• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.225-234
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• 2014

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake triggered extremely destructive tsunami waves which propagated over the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean through Drake Passage and Indian Ocean respectively. A total of 10 tide-gauge records collected from the UNESCO/IOC site were analyzed through a band-pass digital filtering device to examine the observed tsunami characteristics. The ray tracing method and finite-difference model with GEBCO 30 arc second bathymetry were also applied to compare the travel times of the Tohoku-originated tsunami, particularly at Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean and King Edward Point in the Atlantic Ocean with observation-based estimates. At both locations the finite-difference model produced the shortest arrival times, while the ray method produced the longest arrival times. Values of the travel time difference however appear to be within tolerable ranges, considering the propagation distance of the tsunami waves. The observed tsunami at Rodrigues, Mauritius in the west of the Madagascar was found to take a clockwise travel path around Australia and New Zealand, while the observed tsunami at King Edward Point in the southern Atlantic Ocean was found to traverse the Pacific Ocean and then passed into the Atlantic Ocean through the Drake Strait. The formation of icebergs captured by satellite images in Sulzberger in the Antarctica also supports the long-range propagation of the Tohoku-originated tsunami.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2006

Three HF ocean radar stations were installed at the Soya/La Perouse Strait in the Sea of Okhotsk in order to monitor the Soya Warm Current. The frequency of the HF radar is 13.9 MHz, and the range and azimuth resolutions are 3 km and $5^{\circ}$, respectively. The radar covers a range of approximately 70 km from the coast. It is shown that the HF radars clearly capture seasonal and short-term variations of the Soya Warm Current. The velocity of the Soya Warm Current reaches its maximum, approximately 1 m $s^{-1}$, in summer, and weakens in winter. The velocity core is located 20 to 30 km from the coast, and its width is approximately 50 km. The surface transport by the Soya Warm Current shows a significant correlation with the sea level difference along the strait, as derived from coastal tide gauge records. The cross-current sea level difference, which is estimated from the sea level anomalies observed by the Jason-1 altimeter and a coastal tide gauge, also exhibits variation in concert with the surface transport and along-current sea level difference.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.520-532
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• 2015

In order to understand the Holocene sea level changes in the eastern Yellow Sea, the west coast of Korea, and to compare the rates of sea level rise in each period of time, the geological proxy records for pre-instrumental era and measurement data for the present day were combined and analysed. The sea level in the Yellow Sea rose fast with a rate of about 10 mm/yr during the early Holocene, and decelerated down to 1 mm/yr since the mid to late Holocene. The rising rates of sea level in the 20th century were slightly higher than those in the late Holocene. The present-day rates of sea level rise, known as the 'rapid' rise, are in fact much lower or similar, compared to the early to mid Holocene sea levels in the study area. Recent tide-gauge data show that sea level rise in the eastern Yellow Sea has been accelerating toward the 21st century. These rising trends coincide well with global rising patterns in sea level. Additionally, the present-day rising trends of sea level in this study are correlated with increased rates of carbon dioxide concentrations and sea surface temperatures, further indicating a signal to global warming associated with the human effect. Thus, the sea level changes induced by current global warming observed in the eastern Yellow Sea and world's oceans can be considered as 'Anthropocene' sea level changes. The changes in sea level are based on instrumental measurements such as tide-gauges and satellite altimetry, meaning the instrumental era. The Holocene changes in sea level can thus be reconstructed from geological proxy records, whereas the Anthropocene sea-level changes can be solely based on instrumental measurements.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.312-316
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• 2002

Satellite radar interferometry data shows a strong coherent signal on oyster sea farms where artificial structures installed on the bottom. We obtained 21 highly coherent interferograms from eleven JERS-1 SAR data sets despite of large orbital baseline (~2 km) or large temporal baseline (~l year). The phases observed in sea farms are probably induced by double bouncing on sea surface, and consequently reveal a tide height variation. To restore the absolute sea level changes we counted the number of wrapping by exploiting the intensity of backscattering. Backscattering intensity is closely correlated with the change in water surface height, while interferometry gives the detailed variation within the limit of 2$\pi$ (or 15.3 cm). Comparing the radar measurements with the tide gauge records yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.96 and an ms error of 6.0 cm. The results demostrate that radar interferometry is promising to measure sea level.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.255-261
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• 2002

Strong and coherent radar backscattering signals are observed over oyster sea farms that consist of artificial structures installed on the bottom. We successfully obtained 21 coherent interferograms from 11 JERS-1 SAR data sets even though orbital baselines (up to 2 km) or temporal baselines (up to 1 year) were relatively large. The coherent phases preserved in the sea farms are probably formed by double bouncing from sea surface and the sea farming structures, and consequently they are correlated with tide height (or instantaneous sea level). Phase unwrapping is required to restore the absolute sea level. We show that radar backscattering intensity is roughly correlated with the sea surface height, and utilize the fact to determine the wrapping counts. While the SAR image intensity gives a rough range of absolute sea level, the interferometric phases provide the detailed relative height variations within a limit of $2{\pi}$ (or 15.3 cm) with respect to the sea level at the moment of the master data acquisition. A combined estimation results in an instantaneous sea level. The radar measurements were verified using tide gauge records, and the results yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.96 with an r.m.s. error of 6.0 cm. The results demonstrate that radar interferometry is a promising approach to sea level measurement in the near coastal regions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.17-33
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• 1984

This work represents results of analysis of tidal observations at twelve major ports(Inchon, Kunsan, Mokpo, Daeheuksando, Jeju, Yeosu, Jinhae, Busan, Pohang, Ulsan, Mugho, Sogcho) around Korean coast for the years up to 1979. The reduction of hourly tide gauge sea level records provided by Korean Hydrographic Office was performed in systematic manner resulting digitised hourly observed series, predicted series and residual series. As a first step the application of an extended harmonic method of analyzing the tidal observations leads to the identification of 42 new constituents including 60 orthodox Doodson's constituents at major ports. The sea level statistics including sea level frequency distribution are presented and the tidal emersion curves showing the percentage of time for which different levels are covered by water and exposed are also presented to provide useful design input for coastal development. This study has teen undertaken in association with the programme of sea level research at Korean Hydrographic Office and the programme of adjustment of first order levelling network at National Geographic Institute.

• Journal of Coastal Disaster Prevention
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.119-131
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• 2017

Global warming under the influence of climate change and its direct impact on glacial and sea level are known issue. However, there is a lack of research on an indirect impact of climate change such as coastal structure design which is mainly based on a frequency analysis of water level under the stationary assumption, meaning that maximum sea level will not vary significantly over time. In general, stationary assumption does not hold and may not be valid under a changing climate. Therefore, this study aims to develop a novel approach to explore possible distributional changes in annual maximum sea levels (AMSLs) and provide the estimate of design water level for coastal structures using a multiple non-crossing quantile regression based nonstationary frequency analysis within a Bayesian framework. In this study, 20 tide gauge stations, where more than 30 years of hourly records are available, are considered. First, the possible distributional changes in the AMSLs are explored, focusing on the change in the scale and location parameter of the probability distributions. The most of the AMSLs are found to be upward-convergent/divergent pattern in the distribution, and the significance test on distributional changes is then performed. In this study, we confirm that a stationary assumption under the current climate characteristic may lead to underestimation of the design sea level, which results in increase in the failure risk in coastal structures. A detailed discussion on the role of the distribution changes for design water level is provided.