Modification of Sea Water Temperature by Wind Driven Current in the Mountainous Coastal Sea

  • Choi, Hyo (Dept. of Atmospheric Environmental Sciences, Kangnung National University) ;
  • Kim, Jin-Yun (Dept. of Atmospheric Environmental Sciences, Kangnung National University)
  • Published : 2003.11.01

Abstract

Numerical simulation on marine wind and sea surface elevation was carried out using both three-dimensional hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic models and a simple oceanic model from 0900 LST, August 13 to 0900 LST, August 15, 1995. As daytime easterly meso-scale sea-breeze from the eastern sea penetrates Kangnung city in the center part as basin and goes up along the slope of Mt. Taegullyang in the west, it confronts synoptic-scale westerly wind blowing over the top of the mountain at the mid of the eastern slope and then the resultant wind produces an upper level westerly return flow toward the East Sea. In a narrow band of weak surface wind within 10km of the coastal sea, wind stress is generally small, less than l${\times}$10E-2 Pa and it reaches 2 ${\times}$ 10E-2 Pa to the 35 km. Positive wind stress curl of 15 $\times$ 10E-5Pa $m^{-1}$ still exists in the same band and corresponds to the ascent of 70 em from the sea level. This is due to the generation of northerly wind driven current with a speed of 11 m $S^{-1}$ along the coast under the influence of south-easterly wind and makes an intrusion of warm waters from the southern sea into the northern coast, such as the East Korea Warm Current. On the other hand, even if nighttime downslope windstorm of 14m/s associated with both mountain wind and land-breeze produces the development of internal gravity waves with a hydraulic jump motion of air near the coastal inland surface, the surface wind in the coastal sea is relatively moderate south-westerly wind, resulting in moderate wind stress. Negative wind stress curl in the coast causes the subsidence of the sea surface of 15 em along the coast and south-westerly coastal surface wind drives alongshore south-easterly wind driven current, opposite to the daytime one. Then, it causes the intrusion of cold waters like the North Korea Cold Current in the northern coastal sea into the narrow band of the southern coastal sea. However, the band of positive wind stress curl at the distance of 30km away from the coast toward further offshore area can also cause the uprising of sea waters and the intrusion of warm waters from the southern sea toward the northern sea (northerly wind driven current), resulting in a counter-clockwise wind driven current. These clockwise and counter-clockwise currents much induce the formation of low clouds containing fog and drizzle in the coastal region.

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