• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.2
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• pp.688-691
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• 2006

The current system of the East China Sea, a marginal sea in the northwest Pacific, has a seasonal variation. The Changjiang Diluted Water, Chinese coastal water in the East China Sea, has different seasonal paths. It flows southward along the Chinese coast within a narrow band in winter and does northeastward the Korea/Tsushima Strait in summer, which has been a subject to many researchers. In particular, low salinity in the South Sea of Korea in 1996 and 1998 was in discord with the Changjiang River discharge and the Changjiang Diluted Water seems to play an important role in occurrence of red tide in the South Sea of Korea in 1997 and on the contrary, disappearance in the next year. These facts suggested that the Changjiang Diluted Water does not flow along the same path in every summer. According to the analyses for path of the Changjiang Diluted Water using ocean color images by SeaWiFS and salinity observations by shipboard CTD in August for recent years, the Changjiang Diluted Water in summer flowed within the range of direction from southeastward to north-northeastward anticlockwise. However, the Changjiang Diluted Water flowed northeastward toward Jeju Island of Korea for the most part. It is necessary to examine the influence of major factors on path variability of the CDW in summer such as surface wind, the Changjiang River discharge and background current.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.37-51
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• 2012

We investigated the distribution and species composition of zooplankton in relation to hydrographical characteristics in the Korea Strait during the winter (February) and summer (July) of 2009. Satellite images of sea surface temperatures and in situ CTD data showed that the southeastern water zone (St3-5) off Jeju Island was strongly influenced by the Tsushima Current during both the winter and summer, whereas the Changjiang Diluted Water, characterized as water with relatively low salinity, was evident in the coastal waters of Jeju Island during the summer. During winter, zooplankton abundance was significantly higher than in the summer, with dominance by copepods, ostracods, siphonophorans, appendicularians, and nauplii. In both seasons, copepods represented >70% of the total zooplankton population. Calanus sinicus, a large calanoid copepod, was dominant in near the coast, and that may be associated with the intrusion of low salinity water (i.e., the Changjiang Diluted Water) along the coast. The abundance of P. parvus s.l. and A. omorii, known as neritic copepods, was mainly associated with the Korea Southern Coastal Water. Foraminiferans, Ostracods, O. plumifera, and P. aculeatus were concentrated in the southeastern water off Jeju Island during both seasons; showing their association with the Tsushima Current, which is characterized warm, high salinity water. Our results suggest that the distribution, abundance, and species composition of zooplankton are highly influenced by different water masses in the Korea Strait.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.170-178
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• 2000

Low salinity water was observed during May in the Cheju Strait. Its structure and source were studied by using both the hydrographic data collected not only in the Cheju Strait during 1987-1989 but also in the wider area around Cheju Island extending to the Bank of Changjiang river in 1994 and the current data taken in the Strait during 1987-1989. The water had lower values of temperature, salinity, and density compared with the surrounding water and it was found in the surface layer outside of Tsushima Current Water 10-50 km off Cheju coast. The density of low salinity water was more dependent on salinity than on temperature. The low salinity water flowed into the Strait from the west as a series of intermittent waters whose size was variable in width and in thickness. The low salinity water was originated from the Chanajiang River Diluted Water. In the Cheju Strait, the water showed changes within 3 days on time and 30-50 km on space, and its sudden appearance was marked especially in May. Such strong variability and sudden appearance may be attributed to the beginning stage in May when the fresh water of Changjiang River Diluted Water starts to arrive in the Cheju Strait.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.121-132
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• 2023

Marine heatwaves (MHWs), referring to anomalously high sea surface temperatures, have drawn significant attention from marine scientists due to their broad impacts on the surface marine ecosystem, fisheries, weather patterns, and various human activities. In this study, we examined the impact of the distribution of Changjiang diluted water (CDW), a significant factor causing oceanic property changes in the East China Sea (ECS) during the summer, on MHWs. The surface salinity distribution in the ECS indicates that from June to August, the eastern extension of the CDW influences areas as far as Jeju Island and the Korea Strait. In September, however, the CDW tends to reside in the Changjiang estuary. Through the Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis of the cumulative intensity of MHWs during the summer, we extracted the loading vector of the first mode and its principal component time series to conduct a correlation analysis with the distribution of the CDW. The results revealed a strong negative spatial correlation between areas of the CDW and regions with high cumulative intensity of MHWs, indicating that the reinforcement of stratification due to low-salinity water can increase the intensity and duration of MHWs. This study suggests that the CDW may still influence the spatial distribution of MHWs in the region, highlighting the importance of oceanic environmental factors in the occurrence of MHWs in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.421-437
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• 2010

Surface particulate organic carbon (POC) concentration estimated from Maximum Normalized Difference Carbon Index (MNDCI) algorithm using SeaWiFS data is used to determine spatial and temporal variations of the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) in the East China Sea. 10-year monthly POC concentrations (1997-2007) show clearly seasonal variations. Inter-annual variation of POC in whole and three different areas separated by standard deviation is not linearly correlated with the Changjiang River discharge that has decreased after 1998. To determine more detailed spatial and temporal POC variations, we used empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis in summer (Jun.-Sep.) from 2000 to 2007. First mode is spatially and temporally correlated with the area influenced by the Changjiang River discharge. Second mode is temporally less sensitive with the Changjiang River discharge but spatially correlated with north-south patterns. Relatively higher POC variations during 2000 and 2003 were shown in the southern East China Sea. These patterns during 2004 and 2007 moved to the northern East China Sea. This phenomenon is better related to spatial variations of wind-direction than the amount of Changjiang River discharge, which is verified from in-situ measurement.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.187-194
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• 1984

Water masses and circulation in the yellow Sea (Hwanghae) were briefly reviewed and synthesized. Water masses were classified into four types: Hwanghae Cold Water, Hwanghae Warm Current Water, Coastal Waters and Changjiang River Diluted Water. The Hwanghae Cold Water can be defined to have a salinity of 32.0∼33.0% and a temperature below 10$^{\circ}C$, based on long-term hydrographic data and recent CTD casts (KORI, 1984). Concerning circulation, there exists a cyclonic gyre throughout the year in the southern part. In winter, the coastal current along the Chinese coast is very strong due to northerly or northwesterly winds and the Hwanghae Warm Current becomes weak as can be expected from a surface to bottom thermohaline front west of Cheju-do. Meanwhile in summer, the Changjiang River Diluted Water flows northeastward toward Cheju-do and the coastal current in the western part is greatly reduced. The northward current during summer in the southeastern Hwanghae has been accepted to be the Hwanghae Warm Current until now, coastal waters and the Hwanghae Cold Water in the central deep area, not a continuation of the Hwanghae Warm Current.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.351-359
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• 2010

This study examined extensive patches of floating green macroalgal (Ulva prolifera) mats in the northern East China Sea (ECS) using satellite images from mid May through July 2008 and field observation made during early August 2008 cruise. It was previously reported that the massive macroalgal blooms occurred in the coastal areas of Qingdao in China. During our field survey, researchers noticed widely distributed floating patches of macroalgal mats ranging in size from tens of centimeters to a few hundred meters in diameter. Meteorological data in the northern ECS showed high irradiance, high air-temperature, and predominant southerly winds in summer. In the study area during the survey period, surface waters were characterized by the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) mass, which contained high concentrations of nitrate and phosphate. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence of U. prolifera found in the northern ECS was the same as those of U. prolifera sampled from Qingdao blooms, suggesting a possibility that U. prolifera found in two regions would be derived from the same origin. We suggest that U. prolifera in the nearshore Jiangsu Province drifted into the northern ECS and proliferated under favorable meteorological and oceanographic conditions during the summer of 2008.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.259-270
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• 2016

Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) observations from the Aquarius satellite in the East Sea show large systematic biases mainly caused by the surrounding lands and Radio Frequency Interferences (RFI) along the descending orbits on which the satellite travels from the Asian continent to the East Sea. To develop a technique for correcting the systematic biases unique to the East Sea, the least square regression between in situ observations of salinity and the reanalyzed salinities by HYCOM is first performed. Then monthly mean reanalyzed salinities fitted to the in situ salinities are compared with monthly mean Aquarius salinities to calculate mean biases in $1^{\circ}{\times}1^{\circ}$ boxes. Mean biases in winter (December-March) are found to be considerably larger than those in other seasons possibly caused by the inadequate correction of surface roughness in the sea surrounded by the land, and thus the mean bias corrections are performed using two bias tables. Large negative biases are found in the area near the coast of Japan and in the areas with islands. In the northern East Sea, data sets using the ascending orbit only (SCIA) are chosen for correction because of large RFI errors on the descending orbit (SCID). Resulting mean biases between the reanalysis salinities fitted to in situ observations and the bias corrected Aquarius salinities are less than 0.2 psu in all areas. The corrected mean salinity distributions in March and September demonstrate marked improvements when compared with mean salinities from the World Ocean Atlas (WOA [2005-2012]). In September, salinity distributions based on the corrected Aquarius and on the WOA (2005-2012) show similar distributions of Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) in the East Sea.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.181-189
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• 2006

Frontal areas between warm and saline waters of the Kuroshio currents and colder and diluted waters of the East China Sea (ECS) influenced by the Changjiang River were identified from the satellite thermal imagery and hydrological data obtained from the Coastal Ocean Process Experiment (COPEX) cruise during the period between March $1^{st}$ and $10^{th}$, 1997. High chlorophyll concentrations appeared in the fronts of the East China Seas with the highest chlorophyll-a concentration in the southwestern area of Jeju Island (${\sim}2.9\;mg/m^3$) and the eastern area of the Changjiang River Mouth (${\sim}2.8\;mg/m^3$). Vertical structures of temperature, salinity and density were similar, showing the fronts between ECS and Kuroshio waters. The water column was well mixed in the shelf waters and was stratified around the fronts. It is inferred that the optimal condition for light utilization and nutrients induced both from the coastal and deep waters enhances the high phytoplankton productivity in the fronts of the ECS. In addition, the high chlorophyll-a in the fronts seems to have been associated with the water column stability as well.

• Geosciences Journal
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.989-1000
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• 2018

The provenance of the Central Yellow Sea Mud (CYSM) in the Yellow Sea has been attracted a great deal of attention over the last three decades, but a consensus is not yet reached. In this study, 101 surface sediment samples collected from the CYSM were investigated to determine provenance and transport mechanisms in the area using the clay minerals and major element components. The Huanghe sediments are characterized by higher smectite, but the Changjiang sediments are more abundant illite contents. Western Korean rivers contain more kaolinite and chlorite than do Chinese rivers. The Chinese rivers have higher $Fe_2O_3$, MgO, and CaO than the Korean rivers at the same $Al_2O_3$ concentration. Therefore, the clay minerals and major element concentrations can be useful indicator for the source. Based on our results, we suggest that the surface sediments in CYSM were composed mainly of Changjiang sediments, mixed a partly with sediments from the Huanghe and the western Korean rivers. Although the northwestern part of CYSM is proximate to the Huanghe, the contents of smectite and CaO were extremely low. It could be evidence that the Huanghe materials do not enter directly into the CYSM due to the Shandong Peninsula Front. Considering the oceanic circulation in the Yellow Sea, the Changjiang sediments could be transported eastward with the Changjiang Diluted Water and then mixed in CYSM via the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC). Huanghe sediments could be provided by coastal currents (Shandong Coastal Current and Yellow Sea Coastal Current) and the YSWC. In addition, sediments from western Korean rivers might be supplied into the CYSM deposit via the Korean Coastal Current, Transversal Current, and YSWC.