• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.266-276
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• 2013

The ocean is the largest reservoir of carbon in the climate system. Atmospheric $CO_2$ is efficiently transferred to the deep ocean by a process called the biological carbon pump: photosynthetic fixation of $CO_2$ at the sea surface and remineralization of sinking organic carbon at depths are main causes for the vertical contrast of carbon in the ocean. The sequestered carbon to the deep ocean returns to the sea surface by ocean circulation. Part of the upwelled $CO_2$ leaks into the atmosphere through air-sea gas exchange. It has been suggested that the air-sea partitioning of carbon has varied in concert with the glacial-interglacial climate variations, due partly to changes in ocean circulation. In this review paper, we briefly summarize key concepts of the oceanic carbon pump. We also discuss the response of the air-sea carbon partitioning to change in ocean circulation in the context of the glacial-interglacial climate change.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.243-251
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• 2012

Real-time monitoring for environmental factors(temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, etc.) and carbonate components( pH and $fCO_2$) was conducted during 5-6th of July, 2012 at a seaweeds farm in Gijang, Busan. Surface temperature and salinity were ranged from $12.5{\sim}17.6^{\circ}C$ and 33.7~34.0, respectively, with highly daily and inter-daily variations due to tide, light frequency(day and night) and currents. Surface $fCO_2$ and pH showed a range of $381{\sim}402{\mu}atm$ and 8.03~8.15, and chlorophyll-a concentration in surface seawater ranged 0.8~5.8 ${\mu}g\;L^{-1}$. Environmental and carbonate factors showed the highest/lowest values around 5 pm of 5th July when the lowest tidal height and strongest thermocline in the water column, suggesting that biological production resulted in decrease of $CO_2$ and increase of pH in the seaweed farm. Processes affecting the surface $fCO_2$ distribution were evaluated using a simple budget model. In day time, biological productions by phytoplankton and macro algae are the main factors for $CO_2$ drawdown and counteracted the amount of $CO_2$ increase by temperature and air-sea exchange. The model values were a little higher than observed values in night time due to the over-estimation of physical mixing. The model suggested that algal production accounted about 14-40% of total $CO_2$ variation in seaweed farm.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.91-109
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• 2022

The ocean is a significant sink for atmospheric anthropogenic CO₂, absorbing one-third of the total CO₂ emitted by human activities. In return, oceans have experienced significant declines in seawater pH and the aragonite saturation state also called ocean acidification. This study evaluates the distribution of aragonite saturation state, an indicator to assess the potential threat from ocean acidification, by combining newly obtained data from the west coast of South Korea with previous datasets covering the Yellow Sea, East Sea, northern South China Sea, and southeast coast of South Korea. In general, offshore waters absorb atmospheric CO₂; however, most of the collected water samples show aragonite oversaturation. On the southeast coast, the aragonite saturation state was significantly affected by river discharge and associated variables, such as freshwater input with nutrients, seasonal stratification, biological carbon fixation, and bacterial remineralization. In summer, hypoxia and mixing with relatively acidic freshwater made the Jinhae and Gwangyang Bays undersaturated with respect to aragonite, possibly threatening marine organisms with CaCO₃ shells. However, widespread aragonite undersaturation was not observed on the west coast, which receives considerable river water discharge. In addition, occasional upwelling events may have worsened the ocean acidification in the southwestern part of the East Sea. These results highlight the importance of investigating site-specific ocean acidification processes in coastal waters. Along with the above-mentioned seasonal factors, the dissolution of atmospheric CO₂ and the deposition of atmospheric acidic substances will continue to reduce the aragonite saturation state in Korean waters. To protect marine ecosystems and resources, an ocean acidification monitoring program should be established for Korean waters.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.375-388
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• 2019

Accurate evaluation of sea-to-air $CO_2$ flux and its variability is crucial information to the understanding of global carbon cycle and the prediction of atmospheric $CO_2$ concentration. $fCO_2$ observations are sparse in space and time in the East Sea. In this study, we derived high resolution time series of surface $fCO_2$ values in the southwest East Sea, by feeding sea surface temperature (SST), salinity (SSS), chlorophyll-a (CHL), and mixed layer depth (MLD) values, from either satellite-observations or numerical model outputs, to three machine learning models. The root mean square error of the best performing model, a Random Forest (RF) model, was $7.1{\mu}atm$. Important parameters in predicting $fCO_2$ in the RF model were SST and SSS along with time information; CHL and MLD were much less important than the other parameters. The net $CO_2$ flux in the southwest East Sea, calculated from the $fCO_2$ predicted by the RF model, was $-0.76{\pm}1.15mol\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$, close to the lower bound of the previous estimates in the range of $-0.66{\sim}-2.47mol\;m^{-2}yr^{-1}$. The time series of $fCO_2$ predicted by the RF model showed a significant variation even in a short time interval of a week. For accurate evaluation of the $CO_2$ flux in the Ulleung Basin, it is necessary to conduct high resolution in situ observations in spring when $fCO_2$ changes rapidly.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.327-342
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• 2021

The global coastal region is considered as a sink for atmospheric CO₂. Since most of the studies in the East Sea focused on the Ulleung Basin, the importance of coastal region for carbon cycle has been overlooked. In this study, we compared the biological pump and CO₂ absorption between the Ulleung Basin and coastal region by surface measurements of biological O₂ supersaturation (𝚫O₂/Ar) and partial pressure of CO₂ (fCO₂). Cold and less saline waters in the coastal regions were in contrast with a warm and saline water in the Ulleung Basin. The coastal waters near Samcheok and Pohang showed higher fluorescence, 𝚫O₂/Ar, and lower fCO₂ than those in the Ulleung Basin, indicating higher primary production and CO₂ absorption in the areas. The average net community production estimated by 𝚫O₂/Ar were 19 ± 6 and 60 ± 9 mmol O₂ m^-2d^-1 in the Samcheok and Pohang, respectively, 2-7 times higher than that of 8 ± 4 mmol O₂ m^-2d^-1 in the Ulleung Basin. Similarly, the average CO₂ flux between the seawater and atmosphere were -17.1 ± 8.9 and -25.8 ± 13.2 mmol C m^-2d^-1 in the Samcheok and Pohang, respectively, 4-5 times higher than that of -4.7 ± 2.5 mmol C m^-2d^-1 in the Ulleung Basin. In the Samcheok and Pohang, degrees of N₂ saturation were lower by 3% than that the ambient waters, suggesting the possibility of nitrogen fixation by primary producers.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2016

Currently available surface seawater partial pressure carbon dioxide ($pCO_2$) data sets in the East Sea are not enough to quantify statistically the carbon dioxide flux through the air-sea interface. To complement the scarcity of the $pCO_2$ measurements, we construct a neural network (NN) model based on satellite data to map $pCO_2$ for the areas, which were not observed. The NN model is constructed for the Ulleung Basin, where $pCO_2$ data are best available, to map and estimate the variability of $pCO_2$ based on in situ $pCO_2$ for the years from 2003 to 2012, and the sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll data from the MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor of the Aqua satellite along with geographic information. The NN model was trained to achieve higher than 95% of a correlation between in situ and predicted $pCO_2$ values. The RMSE (root mean square error) of the NN model output was $19.2{\mu}atm$ and much less than the variability of in situ $pCO_2$. The variability of $pCO_2$ with respect to SST and chlorophyll shows a strong negative correlation with SST than chlorophyll. As SST decreases the variability of $pCO_2$ increases. When SST is lower than $15^{\circ}C$, $pCO_2$ variability is clearly affected by both SST and chlorophyll. In contrast when SST is higher than $15^{\circ}C$, the variability of $pCO_2$ is less sensitive to changes in SST and chlorophyll. The mean rate of the annual $pCO_2$ increase estimated by the NN model output in the Ulleung Basin is $0.8{\mu}atm\;yr^{-1}$ from 2003 to 2014. As NN model can successfully map $pCO_2$ data for the whole study area with a higher resolution and less RMSE compared to the previous studies, the NN model can be a potentially useful tool for the understanding of the carbon cycle in the East Sea, where accessibility is limited by the international affairs.