• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.235-246
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• 2014

The thalassinidean upogebiid Upogebia yokoyai Makarov, 1938 was first collected and described based on the specimens from the upper tidal flat of sandy shores of Jeju Island, Korea. Although this species was already reported in Japan and Russia, this is the first report of its occurrence in Korea. Upogebia yokoyai differs clearly from other upogebiid species previously recorded in Korean waters, U. major and U. issaeffi, by spinulation of the dactylus and propodus of pereiopod 1. In addition, some morphological comparisons are provided for identification of the three Upogebia species in Korean waters.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.289-301
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• 2008

Community structure of heterotrophic protists and their grazing impact on phytoplankton were studied in Northwest Pacific Ocean during October, 2007. The study area was divided into four regions based on physical properties (temperature and salinity) and chlorophyll-a distribution. They were Region I of North Equatorial Currents, Region II of Kuroshio waters, Region III of shelf mixed water, and Region IV of Tsushima warm current from East China Sea. The distribution of chlorophyll-a concentrations and community structure of heterotrophic protists were significantly affected by physical properties of the water column. The lowest concentration of chlorophyll-a was identified in Region I and II, where pico-sized chlorophyll-a was most dominant (>80% of total chlorophyll-a). Biomass of heterotrophic protists was also low in Region I and II. However, Region III was characterized by low salinity and temperature and high chlorophyll-a concentration, with relatively lower pico-sized chlorophyll-a dominance. The Highest biomass of heterotrophic protists appeared in Region III, along with the relatively less important nanoprotists. In Region I, II and IV, heterotrophic dinoflagellates were dominant among the protists, while ciliates were dominant in Region III. Community structure varied with physical(salinity and temperature) and biological (chlorophyll-a) properties. Biomass of heterotrophic protists correlated well with chlorophyll-a concentration in the study area ($r^2=0.66$, p<0.0001). The potential effect of grazing activity on phytoplankton is relatively high in Region I and II. Our result suggest that biomass and size structure of heterotrophic protists might be significantly influenced by phytoplankton size and concentration.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.467-470
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• 2006

Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) onboard its Communication Ocean and Meteorological Satellite (COMS) is scheduled for launch in 2008. GOCI includes the eight visible-to-near-infrared (NIR) bands, 0.5km pixel resolution, and a coverage region of 2500 ${\times}$ 2500km centered at 36N and 130E. GOCI has had the scope of its objectives broadened to understand the role of the oceans and ocean productivity in the climate system, biogeochemical variables, geological and biological response to physical dynamics and to detect and monitor toxic algal blooms of notable extension through observations of ocean color. To achieve these mission objectives, it is necessary to develop an atmospheric correction technique which is capable of delivering geophysical products, particularly for highly turbid coastal regions that are often dominated by strongly absorbing aerosols from the adjacent continental/desert areas. In this paper, we present a more realistic and cost-effective atmospheric correction method which takes into account the contribution of NIR radiances and include specialized models for strongly absorbing aerosols. This method was tested extensively on SeaWiFS ocean color imagery acquired over the Northwest Pacific waters. While the standard SeaWiFS atmospheric correction algorithm showed a pronounced overcorrection in the violet/blue or a complete failure in the presence of strongly absorbing aerosols (Asian dust or Yellow dust) over these regions, the new method was able to retrieve the water-leaving radiance and chlorophyll concentrations that were consistent with the in-situ observations. Such comparison demonstrated the efficiency of the new method in terms of removing the effects of highly absorbing aerosols and improving the accuracy of water-leaving radiance and chlorophyll retrievals with SeaWiFS imagery.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.471-474
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• 2006

Several planktonic dinoflagellates, including Cochlodinium polykrikoides (p), are known to produce red tides responsible for massive fish kills and serious economic loss in turbid Northwest Pacific (Korean and neighboring) coastal waters during summer and fall seasons. In order to mitigate the impacts of these red tides, it is therefore very essential to detect, monitor and forecast their development and movement using currently available remote sensing technology because traditional ship-based field sampling and analysis are very limited in both space and temporal frequency. Satellite ocean color sensors, such as Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), are ideal instruments for detecting and monitoring these blooms because they provide relatively high frequency synoptic information over large areas. Thus, the present study attempts to evaluate the red tide index methods (previously developed by Ahn and Shanmugam et al., 2006) to identify potential areas of red tides from SeaWiFS imagery in Korean and neighboring waters. Findings revealed that the standard spectral ratio algorithms (OC4 and LCA) applied to SeaWiFS imagery yielded large errors in Chl retrievals for coastal areas, besides providing false information about the encountered red tides in the focused waters. On the contrary, the RI coupled with the standard spectral ratios yielded comprehensive information about various ranges of algal blooms, while RCA Chl showing a good agreement with in-situ data led to enhanced understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of the recent red tide occurrences in high scattering and absorbing waters off the Korean and Chinese coasts. The results suggest that the red tide index methods for the early detection of red tides blooms can provide state managers with accurate identification of the extent and location of blooms as a management tool.

• 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.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.419-427
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• 2009

The Minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata, is the smallest baleen whale in the suborder Mysticeti. Because this species inhabits coastal areas, it became a main target species of coastal small-type whaling in the North Atlantic and the Northwest Pacific Oceans, and the species' population size dramatically decreased because of over-exploitation. As a result, the International Whaling Commission declared a global moratorium on whaling and launched the development of a management procedure for protecting the whales. Morphological studies, whaling history analysis, and genetic studies conducted mainly by Japanese scientists showed the existence of one unique "E" stock that inhabits the waters around the Korean peninsula and mixes with the "O" stock in the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk. We used the mitochondrial DNA control region polymorphism of 348 Minke whales bycaught or stranded in Korean waters from 30 October 1998 to 25 June 2005 to assess the whale population structure by year. The frequency of the 10 major haplotypes from the 40 identified haplotypes was not significantly different among groups, suggesting that a subpopulation was not present. A comparison of the genetic distances calculated with Tamura-Nei's method showed that the distances between groups were lower than those within groups, which suggests that there was no genetic difference in the Minke whale populations. The Fst comparison between groups and the phylogenetic tree constructed using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) and Neighbor Joining (NJ) method also detected no obvious sub-stock structure.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.229-239
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• 1994

By laying emphasis on the intermediate layer, water property distribution in the Northwest Pacific is studied using the hydrographic data obtained by Japan Meteorologica] Agency in the period from 1960 to 1986. The scattering of water type in T-S diagram is relatively small in the Kuroshio Region. Both the envelopes of saline side and of fresh side of the scattered data points shifts gradually from saline side to fresh side as the observation line moves from southwest to northeast. In the Mixed Water Region, the scattering of water type increases rapidly as the observation line moves north; The envelope of fresh cold side moves towards fresh cold side much faster than that of same side. The thermosteric anomaly value at the salinity minimum decreases as the observation line moves from north to south or southwest. This suggests that the water does not advect along the salinity minimum layer, but that the salinity minimun layer is understood as a boundary of two different waters aligned vertically. We defined the typical water masses for the Oyashio Water and the Kuroshio Water. The water mass below the salinity minimum layer may be created by isopycnal mixing of these two water masses with a fixed mixing rate. While, the water mass above the salinity minimum cannot be created simply by isopycnal mixing. The salinity minimum layer may be eroded from upper side due to active mixing processes in the surface layer, while the water of the salinity minimum layer moves gradually southward. This appears to give an explanation why the thermosteric anomaly value at salinity minimum decreases towards south.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.121-131
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• 2009

In an effort to better understand the physiological and ecological differences between warm and cold water copepod species in Korean waters using lipid contents and compositions, two species of copepods (Pleuromamma sp. as a warm water species and Neocalanus plumchrus as a cold water species) were collected from the Northwest Pacific and East Sea/Sea of Japan, respectively. The cold water species showed two fold higher lipid contents than the warm water species (11% vs. 5% of dry weight). Wax esters, known as one of the major storage lipid classes, were found to be the dominant lipid class (accounting for 64% of total lipids) in the cold water species, whereas, in the warm water species, phospholipids, which are known as membrane components, were the dominant lipid class (accounting for 43% of total lipids),with a trace amount of the storage lipids as a form of triacylglycerols (${\leq}1%$ of total lipids). With regard to the fatty acid compositions, saturated fatty acids (SAFA), especially 16:0 (about 30% of total fatty acids), were most abundant in the warm water species, whereas the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA : 20:5(n-3)) (${\geq}16%$ of total fatty acids), were most abundant in the cold water species. Among the neutral fraction of lipids, phytol, originating from the side chain of chlorophyll and indicative of active feeding on phytoplankton, was detected only in the warm water species. Significant quantities of fatty alcohols were detected in cold water species, particularly long-chain monounsaturated fatty alcohols (i.e. 20:1(n-9) and 22:1(n-11)), which are well known to abound in cold water herbivorous copepods. However, only trace amounts of short-chain fatty alcohols were detected in the warm water species. Twelve different kinds of sterols were detected in these copepod species, with cholest-5-en-$3{\beta}$-ol (cholesterol) and cholesta-5, 24-dien-$3{\beta}$-ol (desmosterol) dominating in cold and warm water species, respectively. In addition, for the warm water species (Pleuromamma sp.), we assessed the latitudinal gradients of lipid contents and compositions using samples from three different latitudinal regions (Philippine EEZ, Japan EEZ, and the East China Sea). Although no latitudinal gradients of lipid contents were detected, the lipid compositions, particularly dietary fatty acid markers, varied significantly with the latitude. The findings of this study confirm that the distribution of lipid contents and compositions in copepods may not only indicate their nutritional condition and diet history, but may also provide insights into their living strategies under different environmental conditions (i.e., water temperature, food availability).

• ALGAE
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.89-101
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• 2015

Ecklonia cava Kjellman is a common kelp found in shallow subtidal in warm-temperate waters in the northwest Pacific Ocean. This species has shown substantial morphological variation along with subsistence in different locations and local environments. We quantified the magnitude of morphological variation of E. cava from six populations along ~700 km of coastline from Jeju Island to Dokdo in Korea. In addition, we examined genetic distance among the populations using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Most morphological characteristics investigated were significantly different among locations. Multivariate analyses indicated two phenetically distinct groups (nearshore, sheltered vs. offshore, exposed), indicating wave exposure with turbidity are presumably major factors for the separation. With RAPD data, results of Nei's diversity (H) and AMOVA showed considerable variations in within- and between-populations. Pairwise ${\Phi}_{ST}$ and $N_m$ values indicated moderate gene flow between the six locations. Results of Nei's analysis revealed three genetically distinct groups, not consistent with the morphological groupings, indicating that a time gap may exist between morphological and genetic variations. This study also suggests dispersal distance of this kelp may be longer than what is commonly thought and genetic similarity in the populations was largely reflected by the direction of ocean current rather than just geographical distance.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.150-158
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• 2007

Data on squid catches, water temperature, and climatic factors collected for the Northwest and subtropical North Pacific were analyzed to examine the influence of oceanic and climatic conditions in spawning grounds on catches of Japanese common squid, Todarodes pacificus, in the East (Japan) Sea. The main spawning ground was divided into four sub-areas: the South Sea of Korea (R1), the southern waters off Jeju, Korea (R2), the southwestern part of Kyushu, Japan (R3), and the northern part of Okinawa, Japan (R4). Interannual and decadal fluctuations in water temperatures correlated well with squid catches in the East/Japan Sea. In particular, water temperatures at a depth of 50 to 100 m in sub-areas R3 and R4 showed higher correlation coefficients (0.54 to 0.59, p<0.01) in relation to squid catches in the East/Japan Sea than for R1 and R2, which had correlation coefficients of 0.40 or less (p>0.05). Air temperature and wind velocity fluctuations in each sub-area are correlated with water temperature fluctuations and were closely connected with variations in the surface mixed layers. Water, air temperatures and wind velocities at the main spawning grounds are linked to the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) with higher signals in the ca. 2-4-year band. Strong changes in a specific band and phase occurred around 1976/77 and 1986/87, coincident with changes in squid catches.