• Atmosphere
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.31-49
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• 2015

From the hourly data of 75 Korean weather stations over a 12-year period (2001~2012), this study has chosen three cases (January 12, 2006; January 11, 2008; and February 22, 2009) of multiple freezing rains and investigated the atmospheric circulations that seemed to cause the events. As a result, the receding high pressure type (2006), prevailing high pressure type (2008), and warm front type (2009) are confirmed as synoptic patterns. In all three cases, freezing rain was found in regions with a strong ascending current near the end point of a low-level jet that carried the warm humid air from low latitudes. The strong ascending current resulted from lower-level convergence and upper-level divergence. In 2006 and 2009, the melting process was confirmed. In 2008, the supercooled warm rain process (SWRP) was confirmed. In contrast to existing SWRP theory, it was found that the cool air produced at the middle atmosphere and near the earth's surface led to the formation of freezing rain. The sources of this cool air were supposed to be the evaporative latent heat and the cold advection coming from the northeast. On the other hand, a special case was detected, in which the freezing rain occurred when both the soil surface temperature and surface air temperature were above $0^{\circ}C$. The thickness distributions related to freezing rain in Korea were found to be similar to those in North America. A P-type nomogram was considered for freezing rain forecasting; however, it was not relevant enough to Korea, and few modifications were needed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.339-342
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• 2003

Sea level variations and sea surface circulations inthe 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 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 on shore with NKCC, and anticyclone (0.06 cm/sec) in the southwestern area of Ulleung island with EKWC, and cyclone (0.01 cm/set) in the northeastern area of Tushima island with TWC, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.229-238
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• 1994

Issues of declining growth and vigor in forests are major concerns in many areas around the world, especially in response to predictions in the 1980s of widespread forest declines. This paper summarizes the current state of knowledge for forests in North America, Europe, and East Asia. Forest declines near point-sources of pollution(such as metal smelters) have been well recognized for a century, but evidence of widespread impacts away from point-sources remains relatively uncommon. In North America, significant forest decline has resulted from high concentrations of ozone near Los Angeles, California, and around Mexico City. Some high-elevation forests of red spruce in the eastern U.S. have declined in the past 20 years ; evidence indicates a role of low-pH fog in reducing they cold-tolerance of spruce. In Europe. most attention has focused on Norway spruce stands that developed yellow foliage, needle loss, and in some cases mortality. This syndrome appears to be related generally to an inadequate supply of magnesium, perhaps coupled with a very high supply of nitrogen. Despite localized areas that show declining trees, overall stand growth and standing biomass in Europe increased from. 1970 to 1990. Much less information is available for East Asia. Many industrialized regions in China have a pH of rain <4.5, and some connections between pollution and forest decline have been suggested. Pollution impacts on forests near cities in Korea include needle chlorosis, reduced needle retention, and declining species diversity. Overall, temperate forests show no widespread declines, and no evidence of substantial effects of pollutants on forest growth or vigor. Small areas showing declining forests may indeed demonstrate pollution impacts, and may provide cause for concerns about future impacts on larger areas.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.13-35
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• 2023

Ocean currents play the most important role in causing and controlling global climate change. The water depth of the Yellow Sea is very shallow compared to the East Sea, and the circulation and currents of seawater are quite complicated owing to the influence of various wind fields, ocean currents, and river discharge with low-salinity seawater. The Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) is one of the most representative currents of the Yellow Sea in winter and is closely related to the weather of the southwest coast of the Korean Peninsula, so it needs to be treated as important in secondary-school textbooks. Based on the 2015 revised national educational curriculum, secondary-school science and earth science textbooks were analyzed for content related to the YSWC. In addition, a questionnaire survey of secondary-school science teachers was conducted to investigate their perceptions of the temporal variability of ocean currents. Most teachers appeared to have the incorrect knowledge that the YSWC moves north all year round to the west coast of the Korean Peninsula and is strong in the summer like a general warm current. The YSWC does not have strong seasonal variability in current strength, unlike the North Korean Cold Current (NKCC), but does not exist all year round and appears only in winter. These errors in teachers' subject knowledge had a background similar to why they had a misconception that the NKCC was strong in winter. Therefore, errors in textbook contents on the YSWC were analyzed and presented. In addition, to develop students' and teachers' data literacy, class materials on the YSWC that can be used in inquiry activities were developed. A graphical user interface (GUI) program that can visualize the sea surface temperature of the Yellow Sea was introduced, and a program displaying the spatial distribution of water temperature and salinity was developed using World Ocean Atlas (WOA) 2018 oceanic in-situ measurements of water temperature and salinity data and ocean numerical model reanalysis field data. This data visualization materials using oceanic data is expected to improve teachers' misunderstandings and serve as an opportunity to cultivate both students and teachers' ocean and data literacy.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.87-98
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• 2016

During the period between July 3 and 27 of 2009, water samples were collected from the Russian coast at a depth of 30m from 26 stations (including Ulleung and Japan basins) onboard the Russian survey vessel R/V Lavrentyev following 4 lines (D, R, E, and A). The samples were analyzed for nutrients and chlorophyll a contents. All parameters exhibited higher values in warm waters than in cold waters ($NH_4:1.8-fold$, $PO_4:1.8-fold$, $SiO_2:1.2-fold$, and chlorophyll-${\alpha}$:1.9-fold), except nitrates, which was 1.4-fold higher in cold waters than in warm waters. The horizontal distribution of ammonia, phosphate, and chlorophyll-${\alpha}$ was very similar to each other and showed the highest values in the waters near Russia, where a upwelling influence of cold current and bottom water prevails, while relatively low distribution was observed at the Ulleung Basin. On the other hand, nitrates showed the highest concentration at the Ulleung Basin, which is under the direct influence of the Tsushima warm water, and showed a gradual decrease northward. The N/P ratio showed the highest value in the Tsushima middle water, rather than in the North Korean Cold Water, the Tsushima Warm Water was the primary source of nitrate flow into the East Sea. However, the average concentration of phosphate in the warm waters was < $0.2{\mu}M$, thereby limiting phytoplankton growth, while a high concentration of phosphate in cold waters showed a direct correlation with chlorophyll-${\alpha}$. The results of principal component analysis for the identification of primary factors that influence the marine environment showed that principal component I was water temperature and principal component II was influenced chlorophyll-${\alpha}$ and nutrients. Therefore, Study area has greatest influenced by water temperature, and clearly distinct cold and warm water regions were observed in the East Sea.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.186-194
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• 2013

We compiled and analyzed long-term time-series data collected in Korea to evaluate changes in oceanographic conditions and marine ecosystems near Jeju Island ($33^{\circ}00^{\prime}-34^{\circ}00^{\prime}\;N$, $125^{\circ}30^{\prime}-127^{\circ}30^{\prime}\;E$) from 1981 to 2010. Environmental data included depth-specific time series of temperature and salinity that have been measured bimonthly since 1961 in water columns at 175 fixed stations along 22 oceanographic lines in Korean waters by the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, and time series of estimated volume transport of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) and Korea Strait Bottom Cold Water (KSBCW) for the period from 1961 to 2008. We analyzed the species composition in terms of biomass of fish species caught by Korean fishing vessels in the waters near Jeju Island (1981-2010). Data were summarized and related to environmental changes using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The CCA detected major shifts in fish community structure between 1982 and 1983 and between 1990 and 1992; the dominant species were a filefish during 1981-1992 and chub mackerel from 1992 to 2007. CCA suggested that water temperature and salinity in the mixed layer and the volume transport of the TWC and the KSBCW were significantly related to the long-term changes in the fish community in the waters off Jeju Island. Fish community shifts seemed to be related to the well-established 1989 regime shift in the North Pacific. Further studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms driving climate change effects on the thermal windows and habitat ranges of commercial species to develop fisheries management plans based on reliable projections of long-term changes in the oceanographic conditions in waters off Jeju Island.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.91-103
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• 1983

Qualitative and quantitative phytoplankton samples collected during a cruise in the southeastern sea of Korea in September 1981, were analysed. A total of 185 species of phytoplankters were identified in the present study. Of the numbers 14 species of diatoms and 56 dinoflagellate forms were found. The rest were 3 silicoslagellate forms, a cryptomonad and a euglenoid each. On the bases of the analyses of the phytoplankton communities, two vegetation areas were recognized. It is demonstrated that the extent of each vegetation area largely depends on hydrographical features. In southeastern coastal waters, the vegetation was fairly rich, and consisted of small celled diatoms and minute flagellates. In the northern part of the area, abundant phytoplanktons were present consisting of various diatoms and dimofalgellates. The size of standing stock of phytoplankton was compared with hydrography and the specific composition of phytoplankton. The importance of mixing between the Tsushima warm current water and North Korean cold water in distributing phytoplankton stocks was stressed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.113-116
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• 1978

To ascertain the feasibility of the energy utilization in the sea adjacent to Korea, the distribution of the vertical temperature difference and the seasonal variation in the southeastern Yellow Sea are studied in relation to the sea water circulation. In summer, a region of high vertical temperature difference of approximately 16$^{\circ}C$ was found at a distance of approximately 40 miles from the western coast of Korea. It is located at the west of 125${\circ}$ 30`E and at the north of 34${\circ}$N. The vertical temperature structure is sustained by the inflow of Yellow Sea Warm Current water, the warming of the surface water of the Yellow Sea and the periodical renewal of the Yellow Sea Cold Water. It may be stated that power can be obtained from the sea water by making the use of the temperature difference. The vertical temperature difference was around 14$^{\circ}C$ in the western and southern waters of Jejudo Island. The vertical temperature difference decreases in autumn, and disappears due chiefly to the vigorous convective vertical mixing in winter when the northwest monsoon prevails. The power can be obtained from sea throughout the year, if power generation by the temperature difference is combined with that by wind and wave, and systemized in such a way that the former is employed in the hot season of summer, while the latter in winter and spring.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.192-202
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• 2024

Ocean reanalysis data are extensively used in ocean circulation and climate research by integrating observational data with numerical models. This approach overcomes the spatial and temporal limitations of observational data and provides high-resolution gridded information that considers the physical interactions between ocean variables. In this study, I extended the previously produced 12-year (2011-2022) Northwest Pacific regional ocean reanalysis data to create a long-term reanalysis dataset (K-ORA22E) with a horizontal resolution of 1/24° spanning 30 years (1993-2022). These data were analyzed to diagnose long-term ocean climate change in the Korean marginal seas. Analysis of the K-ORA22E data revealed that the axis of the Kuroshio extension has shifted northward by approximately 6 km per year over the past 30 years, with a significant increase in sea surface temperature north of the Kuroshio axis. Among the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula, the East Sea exhibited the most significant temperature increase. In the East Sea, the temperature increase was more pronounced in the middle layer than in the surface layer, with the East Korea Warm Current showing a rate two to three times higher than the global average. In the central Yellow Sea, where the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water appears, temperatures increased over the long-term, but decreased along the west and south coasts of the Korean Peninsula. These spatial differences in long-term temperature changes appear to be closely related to the heat transport pathways of warm water from the Kuroshio Current. High-resolution regional ocean reanalysis data, such as the K-ORA22E produced in this study, are essential foundational data for understanding long-term variability in the Korean marginal seas and analyzing the impacts of climate change.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.84-95
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• 1990

Observations by CTD castings, moored current meters and satellite imageries reveal some physical characteristics of the area around the tidal mixing front found in the mid-Yellow Sea off Korea. Tidal mixing is the greatest at the promontory of Taean Peninsula with a front around it. The front appears in April with the start of solar heating, becomes most clear in August and disappears in November with the start of surface cooling. In the north of the front, tidal fluctuations of temperature and salinity induced by tidal currents manifest the existence of the front, Differently from the usual tidal mixing front, the front in Kyunggi Bay is formed by presence of the water discharged from the Han River which meets the offshore water at the front. Near the surface cold center, vertically well-mixed zone extends to about 50 Km offshore from the coast, Farther south, this structure is generally retained but with lesser degree of vertical mixing. Within the relatively well-fixed coastal zone, the fresh water discharged from the Kum River makes another salinity front of smaller extent. At some places around this salinity front, an Upwelling-like feature is remarked.