• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.687-694
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• 2006

This paper investigated the effects of wind stress forcing in the western North Pacific on ENSO decadal change before and after the late 1970s. The SVD analysis of SODA data shows that a positive wind stress curl is dominant in the western North Pacific at the ENSO mature phase, which leads to the ENSO phase change by discharge/recharge heat contents in the equatorial Pacific. Before the late 1970s, the wind stress curl in the western North Pacific was strong. This strong wind forcing that is associated with the fast discharge of heat contents in the equator led to the short period and the weak intensity of ENSO occurred during the 1960-1970. On the other hand, after the late 1970s the relatively weak wind stress curl was accompanied with the long period and the strong intensity of ENSO. The simple coupled model experiments also confirm that the amplitude and dominant period of ENSO decrease when the wind stress curl in the western North Pacific projects more strongly into the ocean at the TNSO mature phase. Our results support that the changes in the behavior of ENSO after the late 1970s are associated with the wind stress variation in the western North Pacific.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.3-11
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• 2000

The Asian summer monsoon has a profound social and economic impact in East Asia and its surrounding countries. The monsoon is basically a response of the atmosphere to the differential heating between the land mass of the Asian continent and the adjacent oceans. The atmospheric response, however, is quite complicated due to the interactions between the atmospheric heat sources, land-sea contrast, and topography, The occurrence of extreme summertime floods in Korea, Japan, and China in 1998 and 1999 has highlighted the range of variability of the East Asian summertime monsoon circulation and spurred interest in investigating the cause of such extreme variability. While ENSO is often considered a prime mechanism responsible for the unusual hydrological disasters in East Asia, understanding of the connection between ENSO and the East Asian monsoon is hampered by their dynamic complexities. Along with a recent phenomenon of weather abnormalities observed in many parts of the globe, Korea has seen its share of increased weather abnormalities such as the record-breaking heavy rainfalls due to a series of flash floods in the summers of 1998 and 1999, following devastating Yangtze river floods in China. A clear regime shift is found in the tropospheric mean temperature in the northern hemisphere middle latitudes and the surface temperature over the Asian continent during the summer with a sudden warming since 1977. Either decadal climate variation or climate regime shift in the Asian continent is evident and may have altered the characteristics of the East Asian summer monsoon. Considering the summertime rainfall amount in Korea is overall increased lately, the 1998/99 heavy rainfalls may not be isolated episodes related only to ENSO, but could be a part of long-term climate variation. The record-breaking heavy summer rainfalls in Korea may not be direct impact of ENSO. Instead, the effects of decadal climate variation and ENSO may be coupled to each other and also to the East Asian summer monsoon system, while their individual impacts are difficult to separate.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.611-616
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• 2015

El Nino and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) presents a broad band (2-8 year) variability and slowly changing amplitude and period, which are respectively referred to as ENSO irregularity and ENSO modulation. In this study, we developed a nonlinear low-order climate model by combining the Lorenz-63 model of nonlinear atmospheric variability and a simple ENSO model with recharge oscillator characteristics. The model successfully reproduced the ENSO-like variations in the sea surface temperature of eastern Pacific, such as the peak period, wide periodicity, and decadal modulations. The results show that the chaotic atmospheric forcing can lead to ENSO irregularity and ENSO modulation. It is also suggested the high probability of La Nina development could be associated with strong convection of the western warm pool. Although it is simple, this model is expected to be used in research on long-term climate change because it well captures the nonlinear air-sea interactions in the equatorial Pacific.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.281-290
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• 2011

This study examined the change in sea surface temperature (SST) around the Korean peninsula since industrialization at year 1880, and its possible causes using observation based data from the Hadley Center, the Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and National Climate Data Center. Since year 1880, There have been multi-decadal fluctuations with a gradual reduction from 1880 to around 1940, and from 1950-1980. There has then been a marked increase from 1940-1950, and from 1980 to the present. The ocean surface warming is larger during the boreal winter than summer, and greater in the south. The multi-decadal SST fluctuations around the Korean Peninsula are largely consistent with the negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which fluctuates with periods of about 20-50 years. Secondly, the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), whose long period component moves along with the PDO, appears to influence the SST near the Korean Peninsula, especially in recent decades. Overall, the SST around the Korean Peninsula has warmed since year 1880 by about $1^{\circ}C$, which is about twice the global-mean ocean surface warming. This long-term warming is aligned with an increase in greenhouse gas concentration, as well as local factors such as the PDO.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.882-889
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• 2022

In this study, to understand the factors influencing the flow change the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC), the correlation between the volume transport the TWC, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) was analyzed. A calculation of the monthly volume transport of TWC for 25 years (1993-2018) revealed that the seasonal fluctuation cycle was the largest in summer and smallest in winter. Power spectrum analysis to determine the periodicity of the TWC volume transport, Oceanic Niño Undex (ONI), and PDO indicated that the TWC volume transport peaked at a one year cycle, but ONI and PDO showed no clear cycle. Further, to understand the correlation between the TWC transport volume and ONI and PDO, the coherence estimation method was used for analysis. The coherence of ONI and PDO had a high mutual contribution in long-period fluctuations of three years or more but had low mutual contribution in short-period fluctuations within one year. However, the coherence value between the two factors of the TWC volume transport and PDO was 0.7 in the 0.8-1.2 year cycle, which had a high mutual contribution. Meanwhile, the TWC volume transport and PDO have an inverse correlation between period I (1993-2002) and period III (2010-2018). When the TWC maximum transport volume (2.2 Sv or more) was high, the PDO index showed a negative value below -1.0, and the PDO index showed a positive value when the TWC maximum transport volume was (below 2.2 Sv). Therefore, using long-term PDO index data, changes in the TWC transport volume and water temperature in the East Sea coastal area could be predicted.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.259-272
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• 2013

One of the factors influencing the climate around Korea is the oceanic-atmospheric variability in the tropical region between the eastern Indian and the western Pacific Oceans. Lack of knowledge about the air-sea interaction in the tropical Indo-Pacific region continues to make it problematic forecasting the ocean climate in the East Asia. The 'Tropical Indo-Pacific water transport and ecosystem monitoring EXperiment (TIPEX)' is a program for monitoring the ocean circulation variability between Pacific and Indian Oceans and for improving the accuracy of future climate forecasting. The main goal of the TIPEX program is to quantify the climate and ocean circulation change between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. The contents of the program are 1) to observe the mixing process of different water masses and water transport in the eastern Indian and the western Pacific, 2) to understand the large-scale oceanic-climatic variation including El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)/Warm Pool/Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)/Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), and 3) to monitor the biogeochemical processes, material flux, and biological changes due to the climate change. In order to effectively carry out the monitoring program, close international cooperation and the proper co-work sharing of tasks between China, Japan, Indonesia, and India as well as USA is required.