• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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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 the korean society of oceanography
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.160-168
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• 2002

We have been measuring the voltage differences by using submarine cables in the Tsushima and in the Tokara Straits. The aim of these measurements is to estimate the volume transports of the ocean currents through those straits. In this paper, the voltage differences are compared with the corresponding sea level and air pressure differences between straits. Especially in the Tsushima Strait, the voltage difference is consistent with the air pressure difference as well as the sea level difference.

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

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.331-337
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• 2011

We described for the production of cloud-free satellite sea surface temperature(SST) data around Northeast Asian using NOAA AVHRR(Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) SST data during 1990-2005. As a result of Markov model, it was found that the value of Markov coefficient in the strong current region such as Kuroshio region showed smaller than that in the weak current. The variations of average SST and regional difference of seasonal day-to-day SST in spring and fall were larger than those in summer and winter. In particular, the distribution of the regional difference appeared large in the vicinity of continental in spring and fall. The difference of seasonal day-to-day SST was also small in Kuroshio region and southern part of East Sea due to the heat advection by warm currents.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.395-405
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• 2006

We measured the fugacity of $CO_2$ $(fCO_2)$, temperature, salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll a in the surface water of the western North Pacific $(4^{\circ}30'{\sim}33^{\circ}10'N,\;144^{\circ}20'{\sim}127^{\circ}35'E)$ in September 2002. There were zonally several major currents which have characteristics of specific temperature and salinity (NECC, North Equatorial Counter Current; NEC, North Equatorial Current; Kuroshio etc.). Surface $fCO_2$ distribution was clearly distinguished into two groups, tropical and subtropical areas of which boundary was $20^{\circ}N$. In the tropical Int surface $fCO_2$ was mainly controlled by temperature, while in the subtropical area, surface $fCO_2$ was dependent on total inorganic carbon contents. Air-sea $CO_2$ flux showed a large spatial variation, with a range of $-0.69{\sim}0.79 mmole\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$. In the area of AE (Anticyclonic Eddy), SM(Southern Mixed region) and NM (Northern Mixed region), the ocean acted as a weak source of $CO_2$ $(0.6{\sim}0.79 mmole\; m^{-2}day^{-1})$. In NECC, NEC, Kuroshio and ECS (East China Sea), however, the fluxes were estimated to be $-0.3mmole\; m^{-2}day^{-1})$ for the first three regions and $-1.2mmole\; m^{-2}day^{-1})$ for ECS respectively, indicating that these areas acted as sinks of $CO_2$. The average air-sea flux in the entire study area was $0.15mmole\;m^{-2}day^{-1})$, implying that the western North Pacific was a weak source of $CO_2$ during the study period.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.169-177
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• 2002

An eddy-resolving free-surface primitive-equation model with nonlinear terrain-following coordinates is established to study the exchange of water masses among the Asian marginal seas and their adjacent waters. A curvilinear coordinate system is used to generate the horizontal grid with a variable resolution for the regional oceans from $5^{\circ}$S to $45^{\circ}$N and $100^{\circ}$E to $155^{\circ}$E. The higher resolution region has about a 10 km by 10 km grid covering the complex geometry of the coastal marginal seas, while the lower resolution region has about a 30 km by 30 km grid covering the eastern Pacific. The model is initialized by the Levitus annual climitology and forced by the monthly mean air-sea fluxes of momentum, heat, and freshwater derived from the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set. High-resolution and low-viscosity are identified as the key factors for a better representation of the exchange of waters through narrow straits and passages between the marginal seas and their adjacent waters. The dynamics of the loop currents and eddies in the South China Sea and Celebes Sea are examined in detail. It has found that the anticyclonic loop and detached eddies from the Kuroshio through the Luzon Strait play an important role in transporting warm and salty water into the South China Sea, while the cyclonic circulation of the Mindanao Current in the Celebes Sea plays a role in contributing cold water to the Indonesian throughflow. The deep undercurrent of the western Pacific is shown to provide fresher water to the South China Sea and Celebes Sea. These modeling results suggest that the exchange processes via the narrow straits and passages are of fundamental importance to the maintenance of water masses for the marginal sea region.

• ALGAE
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.277-288
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• 2008

The relationship between nutrients and phytoplankton dynamics was investigated daily from 12 April to 22 July 2003 in Sagami Bay, Japan. According to multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cluster analysis, phytoplankton community was divided into four distinct groups. The first group was consisted of centric diatom species, such as Guinardia spp., Detonula spp., Letocylindrus danicus, Skeletonema costatum, Eucampia zodiacus and Chaetoceros spp.. The second and third clusters comprised mainly diatoms and dinoflagellates, respectively. The other cluster was restricted to the samples collected during the last sampling period when the rainfall and river discharge was frequently recorded. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was applied to analyze four groups respectively, which focused on the effects of nutrients concentration and ratio on phytoplankton variations. Based on CCA analysis, most species of centric diatom were negatively correlated with DSi concentrations and Si/N ratio. Nutrients were strongly limited phytoplankton growth during the summer when the rainfall was not observed, whereas river discharge by rainfall and counterclockwise coastal currents (although the surface circulation pattern is often altered by Kuroshio Current, the counterclockwise coastal currents are generally dominant) has brought phytoplankton population accumulation and triggered the micoalgae growth in western part of the bay. Phosphorous (P) was strongly limited after significantly increases in the phytoplankton abundances. However, silicate (Si) was not a major limiting factor for phytoplankton production, since Si/DIN and Si/P ratio did not create any potential stoichiometric limitation. This indicates that high Si availability contributes favorably to the maintenance of diatom ecosystems in Sagami Bay.

• ALGAE
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.273-286
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• 2007

Records of selected gymnodinioid dinoflagellates from the open waters in the vicinity of the Kuroshio and Oyashio Currents, the Philippine, Celebes, Sulu and South China Seas, western and central equatorial and southeast Pacific Ocean are described and illustrated. The species Gymnodinium fusus Schütt, Gyrodinium falcatum Kofoid et Swezy, G. caudatum Kofoid et Swezy, G. sugashimanii J. Cachon et al. and Pseliodinium vaubanii Sournia are considered to be morphotypes of a single species, that until further studies can establish the correct genus, are named G. falcatum. This study is the first to record individuals of G. falcatum with very long curly extensions. Other gymnodinioid dinoflagellates that showed bifurcated hyposomes may be related to Gyrodinium bifurcatum Kofoid et Swezy or cells of thecate dinoflagellates exuviated from their thecae. Some specimens showed a rigid cover, although no discernible thecal plates. In this group, the most common species was Ptychodiscus noctiluca Stein and, for the first time, a micrograph of a tentative specimen of the genus Berghiella Kofoid et Michener is reported. The validity of the genera Berghiella and Balechina Loeblich Jr. et Loeblich III with thick cell covers is discussed. Several species with apical extensions, other unknown taxa with distinctive shapes, and colonial forms are illustrated. The diversity of gymnodinioid dinoflagellates is underinvestigated in the open ocean.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2002

Seasonal variation in global transport calculated from an ocean general circulation model (OGCM) has been assessed through the comparison with observational estimates. The OGCM based on the GFDL MOM1.1 has honzontal grid interval of 10 and 21 verticle levels, and was integrated for 31 years forced by climatological wind stress, freshwater flux, and heat flux with restoring. General features of the world ocean circulation are well reproduced, which include the western boundary currents such as the Kuroshio and the Agulhas Current, the Equatorial Current system, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and the Weddell Sea gyres. Also well resolved is the remarkable seasonal variation in the depth-integrated flows in the northern Indian Ocean due to the monsoonal wind. Monthly variation is found to be dominant in the transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current through the Drake Passage in accordance with observational estimates. It has been shown that the mid-latitude depth-integrated flows obey the Sverdrup relation, except for some regions such as continental shelf regions where the interaction between stratification and bottom topography is critical.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.439-466
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• 2014

Since the unification of the diverse oceanic current maps of the East Sea in secondary school science textbooks has recently been accomplished, there have been increasing requirements for the production of a current map of the Yellow Sea (YS) and the East China Sea (ECS). This study, as its first attempt, facilitated the prospective production process of the unified oceanic current maps in YS and ECS by analyzing the maps of scientific articles and those of the present textbooks as of 2014. First of all, the analogue current maps of the textbooks and scientific articles were digitalized to retrieve the characteristics of current maps quantitatively and to make intercomparison of the maps. The currents of both YS and ECS such as the Kuroshio Current, the Taiwan Warm Current, the Tsushima Warm Current, the Yellow Sea Warm Current, the Chinese Coastal Current, the Korea Coastal Current, and the Changjiang River Flow were selected and analyzed. We made 18 items to investigate the paths of the currents. Analyses of the oceanic current maps of secondary school science textbooks and scientific articles with respect to the selected criteria revealed that the current maps of the textbooks were considerably different from the up-to-date knowledge of the current maps acquired from the scientific articles. In addition, since the currents of YS and ECS have strong seasonality, we suggest that they should be presented with at least two current maps for summer and winter in the textbooks, which may go through active discussions among experts.