• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.832-859
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• 2011

The importance of scientific education on accurate oceanic currents and circulation has been increasingly addressed because the currents have played a significant role in climate change and global energy balance. The objectives of this study are to analyze errors of the oceanic current maps in the textbooks, to discuss a variety of error sources, to suggest how to produce a unified oceanic current map of the East Sea for the students. Twenty-seven textbooks based on the 7th National Curriculum were analyzed and quantitatively investigated on the characteristics of the current maps by comparing with both the previous literature and up-to-date scientific knowledge. All the maps in the textbooks with different mappings were converted to digitalized image data with Mercator mapping using geolocation information. Detailed analysis were performed to investigate the patterns of the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) in the Korea Strait, to examine how closely the nearshore branch of the TWC flows along the Japanese coast, to scrutinize the features of the offshore branch of the TWC south of the subpolar front in the East Sea, to quantitatively investigate the northern range of the northward-propagating East Korea Warm Current and its latitude turning to the east, and lastly to examine the outflow of the TWC near the Tsugaru Strait and the Soya Strait. In addition, the origins, southern limits, and distances from the coast of the Liman Current and the North Korea Cold Current were analyzed. Other erroneous expressions of the currents in the textbooks were presented. These analyses revealed the problems in the present current maps of the textbooks, which might lead the students to misconception. This study also addressed a necessity in a bridge between scientists with up-to-date scientific results and educators who needed educational materials.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.259-267
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• 1992

A survey of CTD casting was taken in April 1991 in the eastern Yellow Sea. The vertical structure of water column consists of the upper mixed warm, the mid cold and the lower warm layers devised clearly by a seasonal thermocline and the temperature inversion. A strongest temperature inversion is found in the southern part of the survey area. Where the low-layer water is $3^{\circ}C$ higher than the mid-layer water. The area of the temperature inversion covers about $100{\;}km{\;}{\times}{\;}100{\;}km$ and it is observed 1.5 month later. The temperature and salinity of the low-layer water shows a core structure in vertical sections and the tongue-like distribution extending from the south to the north, implying that the warm and saline water found in the oceanic front south of the survey area in early spring is advocated to the north over 150 km underneath the Yellow Sea cold water.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.599-615
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• 2016

This study investigates the accuracy of short-term ocean predictions during the development of ocean stratification for the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) Global Seasonal Forecast System version 5 (GloSea5) as well as the effect of atmosphere-ocean coupling on the predictions through a series of sensitive numerical experiments. Model performance is evaluated using the marine meteorological buoys at seas around the Korean peninsular (KP), Tropical Atmosphere Ocean project (TAO) buoys over the tropical Pacific ocean, and ARGO floats data over the western North Pacific for boreal winter (February) and spring (May). Sensitive experiments are conducted using an ocean-atmosphere coupled model (i.e., GloSea5) and an uncoupled ocean model (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean, NEMO) and their results are compared. The verification results revealed an overall good performance for the SST predictions over the tropical Pacific ocean and near the Korean marginal seas, in which the Root Mean Square Errors (RMSE) were $0.31{\sim}0.45^{\circ}C$ and $0.74{\sim}1.11^{\circ}C$ respectively, except oceanic front regions with large spatial and temporal SST variations (the maximum error reached up to $3^{\circ}C$). The sensitive numerical experiments showed that GloSea5 outperformed NEMO over the tropical Pacific in terms of bias and RMSE analysis, while NEMO outperformed GloSea5 near the KP regions. These results suggest that the atmosphere-ocean coupling substantially influences the short-term ocean forecast over the tropical Pacific, while other factors such as atmospheric forcing and the accuracy of simulated local current are more important than the coupling effect for the KP regions being far from tropics during the development of ocean stratification.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.65-75
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• 2004

In order to understand the water masses and their distribution in the eastern Yellow Sea from winter to spring, a cluster analysis was applied to the temperature and salinity data of Korea Oceanographic Data Center from 1970 to 1990. From December to April, Yellow Sea Cold Water (YSCW) dominates the eastern Yellow Sea, whereas Eastern Yellow Sea Mixed Water (MW) and Yellow Sea Warm Water (YSWW) are found in the southern part of the eastern Yellow Sea. MW appears at the frontal region around $34^{\circ}N$ between YSCW in the north and YSWW in the south. On the other hand, Tshushima Warm Water (TWW) is found around Jeju Island and the South Sea of Korea. These water masses are relatively well-mixed throughout the water column due to the winter monsoon. However, the water column begins to be stratified in spring due to increased solar heating, the diminishing winds and fresh water discharge, and the water masses in June may be separated into surface, intermediate and bottom layers of the water column. YSWW advances northwestward from December to February and retreats southeastward from February to April. This suggests a periodic movement of water masses in the southern part of the eastern Yellow Sea from winter to spring. YSWW may continue to move eastward with the prevailing eastward current to the South Sea from April to June. Also, the front relaxes in June, but the mixed water advances to the north, increasing salinity. The salinity is also higher in the nearshore region than offshore. This indicates an influx of oceanic water to the north in the nearshore region of the eastern Yellow Sea in spring in the form of mixed water.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2000

The relationship between the distribution of sea surface temperature(SST) and dinoflagellate(Cochlodinium polykrikoides) bloom areas were studied. The SST data were derived from the infrared channels of AVHRR(Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) sensor on NOAA(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) 12 and 14 satellites during 1995-1998. The initial water temperature at C. polykrikoides bloom was about 21${\circ}C$ at the coastal areas of the South Sea and along the shore of the East Sea of Korea during the summer season of 1995. The northern limit of red tides was coincident with that of 21${\circ}C$ isothermal line in the East Sea. The red tides that initially bloomed at the coast of Pohang on September 21, 1995 moved to the coast of Uljin on September 26, 1995. The skipped appearance of the red tides in the areas between Pohang and Uljin was due to the East Korean Warm Current, which was moving offshore from Pohang to approach to Uljin. The cold water which was formed by tidal front in the western coast of the South Sea and by upwelling water from deep layer in the southeastern coast of the Korean peninsula played a role in blocking the spreading of red tides during summer season in 1997 and 1998. In conclusion, the distribution of red tides appeared to be dependent on the initial water temperature at red tides bloom. The SST at the red tides varied from 21${\circ}C$ to 25${\circ}C$; 21${\circ}C$, 23${\circ}C$, 24 and 24-25${\circ}C$ in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998, respectively.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.262-277
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• 1991

Hydrographic data taken at stations spaced 8-16 nautical miles in the Cheju Strait and the southeastern part of the Yellow Sea in June 1980 and August 1981 show for the first time that oceanic water of high temperature and high salinity exists within 20 km from the northern and western coast of Cheju-Do. It is confirmed that the low salinity trough in the sea around Cheju-Do originates from the river plume on the Yantze Bank. The salinity trough separates the high temperature and high salinity water around Cheju-Do from the surface water of the Yellow Sea and below the seasonal thermocline this distance water meets the Yellow Sea Cold Water forming a thermal front. The Yellow Sea Cold Water seems to spread southward along the Yantze Bank centered at the isobath of 70 m. Its characteristics also appear in the northern part of the Cheju Strait. these complex structures contradict the yellow Sea Warm current suggested by Uda 1934), which is supposed to flow northward into the Yellow Sea along the western coast of Korea. Our data show that dense hydrographic surveys in space and time are prerequisite to understand the circulation around Cheju-Do.

• Geosciences Journal
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.989-1000
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• 2018

The provenance of the Central Yellow Sea Mud (CYSM) in the Yellow Sea has been attracted a great deal of attention over the last three decades, but a consensus is not yet reached. In this study, 101 surface sediment samples collected from the CYSM were investigated to determine provenance and transport mechanisms in the area using the clay minerals and major element components. The Huanghe sediments are characterized by higher smectite, but the Changjiang sediments are more abundant illite contents. Western Korean rivers contain more kaolinite and chlorite than do Chinese rivers. The Chinese rivers have higher $Fe_2O_3$, MgO, and CaO than the Korean rivers at the same $Al_2O_3$ concentration. Therefore, the clay minerals and major element concentrations can be useful indicator for the source. Based on our results, we suggest that the surface sediments in CYSM were composed mainly of Changjiang sediments, mixed a partly with sediments from the Huanghe and the western Korean rivers. Although the northwestern part of CYSM is proximate to the Huanghe, the contents of smectite and CaO were extremely low. It could be evidence that the Huanghe materials do not enter directly into the CYSM due to the Shandong Peninsula Front. Considering the oceanic circulation in the Yellow Sea, the Changjiang sediments could be transported eastward with the Changjiang Diluted Water and then mixed in CYSM via the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC). Huanghe sediments could be provided by coastal currents (Shandong Coastal Current and Yellow Sea Coastal Current) and the YSWC. In addition, sediments from western Korean rivers might be supplied into the CYSM deposit via the Korean Coastal Current, Transversal Current, and YSWC.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.147-151
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• 2008

In Southern Sea of Korea, there are upwelling area where artificial seamount were built and the environment variations (temperature, salinity, nutrient and current) of before and after built seamount were observed between 2002 and 2007. In 2002, before the seamount was built, there had stratification at 20-30m. And in 2007, seamount was built, stratification of the seamount at the front and back of it were changed by 10-40 m and 20-30 m, respectively. To know the reason of this results, we used temperature and salinity using Brunt-Vaisala Frequency and horizontal current using vertical shear and relative vorticity. They showed upwelling was mainly reason that changed the ocean environment.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.721-732
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• 2016

The accuracy and error characteristics of microwave Sea Surface Temperature (SST) measurements in the Northwest Pacific were analyzed by utilizing 162,264 collocated matchup data between GCOM-W1/AMSR2 data and oceanic in-situ temperature measurements from July 2012 to August 2016. The AMSR2 SST measurements had a Root-Mean-Square (RMS) error of about $0.63^{\circ}C$ and a bias error of about $0.05^{\circ}C$. The SST differences between AMSR2 and in-situ measurements were caused by various factors, such as wind speed, SST, distance from the coast, and the thermal front. The AMSR2 SST data showed an error due to the diurnal effect, which was much higher than the in-situ temperature measurements at low wind speed (<6 m/s) during the daytime. In addition, the RMS error tended to be large in the winter because the emissivity of the sea surface was increased by high wind speeds and it could induce positive deviation in the SST retrieval. Low sensitivity at colder temperature and land contamination also affected an increase in the error of AMSR2 SST. An analysis of the effect of the thermal front on satellite SST error indicated that SST error increased as the magnitude of the spatial gradient of the SST increased and the distance from the front decreased. The purpose of this study was to provide a basis for further research applying microwave SST in the Northwest Pacific. In addition, the results suggested that analyzing the errors related to the environmental factors in the study area must precede any further analysis in order to obtain more accurate satellite SST measurements.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.77-85
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• 2002

In the southern sea of Korea and the areas of Tsushima warm currents the relationship between the distributions of eggs and larvae of anchovy (Engraulis japonica) and oceanic conditions was examined on July and August 1997, The south Korean coastal waters, the water temperature of below $20\~23^{\circ}$ and the salinity of above 33.0 (PSU), the mixed waters between the south Korean coastal waters and the Tsushima warm currents, $21\~25^{\circ}$ and $32.0\~32.5$ and the Tsushima warm currents, above $26^{\circ}$ and below 31.5 were distributed at the surface layer. The Tsushima warm currents were distributed at the northeast of Jeju Is. and off the southern sea of Korea. As an appearance of warm streamer, the mixed waters were intruded into the coastal areas of Komun Is.$\~$Sori Is. and Sori Is.$\~$Yokji Is.. Approximate paths of surface water by the drift card experiments were similar with the intrusions of the warm water identified from the water temperature and salinity distributions. The distributions of chlorophyll concentration were consistent with the distributions of water temperature and salinity, Anchovy eggs and larvae were mostly distributed at Komun Is., Yokji Is, and the southwest of Koie Is. where chlorophyll concentrations were high and cyclonic circulations by the warm water intrusions (warm streamers) were formed.