• 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.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.

• 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.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.439-447
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• 2019

Some dynamical issues about the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) are reviewed and checked for the remaining unresolved problems, focusing on the formation of the TWC, seasonal variation of its volume transport and its branching in the East Sea. The TWC is a part of the North Pacific (NP) subtropical gyre driven by the NP global wind system. However, the quantitative amount of volume transport is sensitive to friction, basin geometry, barrier effect and so on. Among many causes suggested by many scientists, subpolar winds are found to be most closely related with the seasonal variation of TWC volume transport. However, more studies relating the latter not only to the subpolar winds but also to those including the subtropical winds seem to be required. The branching of the TWC has been known to be due to the western intensification for the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) and to the bottom trapping for the Nearshore Branch. Since the former hypothesis is problematic in explaining the seasonal variation of the EKWC, other candidate mechanisms may need to be considered.

• 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).

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.45-67
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• 2008

Ocean climate variables ($1900{\sim}2005$), time series of catches ($1910{\sim}2005$) and body size data were used to assess the year-to-year and decadal scale fluctuations in abundance of the fish populations (Japanese sardine, anchovy, jack mackerel, chub mackerel, Pacific saury and common squid) that have spawning grounds in the East China Sea and its adjacent regions. A negative correlation between the abundance of pelagic fishes (e.g. jack mackerel) in the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) region and the Kuroshio-Oyashio Current (KOC) region was attributed to the climatic modulation of larval transport and recruitment, which depends on the winter monsoon-induced drift, current systems, and spawning season and site. The changes in abundance and alternation of dominant fish populations in the two regions in the 1930s, 1970s, and late 1980s mirrored changes in the climate indices (ALPI, AOI and MOI). Oscillations in the decadal climate shifts between the two regions led to zonal differences in larval transport and recruitment, and hence differences in the abundance of the pelagic fish populations. During deep Aleutian Lows, as in the 1980s, larval transport from the East China Sea to the KOC region increases in association with the strong winter Asian monsoon, cool regime and increased volume transport of the Kuroshio Current systems, whereas during a weak Aleutian Low (as in the 1990s), larval transport to the TWC region increased in association with a weak winter Asian monsoon, a warm regime, and increased volume transport of the Tsushima current system. We postulate that the increased chub mackerel abundance in the TWC region and the decreased abundance in the KOC region in the 1990s are partly attributed to changes in recruitment and availability to the fishing fleets under the warm regime in the spawning and nursery grounds in the East China Sea in association with the quasi-steady state of mild winter monsoon in the 1990s. The fluctuations in chub mackerel and jack mackerel abundance are under the environment-dependant growth form, although the tropicalization was identified in the TWC region. The density-dependant growth form was found in Japanese sardine populations, but no tropicalization by fishing was identified in the long ($10{\sim}15$ year) periods of abundance despite their short ($3{\sim}4$ year) generation time, suggesting that the environment-dependant growth form drove the changes in abundance. Year-to-year and decadal scale variations in abundance and population structure of the Pacific saury responded to climate regime shifts (1976/1977, 1988/1989), suggesting that the fish is a key bio-indicators for changes in the ecosystem.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.882-889
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• 2022

In this study, to understand the factors influencing the flow change the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC), the correlation between the volume transport the TWC, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) was analyzed. A calculation of the monthly volume transport of TWC for 25 years (1993-2018) revealed that the seasonal fluctuation cycle was the largest in summer and smallest in winter. Power spectrum analysis to determine the periodicity of the TWC volume transport, Oceanic Niño Undex (ONI), and PDO indicated that the TWC volume transport peaked at a one year cycle, but ONI and PDO showed no clear cycle. Further, to understand the correlation between the TWC transport volume and ONI and PDO, the coherence estimation method was used for analysis. The coherence of ONI and PDO had a high mutual contribution in long-period fluctuations of three years or more but had low mutual contribution in short-period fluctuations within one year. However, the coherence value between the two factors of the TWC volume transport and PDO was 0.7 in the 0.8-1.2 year cycle, which had a high mutual contribution. Meanwhile, the TWC volume transport and PDO have an inverse correlation between period I (1993-2002) and period III (2010-2018). When the TWC maximum transport volume (2.2 Sv or more) was high, the PDO index showed a negative value below -1.0, and the PDO index showed a positive value when the TWC maximum transport volume was (below 2.2 Sv). Therefore, using long-term PDO index data, changes in the TWC transport volume and water temperature in the East Sea coastal area could be predicted.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2008

Analyzing the results of East Sea Regional Ocean Model using a 3-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme, we investigated spatial and temporal variability of the North Korean Cold Current (NKCC) in the East Sea. The climatological monthly mean transport of the NKCC clearly shows seasonal variation of the NKCC within the range of about 0.35 Sv ($=0^6m^3/s$), which increases from its minimum (about 0.45 Sv) through December-January to March, decreases during March and May, and then increases again to the maximum (about 0.8 Sv) in August-September. The volume transport of the NKCC shows interannual variation of the NKCC with the range of about 1.0 Sv that is larger than seasonal variation. The southward current of the NKCC appears often not only in summer but in winter as well. The width of the NKCC is about 35 km near the Korean coast and its core is located under the East Korea Warm Current. The North Korean Cold Water (NKCW), characterized by low salinity and low temperature, is located both under the Tsushima Warm Water and in the western side of the maximum southward current of the NKCC that means the NKCC advects the NKCW southward along the Korean coast. It is revealed that the intermediate low salinity water, formed off the Vladivostok in winter, flows southward to the south of $37^{\circ}N$ through $2{\sim}3$ paths; one path along the Korean coast, another one along $132^{\circ}E$, and the middle path along $130^{\circ}E$. The path of the intermediate low salinity varies with years. The reanalysis fields suggest that the NKCW is advected through the paths along the Korean coast and along $130^{\circ}E$.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2018

Eight different data sets are examined in order to gain insight into the surface heat flux traits of the East Asian marginal seas. In the case of solar radiation of the East Sea (Japan Sea), Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiments ver. 2 (CORE2) and the Objectively Analyzed Air-Sea Fluxes (OAFlux) are similar to the observed data at meteorological stations. A combination is sought by averaging these as well as the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)-1 data to acquire more accurate surface heat flux for the East Asian marginal seas. According to the Combination Data, the annual averages of net heat flux of the East Sea, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea are -61.84, -22.42, and $-97.54Wm^{-2}$, respectively. The Kuroshio area to the south of Japan and the southern East Sea were found to have the largest upward annual mean net heat flux during winter, at -460- -300 and at $-370--300Wm^{-2}$, respectively. The long-term fluctuation (1984-2004) of the net heat flux shows a trend of increasing transport of heat from the ocean into the atmosphere throughout the study area.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.186-194
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• 2013

We compiled and analyzed long-term time-series data collected in Korea to evaluate changes in oceanographic conditions and marine ecosystems near Jeju Island ($33^{\circ}00^{\prime}-34^{\circ}00^{\prime}\;N$, $125^{\circ}30^{\prime}-127^{\circ}30^{\prime}\;E$) from 1981 to 2010. Environmental data included depth-specific time series of temperature and salinity that have been measured bimonthly since 1961 in water columns at 175 fixed stations along 22 oceanographic lines in Korean waters by the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, and time series of estimated volume transport of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) and Korea Strait Bottom Cold Water (KSBCW) for the period from 1961 to 2008. We analyzed the species composition in terms of biomass of fish species caught by Korean fishing vessels in the waters near Jeju Island (1981-2010). Data were summarized and related to environmental changes using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The CCA detected major shifts in fish community structure between 1982 and 1983 and between 1990 and 1992; the dominant species were a filefish during 1981-1992 and chub mackerel from 1992 to 2007. CCA suggested that water temperature and salinity in the mixed layer and the volume transport of the TWC and the KSBCW were significantly related to the long-term changes in the fish community in the waters off Jeju Island. Fish community shifts seemed to be related to the well-established 1989 regime shift in the North Pacific. Further studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms driving climate change effects on the thermal windows and habitat ranges of commercial species to develop fisheries management plans based on reliable projections of long-term changes in the oceanographic conditions in waters off Jeju Island.