• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.225-242
• /
• 2012

This is the first attempt to produce simultaneous surface current field from satellite altimeter data for the entire East Sea and to provide surface current information to users with formal description. It is possible to estimate surface geostrophic current field in near real-time because satellite altimeters and coastal tide gauges supply sea level data for the whole East Sea. Strength and location of the major currents and meso-scale eddies can be identified from the estimated surface geostrophic current field. The mean locations of major surface currents were explicated relative to topographic, ocean-surface and undersea features with schematic representation of surface circulation. In order to demonstrate the practical use of this surface current information, exemplary descriptions of annual, seasonal and monthly mean surface geostrophic current distributions were presented. In order to objectively classify surface circulation patterns in the East Sea, empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was performed on the estimated 16-year (1993-2008) surface current data. The first mode was associated with intensification or weakening of the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) flowing northward along the east coast of Korea and of the anti-cyclonic circulation southwest of Yamato Basin. The second mode was associated with meandering paths of the EKWC in the southern East Sea with wavelength of 300 km. The first and second modes had inter-annual variations. The East Sea surface circulation was classified as inertial boundary current pattern, Tsushima Warm Current pattern, meandering pattern, and Offshore Branch pattern by the time coefficient of the first two EOF modes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
• /
• 2022.11a
• /
• pp.323-324
• /
• 2022

This paper explains the comparison results of surface current measurement using X-band Radar image through analysis. Measurements were carried out from February 2022 using the X-band Radar for marin ships installed at Sokcho Beach. Based on the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency ocean observation buoys, the accuracy of surface current(current speed) measurement was verified through comparison and analysis of measurement data.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
• /
• 2022.06a
• /
• pp.424-425
• /
• 2022

This paper introduces X-band radar-based surface current measurement technique. A marine X-band radar used for navigation was installed at Sokcho Beach to collect surface current data in real time. Based on this, in order to verify the accuracy of the measurement of surface current (Current speed), the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency Marine observation buoy compared it with the data. Data collected from January 2022 were compared and as a result the possibility of surface current(Current speed) measurement using radar confirmed.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.589-601
• /
• 2016

Sea surface currents were estimated by applying the Maximum Cross Correlation (MCC), Zero-mean Sum of Absolute Distances (ZSAD), and Zero-mean Sum of Squared Distances (ZSSD) algorithms to Himawari-8/Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) thermal infrared channel data, and the comparative analysis was performed between the results of these algorithms. The sea surface currents of the Kuroshio Current region that were retrieved using each algorithm showed similar results. The ratio of errors to the total number of estimated surface current vectors had little difference according to the algorithms, and the time required for sea surface current calculation was reduced by 24% and 18%, relative to the MCC algorithm, for the ZSAD and ZSSD algorithms, respectively. The estimated surface currents were validated against those from satellite-tracked surface drifter and altimeter data, and the accuracy evaluation of these algorithms showed results within similar ranges. In addition, the accuracy was affected by the magnitude of brightness temperature gradients and the time interval between satellite image data.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.208-225
• /
• 2019

To understand the mean surface circulation and surface currents in the East Sea, trajectories of surface drifters passed through the East Sea from 1991 to 2017 were analyzed. By analyzing the surface drifter trajectory data, the main paths of surface ocean currents were grouped and the variation in each main current path was investigated. The East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) heading northward separates from the coast at $36{\sim}38^{\circ}N$ and flows to the northeast until $131^{\circ}E$. In the middle (from $131^{\circ}E$ to $137^{\circ}E$) of the East Sea, the average latitude of the currents flowing eastward ranges from 36 to $40^{\circ}N$ and the currents meander with large amplitude. When the average latitude of the surface drifter paths was in the north (south) of $37.5^{\circ}N$, the meandering amplitude was about 50 (100) km. The most frequent route of surface drifters in the middle of the East Sea was the path along $37.5-38.5^{\circ}N$. The surface drifters, which were deployed off the coast of Vladivostok in the north of the East Sea, moved to the southwest along the coast and were separated from the coast to flow southeastward along the cyclonic circulation around the Japan Basin. And, then, the drifters moved to the east along $39-40^{\circ}N$. The mean surface current vector and mean speed were calculated in each lattice with $0.25^{\circ}$ grid spacing using the velocity data of surface drifters which passed through each lattice. The current variance ellipses were calculated with $0.5^{\circ}$ grid spacing. Because the path of the EKWC changes every year in the western part of the Ulleung Basin and the current paths in the Yamato Basin keep changing with many eddies, the current variance ellipses are relatively large in these region. We present a schematic map of the East Sea surface current based on the surface drifter data. The significance of this study is that the surface ocean circulation of the East Sea, which has been mainly studied by numerical model simulations and the sea surface height data obtained from satellite altimeters, was analyzed based on in-situ Lagrangian observational current data.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.195-204
• /
• 2009

In order to estimate sea surface current fields in the East Sea, we examined characteristics of mean dynamic topography (MDT) fields (or mean surface current field, MSC) generated from three different methods. This preliminary investigation evaluates the accuracy of surface currents estimated from satellite-derived sea level anomaly (SLA) data and three MDT fields in the East Sea. AVISO (Archiving, Validation and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic data) provides a MDT field derived from satellite observation and numerical models with $0.25^{\circ}$ horizontal resolution. Steric height field relative to 500 dbar from temperature and salinity profiles in the East Sea supplies another MDT field. Trajectory data of surface drifters (ARGOS) in the East Sea for 14 years provide another MSC field. Absolute dynamic topography (ADT) field is calculated by adding SLA to each MDT. Application of geostrophic equation to three different ADT fields yields three surface geostrophic current fields. Comparisons were made between the estimated surface currents from the three different methods and in-situ current measurements from a ship-mounted ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) in the southwestern East Sea in 2005. For offshore areas more than 50 km away from the land, the correlation coefficients (R) between the estimated versus the measured currents range from 0.58 to 0.73, with 17.1 to $21.7\;cm\;s^{-1}$ root mean square deviation (RMSD). For coastal ocean within 50 km from the land, however, R ranges from 0.06 to 0.46 and RMSD ranges from 15.5 to $28.0\;cm\;s^{-1}$. Results from this study reveal that a new approach in producing MDT and SLA is required to improve the accuracy of surface current estimations for the shallow costal zones of the East Sea.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.211-212
• /
• 2002

해양과학공동연구소에서는 1999년부터 울산-감포 해역을 중심으로 하는 한국 남동해역 연안용승지역의 해양관측을 계속하면서 동시에 HF Radar를 이용하여 표층해류 모니터링 시스템을 구축하였다.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.5 no.4
• /
• pp.41-47
• /
• 2002

The surface current in the region from Mara-do to mid of the Pacific has been measured by tracking the position of a buoy. The buoy was accidentally released from its original location, near Mara-do, and it has been drifting following the surface current. The tracking started on 27 December 2001 and continued until 29 June 2002. We combined the trace oi the buoy with the wind data available.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.56-66
• /
• 2008

Subtidal surface currents are derived from HF radar measurements in the Saemangeum coastal ocean of the Yellow sea in July 2002 and from September to November 2004. The surface current field is analyzed to examine the effect of wind, river plume and coastline change on the spatial distribution and temporal variation of the surface currents. In July 2002, average wind speed was 0.5 m/s and freshwater discharge from the Keum River was $0.88{\times}10^7\;ton/day$. Temporal mean currents ($\overline{U}$) flow to the northwest with speed of $7{\sim}10\;cm/s$ near the Keum River estuary, to the west as fast as 13 cm/s near the opening gap of the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke, and to the northwest off the Gogunsan-archipelago. This flow pattern is a result of the Keum River plume dispersal and tide-residual currents from the opening gap of the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke. Time series of spatially-averaged current (<$U-\overline{U}$>) direction is highly (r=0.98) correlated with wind direction. From September to November 2004, the opening gap of the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke was closed, northwesterly wind blew with speed of 2.5 m/s on average and the Keum River discharge was $1.19{\times}10^7\;ton/day$. Temporal mean current field ($\overline{U}$) has weak surface flow in most of the coastal ocean and relatively strong currents flow to the southwest with speed of 10 cm/s along the shape coastline of the Gogunsan-archipelago and the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke. The strong flow is generated by the prevailing northwesterly wind which pushes the Keum River plume toward the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke. The residual currents from the opening gap of the Saemangeum $4^{th}$ dyke disappeared and correlation coefficient between time series of spatially-averaged current () direction and the wind direction is 0.69.