• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 1992

A barotropic model is run over the Northwest Pacific Ocean to examine the formation and transport of the Tsushima Warm Current. The results indicate that the Tsushima Warm Current is a downstream extension of the Taiwan Warm Current. Local wind does not change the amount of transport of Tsushima Warm Current but it changes much the initial flow pattern of Tsushima Warm Current such that for southerly wind, the transport is through the Taiwan Strait but for northerly wind, it is through the eastern side of Taiwan.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.103-107
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• 2001

The major studies of an ocean circulation of the East/Japan Sea related to evaluate the feasibility and utilization of deep ocean water are reviewed. The major feature of surface current system of the East/Japan Sea is an inflow of the Tsushima Warm Current through the Korea/Tsushima Strait and the outflow through the Tsugaru and Soya Straits. The Tsushima Warm Current has been known to split into two or three branches in the southern region of the East/Japan Sea. In the cold water region of the East/Japan Sea, the North Korean Cold Current turns to the east near 39$^{\circ}$N after meeting the East Korean Warm Current, then flows eastward. The degree of penetration depends on the strength of the positive wind stress curl, according to the ventilation theory. Various current meter moorings indicate strong and oscillatory deep currents in various parts of the basin. According to some numerical experiments, these currents may be induced by pressure-topography or eddy-topography interaction. However, more investigations are needed to explain clearly the presence of these strong bottom currents. This study concludes the importance of topographical coupling, isopycnal outcropping, different wind forcing and the branching of the Tsushima Warm Current on the circulation of the East/Japan Sea.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2013

In this study we investigated changes in the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) under the global warming scenario RCP 4.5 by analysing the results from the World Climate Research Program's (WCRP) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Among the four models that had been employed to analyse the Tsushima Warm Current during the 20th Century, in the CSIRO-Mk3.6.0 and HadGEM2-CC models the transports of the Tsushima Warm Current were 2.8 Sv and 2.1 Sv, respectively, and comparable to observed transport, which is between 2.4 and 2.77 Sv. In the other two models the transports were much greater or smaller than the observed estimates. Using the two models that properly reproduced the transport of the Tsushima Warm Current we investigated the response of the current under the global warming scenario. In both models the volume transports and the temperature were greater in the future climate scenario. Warm advection into the East Sea was intensified to raise the temperature and consequently the heat loss to the air.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2006

Three HF ocean radar stations were installed at the Soya/La Perouse Strait in the Sea of Okhotsk in order to monitor the Soya Warm Current. The frequency of the HF radar is 13.9 MHz, and the range and azimuth resolutions are 3 km and $5^{\circ}$, respectively. The radar covers a range of approximately 70 km from the coast. It is shown that the HF radars clearly capture seasonal and short-term variations of the Soya Warm Current. The velocity of the Soya Warm Current reaches its maximum, approximately 1 m $s^{-1}$, in summer, and weakens in winter. The velocity core is located 20 to 30 km from the coast, and its width is approximately 50 km. The surface transport by the Soya Warm Current shows a significant correlation with the sea level difference along the strait, as derived from coastal tide gauge records. The cross-current sea level difference, which is estimated from the sea level anomalies observed by the Jason-1 altimeter and a coastal tide gauge, also exhibits variation in concert with the surface transport and along-current sea level difference.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.193-205
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• 2008

A model of the current and seasonal volume transport in the East China Sea was used to investigate the origin of the Tsushima Warm Current (TSWC). The modeled volume transport field suggested that the current field west of Kyushu ($30^{\circ}-32^{\circ}N$) was divided into two regions, R1 and R2, according to the bottom depth. R1 consisted of the Taiwan Warm Current (TWWC) region and the mixed Kuroshio-TWWC (MKT) water region, while R2 was the modified Kuroshio water (MKW) region west of Kyushu. The MKW branched from the Kuroshio and flowed into the Korea/Tsushima Straits through the Cheju-Kyushu Strait, contributing 41% of the annual mean volume transport of the TSWC. The TWWC and MKT water flowed into the Korea/Tsushima Straits through the Cheju-Kyushu and Cheju Straits, contributing 32% and 27% of the volume transport, respectively. The maximum volume transport of the MKW was 53% of the total volume transport of the TSWC in November, while the maximum volume transport of the water in the R1 region through the Cheju-Kyushu Strait was 41% in July. Hence, there were two peaks per year of volume transport in the TSWC.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2002

The offshore extension of the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) mostly turns anti-cyclonically around the Ulleung Warm Eddy (UWE). This fact needs to be dynamically explained because a rectilinear stream past a circular cylinder is normally expected to have a flow pattern symmetric about the stream axis. For this purpose, a simple analytical model is presented in this paper. This model shows that the EKWC's tendency to be anti-cyclonic around the UWE is due to the anti cyclonic circulation generated around the UWE. This tendency results from the geostrophic adjustment between the UWE and the ambient EKWC water. As the strength of the UWE decreases, relative to the EKWC, this model shows that the flow pattern gradually changes from circular to rectilinear.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.283-296
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• 2009

Oceanographic survey data were analyzed to understand the characteristics of a warm eddy observed in the Ulleung Basin in July 2005. The temperature distribution at 200 db and vertical sections provided evidence of the warm eddy in the Ulleung Basin (UWE05). Based on the 5$^{\circ}C$ isothermal line on 200 db temperature, the major axis was 160 km from southwest to northeast, and the minor axis was 80 km from southeast to northwest. The homogeneous layer in the thermocline of UWE05 had mean values of 10.40$^{\circ}C$ potential temperature, 34.35 psu salinity, and 26.37 kg/m$^3$ potential density (${\sigma}_{\theta}$) and provided evidence that UWE05 also existed during the winter of 2004-2005. A warm streamer initially flowed along the circumference of UWE05 and mixed with the upper central water. Two northward current cores were found on the western side of the measured current section at the central latitude of UWE05. One was the East Korean Warm Current (EKWC) and the other was the main stream of the western part of UWE05. Geostrophic transport of the upper layer (from the surface to the isopycnal surface of 26.9 ${\sigma}_{\theta}$) was approximately 2.5 Sv in the eastern side of UWE05. However, the measured transport was twice as large as the geostrophic transport. Mass conservation of geostrophic transport was well satisfied in the upper layer. The direct current measurements and geostrophic transport analysis showed that the EKWC meandered around UWE05.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2013

This study investigates the characteristic of the Tsushima Warm Current from an assimilated high resolution global ocean prediction model, $1/12^{\circ}$ Global HYbrid Coordiate Ocean Model (HYCOM). The model results were verified through a comparison with current measurements obtained by acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) mounted on the passenger ferryboat between Busan, Korea, and Hakata, Japan. The annual mean transport of the Tsushima Warm Current was 2.56 Sverdrup (Sv) (1 Sv = $10^6m^3s^{-1}$), which is similar to those from previous studies (Takikawa et al. 1999; Teague et al. 2002). The volume transport time series of the Tsushima Warm Current from HYCOM correlates to a high degree with that from the ADCP observation (the correlation coefficient between the two is 0.82). The spatiotemporal structures of the currents as well as temperature and salinity from HYCOM are comparable to the observed ones.

• Journal of information and communication convergence engineering
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.58-60
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• 2004

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∼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 were results to the inflow in sea surface of Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) and bottom topography. Sea level variations in the South Sea were 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/see) in the Wonsan bay off shore with NKCC, and anticyclone (0.06 cm/see) in the southwestern area of Ulleung island with EKWC, and cyclone (0.01 cm/see) in the northeastern area of Tushima island with TWC, respectively.

• 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.