant direction of the bottom currents obtained from the data for more than 6 months is northeastward with the average speeds of 1.7-2.1 cm/s. Therefore, it seems that deep waters from the Antarctica flow northwards passing through the KODOS area in the northeastern tropical Pacific.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.209-216
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• 2003

Dramatic changes in the patterns of satellite-derived pigment concentrations, sea-level height anomaly, sea surface temperature anomaly, and zonal wind anomaly are observed during the 1997-1998 El Ni$\bar{n}$o. By some measures, the 1997-1998 El Ni$\bar{n}$o was the strongest one of the 20$^{th}$ century. A very strong El Ni$\bar{n}$o developed during 1997 and matured late in the year. A dramatic recovery occurred in mid-1998 and led to La Nina condition. The largest spatial extent of the phytoplankton bloom was fellowed recovery from El Ni$\bar{n}$o over the equatorial Pacific. The evolution towards a warm episode (El Ni$\bar{n}$o) started from spring of 2002 and continued during January 2003, while equatorial SSTA remained greater than +1$^{\circ}C$ in the central equatorial Pacific. The OSMI (Ocean Scanning Multispectral Imager) data are used for detection of dramatic changes in the patterns of pigment concentration during next El Ni$\bar{n}$o.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2002

The upper ocean in the western equatorial Pacific warm pool during TOGA-COARE IMET IOP was simulated using a one-dimensional turbulence closure ocean mixed-layer model, which considered recent observations, such as the remarkable enhancement of turbulent kinetic energy near the ocean surface. The shoaling/deepening of the mixed layer and warming/cooling subsurface water in the model were in reasonable agreement with the observations. There was a significant improvement in simulating the cooling trend of the sea surface temperature under a westerly wind burst with heavy rainfall over previous simulations using bulk mixed-layer models. By contrast the simulated sea surface salinity (SSS) departed significantly from the observed SSS, especially during a westerly burst and the subsequent restratification period, which might be due to 3-D control processes, such as downwelling/upwelling or advection.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.317-322
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• 2002

Dramatic changes in the patterns of satellite-derived pigment concentrations, sea-level height anomaly, sea surface temperature anomaly, and zonal wind anomaly are observed during the 1997-1998 El Nino. By some measures, the 1997-1998 El Nino was the strongest of the 20$^{th}$ century. A very strong El Nino developed during 1997 and matured late in the year. A dramatic recovery occurred in mid-1998 and led to a La Nina conditions. The largest spatial extent of the phytoplankton bloom was followed recovery from El Nino over the equatorial Pacific. The evolution towards a warm episode (El Nino) continued in the equatorial Pacific from March 2002 and further development toward mature El Nino conditions may be possible in late 2002. The OSMI (Ocean Scanning Multispectral Imager) data can be used for detection of dramatic changes in the patterns of pigment concentration during next El Nino.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.392-405
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• 2019

Biogeochemical processes play an important role in ocean environments and can affect the entire Earth's climate system. Using an ocean-biogeochemistry model (NEMO-TOPAZ), we investigated the effects of changes in albedo and wind stress caused by phytoplankton in the equatorial Pacific. The simulated ocean temperature showed a slight decrease when the solar reflectance of the regions where phytoplankton were present increased. Phytoplankton also decreased the El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) amplitude by decreasing the influence of trade winds due to their biological enhancement of upper-ocean turbulent viscosity. Consequently, the cold sea surface temperature bias in the equatorial Pacific and overestimation of the ENSO amplitude were slightly reduced in our model simulations. Further sensitivity tests suggested the necessity of improving the phytoplankton-related equation and optimal coefficients. Our results highlight the effects of altered albedo and wind stress due to phytoplankton on the climate system.