• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 1992

A barotropic model is run over the Northwest Pacific Ocean to examine the formation and transport of the Tsushima Warm Current. The results indicate that the Tsushima Warm Current is a downstream extension of the Taiwan Warm Current. Local wind does not change the amount of transport of Tsushima Warm Current but it changes much the initial flow pattern of Tsushima Warm Current such that for southerly wind, the transport is through the Taiwan Strait but for northerly wind, it is through the eastern side of Taiwan.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2013

In this study we investigated changes in the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) under the global warming scenario RCP 4.5 by analysing the results from the World Climate Research Program's (WCRP) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Among the four models that had been employed to analyse the Tsushima Warm Current during the 20th Century, in the CSIRO-Mk3.6.0 and HadGEM2-CC models the transports of the Tsushima Warm Current were 2.8 Sv and 2.1 Sv, respectively, and comparable to observed transport, which is between 2.4 and 2.77 Sv. In the other two models the transports were much greater or smaller than the observed estimates. Using the two models that properly reproduced the transport of the Tsushima Warm Current we investigated the response of the current under the global warming scenario. In both models the volume transports and the temperature were greater in the future climate scenario. Warm advection into the East Sea was intensified to raise the temperature and consequently the heat loss to the air.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.103-107
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• 2001

The major studies of an ocean circulation of the East/Japan Sea related to evaluate the feasibility and utilization of deep ocean water are reviewed. The major feature of surface current system of the East/Japan Sea is an inflow of the Tsushima Warm Current through the Korea/Tsushima Strait and the outflow through the Tsugaru and Soya Straits. The Tsushima Warm Current has been known to split into two or three branches in the southern region of the East/Japan Sea. In the cold water region of the East/Japan Sea, the North Korean Cold Current turns to the east near 39$^{\circ}$N after meeting the East Korean Warm Current, then flows eastward. The degree of penetration depends on the strength of the positive wind stress curl, according to the ventilation theory. Various current meter moorings indicate strong and oscillatory deep currents in various parts of the basin. According to some numerical experiments, these currents may be induced by pressure-topography or eddy-topography interaction. However, more investigations are needed to explain clearly the presence of these strong bottom currents. This study concludes the importance of topographical coupling, isopycnal outcropping, different wind forcing and the branching of the Tsushima Warm Current on the circulation of the East/Japan Sea.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.193-205
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• 2008

A model of the current and seasonal volume transport in the East China Sea was used to investigate the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current (TSWC). The modeled volume transport field suggested that the current field west of Kyushu ($30^{\circ}-32^{\circ}N$) was divided into two regions, R1 and R2, according to the bottom depth. R1 consisted of the Taiwan Warm Current (TWWC) region and the mixed Kuroshio-TWWC (MKT) water region, while R2 was the modified Kuroshio water (MKW) region west of Kyushu. The MKW branched from the Kuroshio and flowed into the Korea/Tsushima Straits through the Cheju-Kyushu Strait, contributing 41% of the annual mean volume transport of the TSWC. The TWWC and MKT water flowed into the Korea/Tsushima Straits through the Cheju-Kyushu and Cheju Straits, contributing 32% and 27% of the volume transport, respectively. The maximum volume transport of the MKW was 53% of the total volume transport of the TSWC in November, while the maximum volume transport of the water in the R1 region through the Cheju-Kyushu Strait was 41% in July. Hence, there were two peaks per year of volume transport in the TSWC.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2013

This study investigates the characteristic of the Tsushima Warm Current from an assimilated high resolution global ocean prediction model, $1/12^{\circ}$ Global HYbrid Coordiate Ocean Model (HYCOM). The model results were verified through a comparison with current measurements obtained by acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) mounted on the passenger ferryboat between Busan, Korea, and Hakata, Japan. The annual mean transport of the Tsushima Warm Current was 2.56 Sverdrup (Sv) (1 Sv = $10^6m^3s^{-1}$), which is similar to those from previous studies (Takikawa et al. 1999; Teague et al. 2002). The volume transport time series of the Tsushima Warm Current from HYCOM correlates to a high degree with that from the ADCP observation (the correlation coefficient between the two is 0.82). The spatiotemporal structures of the currents as well as temperature and salinity from HYCOM are comparable to the observed ones.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.165-170
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• 2003

A significant surface net heat loss appears around the Kuroshio and the Tsushima Warm Current regions. The area where the surface heat loss occurs should require heat to be supplied by the current to maintain the long-term annual heat balance. Oceanic heat advection in these regions plays an important role in the heat budget. The spatial distribution of the heat supply by the Tsushima Warm Current near the surface was examined by calculating the horizontal heat supply in the surface layer of the East/Japan Sea, directly from historical sea surface temperature and current data. We have also found a simple estimation of the effective vertical scale of heat supply by the current to compensate net heat loss using the heat supplied by the current in the surface 10m layer. The heat supplied by the current for the annual heat balance was large in the Korea/Tsushima Strait and along the Japanese Coast, and was small in the northwestern part of the East/Japan Sea. The amount of heat supplied by the current was large in the northwestern part and small in the southeastern part of the East/Japan Sea. These features suggest that the heat supplied by the Tsushima Warm Current is restricted to near the surface around the northeastern part and extends to a deeper layer around the southeastern part of the East/Japan Sea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.364-374
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• 1994

The separation mechanism of the Tsushima Warm Current and the effects of seasonal wind stress on the separation position are studied by use of a barotropic numerical model. The grid spacing of 0.25$^{\circ}$ both in latitude and longitude is used in the model, and Hellerman and Rosenstein's wind (1983) is applied to the sea surface as seasonal wind stress. According to the model results, during winter seasons (from October to March) when northly wind is prevailing, the Tsushima Warm Current is formed by direct separation from the Kuroshio on the continental slope southwest of Kyushu. On the other hand, during summer seasons (from April to September), the Taiwan Current that flows through the Taiwan Strait seems to be the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current. The Kuroshio reaches its maximum transport during winter seasons, and the minimum during summer. The transport of the Taiwan Current shows a phase lag of about 160$^{\circ}$ relative to the Kuroshio. The transport variation of the Tsushima Warm Current agrees with that of the Kuroshio when the former is shifted by 120$^{\circ}$(about 4 months).

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.306-316
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• 2003

We conducted a time-series analysis of temperature and salinity of sea water around Jeju Island, Korea. Monthly mean temperature and salinity was influenced by precipitation and weather conditions on Jeju as well as by oceanographic conditions of the open sea such as the Tsushima Warm Current and sea water in coastal areas. Salinity of Jeju coastal waters was the highest in April, and it was always over 34.00 psu with tiny fluctuation between December and June. Due to the effects of the Tsushima Warm Current, Jeju coastal waters maintained high salinity and stability. Low salinity and its large fluctuations during summer were closely associated with the China Coastal Water and precipitation in Jeju. The place of the lowest water temperature was the northeast coasts of Jeju (Gimneong, Hado, Jongdalri). In winter, as warmer water of the Tsushima Warm Current appeared in western area of Jeju dwindled flowing along the northern coasts of Jeju area and becoming cool, the lowest water temperature often appeared locally in Gimnyeong and its vicinitly in summer. The Tsushima Warm Current flows into the east entrance of Jeju Strait, but its influence is weak because of geometry and strong vertical mixing due to fast tidal currents.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.200-209
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• 1984

On the basis of oceanographic observation conducted in summer 1982, the flow pattern of the Tsushima Warm Current definitely showed two branches with high surface velocity more than 70 cm/sec in the western channel of Korea Strait. One of the branches, the East Korea Warm Current, found about 8 km off Pusan flows northward along the east coast of Korea and the other branch, located at about 20km off Pusan flows east after passing the Korea Strait. The branching of two flows already occurred before the Tsushima Warm Current reaches the Pusan Tsushima section, and the volume transport and the widths of the two branches are not much different from each other. The number of branches may be controlled by the width of western channel and the flow of two branches may also be related to the variation of layer depth and the widening ratio of widths between the western channel and the Japan Sea (East Sea).

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2004.05b
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• pp.89-92
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• 2004

Potential vorticity is useful to illustrate mechanism and distribution pattern of current circulation the upper layer in the East Sea is divided into three part following like surface layer, Tsushima Warm Current(TWC) layer. Potential vorticity shows well the meandering of the TWC and polar front and circulation cell ill the northern part of polar front.