SEASONAL AND SUBINERTIAL VARIATIONS IN THE SOYA WARM CURRENT REVEALED BY HF OCEAN RADARS, COASTAL TIDE GAUGES, AND A BOTTOM-MOUNTED ADCP

The Soya Warm Current (SWC) is a coastal boundary current, which flows along the coast of Hokkaido in the Sea of Okhotsk. Seasonal and subinertial variations in the SWC are investigated using data obtained by high-frequency (HF) ocean radars, coastal tide gauges, and a bottom-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). The HF radars clearly capture the seasonal variations in the surface current fields of the SWC. The velocity of the SWC reaches its maximum, approximately 1 m/s, in the summer, and becomes weaker in the winter. The velocity core is located 20 to 30 km from the coast, and its width is approximately 50 km. The almost same seasonal cycle was repeated in the period from August 2003 to March 2007. In addition to the annual variation, the SWC exhibits subinertial variations with a period from 10-15 days. The surface transport by the SWC shows a significant correlation with the sea level difference between the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk for both of the seasonal and subinertial variations, indicating that the SWC is driven by the sea level difference between the two seas. Generation mechanism of the subinertial variation is discussed using wind data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses. The subinertial variations in the SWC are significantly correlated with the meridional wind component over the region. The subinertial variations in the sea level difference and surface current delay from the meridional wind variations for one or two days. Continental shelf waves triggered by the meridional wind on the east coast of Sakhalin and west coast of Hokkaido are considered to be a possible generation mechanism for the subinertial variations in the SWC.