• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.20-26
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• 2002

The offshore extension of the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) mostly turns anti-cyclonically around the Ulleung Warm Eddy (UWE). This fact needs to be dynamically explained because a rectilinear stream past a circular cylinder is normally expected to have a flow pattern symmetric about the stream axis. For this purpose, a simple analytical model is presented in this paper. This model shows that the EKWC's tendency to be anti-cyclonic around the UWE is due to the anti cyclonic circulation generated around the UWE. This tendency results from the geostrophic adjustment between the UWE and the ambient EKWC water. As the strength of the UWE decreases, relative to the EKWC, this model shows that the flow pattern gradually changes from circular to rectilinear.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• 제24권4호
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• pp.369-389
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• 2002

CTD data taken in the Ulleung Basin between 1996 and 2001 are analyzed to understand the hydrography around Dokdo. Major features occurring in the Ulleung Basin such as the path variability of the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC), the location and size of the Ulleung Warm Eddy (UWE) and the position of the Offshore Branch along the Japanese coast all influence the hydrography around Dokdo. The Dokdo area frequently lies in the eastern part of the meandering EKWC and the UWE that results in a filting of isolines sloping upwards to Dokdo in the Ulleung Interplain Gap (UIG) between Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Subsurface water near Dokdo then becomes colder and less saline than water near Ulleungdo. Two cases that are opposite to this general trend are also identified when the Dokdo area is directly affected by the EKWC and by a small scale eddy ffd by the Offshore Branch. High salinity cores and warm waters are then found near Dokdo with isolines sloping upwards to Ulleungdo. Freshening of the East Sea Intermediate Water was observed in the UIG when neither the EKWC nor the UWE was developed in the Ulleung Basin during June-November 2000.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• 제4권3호
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• pp.101-111
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• 2001

In an attempt to demonstrate the seasonal variation of the Ulleung Warm Eddy (UWE), in which the UWE changes its shape from a warm core ring in early spring to a warm lens in late summer under the effect of surrounding East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) Water, a simple geostrophic adjustment model is considered. Model results indicate that the buoyancy increase of the EKWC Water and the strengthening of the EKWC towards summer, both of which are typical of this region, are the major factors governing the seasonal variation of the UWE.

• 한국수산과학회지
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.15-28
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• 1992

한국 동해안을 따라 북상하는 동한 난류가 울릉 분지내의 난수괴(Warm Core)에 직접적인 영향을 미치는지를 알아보기 위해서 그 경로의 시간적 변화를 조사해 보았다. 수산진흥원에서 13년간(1975-1987) 관측된 loom 수심의$10^{\circ}C$ 등온선 분포와 $2^{\circ}C$ 수심 분포도, 200m 수심의 수온 분포도를 사용해서 난수괴의 중심위치와 동한 난류의 북상 여부를 결정했다. 동시에 천기도에서 계산된 해상풍으로 동해 전반에 걸친 월 평균 wind stress curl값을 구하고 Sverdrup balance를 이용해 유선함수값을 구했다. 그 결과 동한 난류의 경로는 항상 일정하지 않고 시간에 따라 변하며 퐁한 난류가 동해 연안을 따라 북상하지 않는 기간에도 난수괴는 동한 난류와 무관하게 존재함을 알 수 있었다. 유선함수 분포를 통해 대마 난류의 분지 및 동한 난류의 북상에 미치는 해상풍의 영향을 알아본 결과 대마 난류의 세기가 약한 4월에 한달 전의 해상풍에 의한 해수의 이동으로 동한 난류의 북상이 저지될 수 있음을 알 수 있었다. 그리고 Sverdrup transport와 난수괴의 위치는 상관성이 별로 없었으나 여름철 수산진흥원 조사 해역중 $38^{\circ}N$를 통해 흐르는 남향류는 동해 북부 해역의 찬 해수가 극전선 남쪽의 영구수온약층 밑으로 내려오면서 난수괴의 열구조와 위치에 영향을 미칠 가능성을 말해준다.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.1-21
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• 1999

A two-layer quasi-geostrophic numerical model is used to investigate the temporal variability of the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC), especially the separation from the Korean coast and the generation of warm eddies. An attention is given on the active role of the nonlinear boundary layer process. For this, an idealized flat bottom model of the East Sea is forced with the annual mean wind curl and with the inflow-outflow specified at the Korea (Tsushima) and Tsugaru Straits. Two types of separation mechanisms are identified. The first one is influenced by the westward movement of the recirculating leg of the EKWC (externally driven separation),the second one is solely driven by the boundary layer dynamics (internally driven separation). However, these two processes are not independent, and usually coexist. It is hypothesized that 'internally driven separation' arises as the result of relative vorticity production at the wall, its subsequent advection via the EKWC, and its accumulation up to a critical level characterized by the separation of the boundary flow from the coast. It is found that the sharp southeastern corner of the Korean peninsula provides a favorable condition for the accumulation of relative vorticity. The separation of the EKWC usually accompanies the generation of a warm eddy with a diameter of about 120 km. The warm eddy has a typical layer-averaged velocity of 0.3 m/s and its lifespan is up to a year. In general, the characteristics of the simulated warm eddy are compatible with observations. A conclusion is therefore drawn that the variability of the EKWC is at least partially self-excited, not being influenced by any sources of perturbation in the forcing field, and that the likely source of the variability is the barotropic instability although the extent of contribution from the baroclinic instability remains unknown. The effects of the seasonal wind curl and inflow-outflow strength are also investigated.

• 대한원격탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한원격탐사학회 2003년도 Proceedings of ACRS 2003 ISRS
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• pp.879-881
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• 2003

Sea level variations and sea surface circulations in the Korean seas were observed by Topex/Poseidon altimeter data from 1993 through 1997. In sea level variations, the West and South Sea showed relatively high variations with comparison to the East Sea. Then, the northern and southern area in the West Sea showed the range of 20${\sim}$30cm and 18${\sim}$24cm, and the northern west of Jeju island and the southern west of Tsushima island in the South Sea showed the range of 15${\sim}$20cm and 10${\sim}$15cm, respectively. High variations in the West Sea was results to the inflow in sea surface of Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and bottom topography. Sea level variations in the South Sea was due to two branch currents(Jeju Warm Current and East Korea Warm Current) originated from Kuroshio Current (KC). In sea surface circulations, there existed remarkably three eddies circulations in the East Sea that are mainly connected with North Korea Cold Current (NKCC), East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) and Tushima Warm Current(TWC). Their eddies are caused basically to the influence of currents in sea surface circulations; Cyclone (0.03 cm/sec) in the Wonsan bay off shore with NKCC, and anticyclone (0.06 cm/sec) in the southwestern area of Ulleung island with EKWC, and cyclone (0.01 cm/sec) in the northeastern area of Tushima island with TWC, respectively.

• Journal of information and communication convergence engineering
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.58-60
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• 2004

Sea level variations and sea surface circulations in the Korean seas were observed by Topex/Poseidon altimeter data from 1993 through 1997. In sea level variations, the West and South Sea showed relatively high variations with comparison to the East Sea. Then, the northern and southern area in the West Sea showed the range of 20∼30cm and 18∼24cm, and the northern west of Jeju island and the southern west of Tsushima island in the South Sea showed the range of 15∼20cm and 10∼15cm, respectively. High variations in the West Sea were results to the inflow in sea surface of Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and bottom topography. Sea level variations in the South Sea were due to two branch currents (Jeju Warm Current and East Korea Warm Current) originated from Kuroshio Current (KC). In sea surface circulations, there existed remarkably three eddies circulations in the East Sea that are mainly connected with North Korea Cold Current (NKCC), East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) and Tushima Warm Current (TWC). Their eddies are caused basically to the influence of currents in sea surface circulations; Cyclone (0.03 cm/see) in the Wonsan bay off shore with NKCC, and anticyclone (0.06 cm/see) in the southwestern area of Ulleung island with EKWC, and cyclone (0.01 cm/see) in the northeastern area of Tushima island with TWC, respectively.

• 한국수산과학회지
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.61-73
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• 2016

Water mass distribution and currents were investigated off the east coast of Korea near the Hupo Bank using the CTD and ADCP data from June to August 2010. The typical water masses were: (1) Tsushima Surface Water (TSW) from the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) in the surface layer, (2) a shallow thermocline at 20-30 m depth, (3) Tsushima Middle Water (TMW) of high salinity (>34.2) below the pycnocline, (4) North Korean Cold Water (NKCW) of low salinity (<34.05) and low temperature (<4°C) in the lower layer. In June, a double eddy was observed in which a cold filament intruded cyclonically from the south around a pre-existing cold-core eddy. A burst of strong southward current was recorded in mid-August due to a warm filament from the meandering EKWC. Current in the N-S direction was predominant due to topographic effects, and the direction of the northward EKWC was frequently reversed in its direction due to the eddy-filament activity, whereas the influence of the wind was not noticeable. The vertical structure of the current was of a two-layer system, with the northward EKWC in the upper layer and weak southward flows corresponding to the North Korean Cold Current (NKCC) in the deeper layer.

• 한국수산과학회지
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• 제51권5호
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• pp.579-589
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• 2018

Data from the two bottom moorings of ADCP (acoustic doppler current profiler), coastal weather station and CTC (conductivity temperature depth) observations for 2001 were analyzed to describe the physical processes associated with upwelling off the southeast coast of Korea. Winds were favorable for upwelling during summer, but were not correlated with currents. Shoaling of isotherms toward the coast due to the baroclinic tilting of the strong East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) provided a favorable background for immediate upwelling-response of surface temperature to southerly winds. This baroclinic effect was supported by a significant inverse coherence between the upper-layer current and bottom temperature near the coast. This upwelling is similar to the Guinea Current upwelling, which is driven by remote forcing (Houghton, 1989). Persistent southward flow was observed below approximately $10^{\circ}C$ isotherm throughout the observation period.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• 제36권2호
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• pp.165-177
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• 2014

In an effort to investigate the structure and variability of the coastal current in the East Sea, a moored ADCP observation was conducted off Uljin from late May to mid-October 2006. Owing to the transition of season from summer to autumn, the features of the current and wind can be divided into two parts. Until mid-August (Part-I), a southward flow is dominant at all depths with a mean alongshore velocity of 4.2~8.9 cm/s but northward winds are not strong enough to reverse the near-surface current. During Part-II, a strong northward current occurs frequently in the upper layer but winds are predominantly southward including two typhoons that have deep-reaching influence. Profile of mean velocity has three layers with a northward velocity embedded at 12~28 m depth. The near-surface current of Part-II significantly coheres with winds at 4-8 day periods with a phase lag of about 12 hours. The modal structure of the current obtained by EOF analysis is: (1) Mode-1, having 83.6% of total variance, represents the current in the same direction at all depths corresponding to the southward North Korean Cold Current (NKCC). (2) Mode-2 (11.7%) reveals a two-layer structure that can be explained by the northward East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) in the upper layer and NKCC in the lower. (3) Mode-3 (2.6%) has three layers, in which the EKWC is reversed near the surface by opposing winds. This mode is particularly similar to the mean velocity profile of Part-II.