• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.291-302
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• 2015

The seasonal variations of sea surface winds and significant wave heights were investigated using the data observed from the marine meteorological buoys (nine stations) and Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) in lighthouse (nine stations) around the Korean Peninsula during 2010~2012. In summer, the prevailing sea surface winds over the East/West Sea and the South Sea were northerly/southerly and easterly/westerly winds due to both of southeast monsoon and the shape of Korean Peninsula. On the other hand, the strong northerly winds has been observed at most stations near Korean marginal seas under northwest monsoon in winter. However, the sea surface winds at some stations (e.g. Galmaeyeo, Haesuseo in the West Sea) have different characteristics due to topographic effects such as island or coastal line. The significant wave heights are the highest in winter and the lowest in summer at most stations. In case of some lighthouse AWSs surrounded by islands (e.g. Haesuseo, Seosudo) or close to coast (e.g. Gangan, Jigwido), very low significant wave heights (below 0.5 m) with low correlations between sea surface wind speeds and significant wave heights were observed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.236-247
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• 2011

This study investigates sea level (SL) rise due to global warming in the Northwestern Pacific (NWP) and Seas around the Korean peninsula (KP) using outputs of IPCC AR4 climate models. Particularly, components of the SL rise induced by a local steric effect, which was not considered in most climate models, were computed using model-projected 3-dimensional temperature and salinity data. Analysis of the SL data shows that the ratio of the SL rise in the NWP and KP was about two times higher than that in global mean and particularly the ratio in the Kuroshio extension region was the highest. The SL rises over 100 years estimated from MPI_ECHAM5 and GFDL_CM2.1 model by A1B scenario considering the thermosteric effect were 24 cm and 28 cm for the NWP and 27 cm and 31 cm for the Seas around the KP, respectively. Statistical analysis reveals that these SL rises are caused by the weakening of the Siberian High in winter as well as variations of pressure system in the NWP and by the resultant change of water temperature. It also found that the highest SL rise in the Kuroshio extension region of the NWP was connected with the large increase of water temperature in this area.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.177-185
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• 2024

We developed a regional ocean climate model using dynamic downscaling in the Northwest Pacific Ocean to build a climate model for the Korean Peninsula. The past marine environment was reproduced through historical simulations, and the future marine environment in 2100 was predicted according to the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) climate change scenario. The future sea surface temperature of the Korean seas is predicted to rise about 1-4℃, and the increase in water temperature in the East Sea is expected to be the largest. The National Institute of Fisheries Science has monitored abnormal seawater temperatures such as high and low seawater temperatures in coastal and inland waters, and predicted that the number of high seawater temperature days in the East, West, South Sea, and the coast of Jeju Island will increase in the future. In addition, the occurrence of Ciguatera fish poison plankton around Jeju Island was projected to increase. This study is expected to provide accurate forecasting information for fishery issues. The aim of this study was to analyze future ocean environment changes around the Korean Peninsula using climate change SSP scenarios and predict fisheries issues through future projections of the regional ocean climate model.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.125-151
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• 2018

We grouped the names attributed to the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula in maps published in two major Korean ocean and fisheries science journals over the period from 1998 to 2017: the Journal of the Korean Society of Oceanography (The Sea) and the Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science (KFAS). The names attributed to these seas in maps of journal paper broadly were classified into three groupings: (1) East Sea and Yellow Sea; (2) East Sea, Yellow Sea, and South Sea; or (3) East Sea, West Sea and South Sea. The name 'East Sea' was dominantly used for the waters between Korea and Japan. In contrast, the water between Korea and China has been mostly labelled as 'Yellow Sea' but sometimes labelled as 'West Sea'. The waters between the south coast of Korea and Kyushu, Japan were labelled as either 'Korea Strait' or 'South Sea'. This analysis on sea names in the maps of 'The Sea' and 'KFAS' reveals that domestic researchers frequently mix geographical and international names when referring to the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula. These inconsistencies provide the motivation for the development of a basic unifying guideline for naming the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula. With respect to this, we recommend the use of separate names for the marginal seas between continental landmasses and/or islands versus for the coastal waters surrounding Korea. For the marginal seas, the internationally recognized names are recommended to be used: East Sea; Yellow Sea; Korea Strait; and East China Sea. While for coastal seas, including Korea's territorial sea, the following geographical nomenclature is suggested to differentiate them from the marginal sea names: Coastal Sea off the East Coast of Korea (or the East Korea Coastal Zone), Coastal Sea off the South Coast of Korea (or the South Coastal Zone of Korea), and Coastal Sea off the West Coast of Korea (or the West Korea Coastal Zone). Further, for small or specific study areas, the local region names, district names, the sea names and the undersea feature names can be used on the maps.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.213-232
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• 2019

This study evaluates the accuracy of four satellite-composite (OSTIA, AVHRR, G1SST, FNMONC-S) and three model-reanalysis (HYCOM, JCOPE2, FNMOC-M) daily sea surface temperature (SST) data around the Korean Peninsula (KP) using ocean buoy data from 2011-2016. The results reveal that OSTIA has the lowest root mean square error (RMSE; 0.68℃) and FNMOC-S/M has the highest correction coefficients (r = 0.993) compared with observations, while G1SST, JCOPE2, and AVHRR have relatively larger RMSEs and smaller correlations. The large RMSEs were found in the western coastal regions of the KP where water depth is shallow and tides are strong, such as Chilbaldo and Deokjeokdo, while low RMSEs were found in the East Sea and open oceans where water depth is relatively deep such as Donghae, Ulleungdo, and Marado. We found that the main sources of the large RMSEs, sometimes reaching up to 5℃, in SST data around the KP, can be attributed to rapid SST changes during events of strong tidal mixing, upwelling, and typhoon-induced mixing. The errors in the background SST fields which are used in data assimilations and satellite composites and the missing in-situ observations are also potential sources of large SST errors. These results suggest that both satellite and reanalysis SST data, which are believed to be true observation-based data, sometimes, can have significant inherent errors in specific regions around the KP and thus the use of such SST products should proceed with caution particularly when the aforementioned events occur.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.97-110
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• 2000

To investigate characteristics of water masses and current structures around Noto Peninsula located in south-east coastal region of the East Sea, observation results of CREAMS (Circulations Research of the East Asian Marginal Seas) cruise and data report of oceanographic observation (Japan Meteorological Agency) in June, 1995 and 1996 were used. Water mass showing characteristics of Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) exists over the continental shelf. The depth is shallower than 200m and its width and thickness are 190km and 200m, respectively. Minimum level of dissolved oxygen occurred at the layers of maximum salinity. In the current structure, a noteworthy phenomenon is that the positions of the high-salinity water (more than 34.6 psu) match well with the distributions of the southwestward flow. In June of 1995 and June of 1996, a southwestward flow were separated into two parts along line C and line G. Current directions derived from the temperature and salinity match well with the distributions of the geostrophic currents in the vertical sections. The isothermal lines and the isohaline, which exist horizontally along the coastal area of the Japan, change abruptly at the frontal area of the Noto Peninsula, then turn toward the center of the East Sea. The dynamic depth anomalies centering around the region far northwest of the Noto Peninsula were relatively high, compared to those of other regions. The isopycnic surface (sigma-t, 25.8) existed near the surface in the central part of the East Sea, but, at the depth of 100m, the isopycnic surface was found in the coastal waters.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.355-361
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• 2023

Temperature of the Earth's surface is a crucial physical variable in understanding weather and atmospheric dynamics and in coping with extreme heat events that have a great impact on living organismsincluding humans. Thermalsensors on satellites have been a useful meansfor acquiring surface temperature information for wide areas on the globe, and thus characterization of its estimation uncertainty is of central importance for the utilization of the data. Among various factors that affect the estimation, the uncertainty caused by the algorithm itself has not been tested for the atmospheric environment of Korean vicinity. Thisstudy derivesthe uncertainty of the single-channel algorithm under the local atmospheric and oceanic conditions by using reanalysis data and buoy temperature data collected around Korea. Atmospheric profiles were retrieved from two types of reanalysis data, the fifth generation of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis of the global climate and weather (ERA5) and Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications-2 (MERRA-2) to investigate the effect of reanalysis data. MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN) was used as a radiative transfer code for simulating top of atmosphere radiance and the atmospheric correction for the temperature estimation. Water temperatures used for MODTRAN simulations and uncertainty estimation for the single-channel algorithm were obtained from marine weather buoyslocated in seas around the Korean Peninsula. Experiment results showed that the uncertainty of the algorithm varies by the water vapor contents in the atmosphere and is around 0.35K in the driest atmosphere and 0.46K in overall, regardless of the reanalysis data type. The uncertainty increased roughly in a linear manner as total precipitable water increased.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.324-331
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• 1992

Water masses and circulations around Korean peninsula are briefly described based on recent studies. The results of theses studies are discussed from the physical point of view. Oceanic conditions in this region are largely due to the roles played by the Tsushima Warm Current, an onshore extension of the Kuroshio, and local conditions such as wind, surface heat flux and fresh water input etc. To the south and west of Korea, the northern/western border of the Tsushima Warm Current Water is roughly the line joining Taiwan and Cheju island. In summer, it is affected by large amount of fresh water discharged from the Changjiang and in winter, an intrusion of this water into the Yellow Sea is induced by the prevailing northwesterly monsoon wind. To the east of Korea, the Tsushima Warm Current Water presents roughly south of the line joining the wast coast of Korea near 37-38$^{\circ}$N and Tsugaru-Soya Straits in the northern Japan. But this situation, together with those in deeper layers, may greatly be changed by winter atmospheric conditions (wind and surface heat flux). The seas around Korea are not yet physically well understood and many problems wait physical explanations. Some problems, along with personal views of them, are mentioned.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Navigation
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.19-30
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• 1994

By use of the recent tropical cyclones' data in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, the occurrence frequency and region of typhoon as well as the features of the monthly mean track were analyzed. As the result of this study, (1) mean occurrence frequency of typhoon per year is 27.5, and 68% of total typhoons were formed in July to October and shown the highest frequency in August. (2) The ave-rage duration of typhoons is 8.5 days, and super typhoon which maximum sustained surface wind speeds is more than 130 knots occurs most frequently in October and November. (3) The highest frequency ap-pears around the Caroline, Mariana and Marshall Islands, and in wintertime, typhoon occurs in lower lati-tude comparing with those in summertime. (4) The typhoon track depends upon the distribution of pres-sure system and steering current in neighbouring areas. The mean track of typhoon can be classified into three types such as westward-moving type, northward-moving type and abnormally moving type. The west-ward-moving typhoons make landfall on the southern China by way of the South China Sea in June and July, on mid-part of China in August and September, and on Indo-china Peninsula in October and Novem-ber. The northward-moving typhoons approximately move on north~northwestward track to $20~30^{\circ}N$ from the occurrence region, then recurve to the East Sea through Korean Peninsula and Kyushu Island in June and July, to the Noth Pacific Ocean along the Japanese Islands in August and September and to the North Pacific Ocean through the seas far south off the Japan in October and November.

• 한국지구과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.124-131
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• 2005

A GDS (Geomagnetic Depth Sounding) method, one of extremely low-frequency EM methods, has been carried out to examine deep geo-electrical structures of the Korean peninsula. In this study, five additive GDS sites acquired in south-eastern area of the Korea were integrated into twelve previous GDS results. In addition, 3-D MT modeling considering the surrounding seas of the Korean peninsula was performed to evaluate sea effect at each GDS site quantitatively. As a result, Observed real induction arrows was not explained by solely sea effect, two conductive structures that are able to explain differences between observed and calculated induction arrows, was suggested. The first conductive structure is the Imjingang Belt, which is thought as a extension of Quiling-Dabie-sulu continental collision belt. The effects of the Imjingang Belt clearly appear at YIN and ICHN sites. The second one is the HCL (Highly Conductive Layer), which is considered as a conductive anomaly by mantle upwelling generated in back-basin region. The effects of the HCL are also confirmed at KZU, KMT101, 107 sites, in the south-eastern of the Korean peninsula.