• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.427-436
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• 2018

In this study, experimental and numerical analysis were performed on the survivability of a long pipe-type buoy structure in waves. The buoy structure is an articulated tower consisting of an upper structure, buoyancy module, and gravity anchor with long pipes forming the base frame. A series of experiment were performed in the ocean engineering basin of KRISO with the scaled model of 1/ 22 to evaluate the survivability of the buoy structure at West Sea in South Korea. Survival condition was considered as the wave of 50 year return period. Additional experiments were performed to investigate the effects of current and wave period. The factors considered for the evaluation of the buoy's survival were the pitch angle of the structure, anchor reaction force, and the number of submergence of the upper structure. Numerical simulations were carried out with the OrcaFlex, the commercial program for the mooring analysis, with the aim of performing mutual validation with the experimental results. Based on the evaluation, the behavior characteristics of the buoy structure were first examined according to the tidal conditions. The changes were investigated for the pitch angle and anchor reaction force at HAT and LAT conditions, and the results directly compared with those obtained from numerical simulation. Secondly, the response characteristics of the buoy structure were studied depending on the wave period and the presence of current velocity. Third, the number of submergence through video analysis was compared with the simulation results in relation to the submergence of the upper structure. Finally, the simulation results for structural responses which were not directly measured in the experiment were presented, and the structural safety discussed in the survival waves. Through a series of survivability evaluation studies, the behavior characteristics of the buoy structure were examined in survival waves. The vulnerability and utility of the buoy structure were investigated through the sensitivity studies of waves, current, and tides.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.51-61
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• 2010

Surface particulate organic carbon (POC) concentration was measured in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico on 9 cruises from November 1997 to August 2000 to investigate the seasonal and spatial variability related to synchronous remote sensing data (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height anomaly (SSHA), and sea surface wind (SSW)) and recorded river discharge data. Surface POC concentrations have higher values (>100 $mg/m^3$) on the inner shelf and near the Mississippi Delta, and decrease across the shelf and slope. The inter-annual variations of surface POC concentrations are relatively higher during 1997 and 1998 (El Nino) than during 1999 and 2000 (La Nina) in the study area. This phenomenon is directly related to the output of Mississippi River and other major rivers, which associated with global climate change such as ENSO events. Although highest river runoff into the northern Gulf of Mexico Coast occurs in early spring and lowest flow in late summer and fall, wide-range POC plumes are observed during the summer cruises and lower concentrations and narrow dispersion of POC during the spring and fall cruises. During the summer seasons, the river discharge remarkably decreases compared to the spring, but increasing temperature causes strong stratification of the water column and increasing buoyancy in near-surface waters. Low-density plumes containing higher POC concentrations extend out over the shelf and slope with spatial patterns and controlled by the Loop Current and eddies, which dominate offshore circulation. Although river discharge is normal or abnormal during the spring and fall seasons, increasing wind stress and decreasing temperature cause vertical mixing, with higher surface POC concentrations confined to the inner shelf.