• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1997

Surface current fields in the eastern East China Sea (ECS) were constructed by analyzing trajectories of 58 satellite-tracked surface drifters released during 1991-1996. Composite trajectories and 20-minute-by-20-minute box-averaged current vectors show that the basic current pattern composes of: the Kuroshio main stream, which turns eastward toward the Tokara Strait; a northward branch current of the Kuroshio on the ECS outer shelf deeper than 100 m; and an anticyclonic circulation in the northern Okinawa Trough west of Kyushu. The northward branch current sharply changes its direction to the northeast when it crosses a line connecting Cheju Island, Korea and Goto Islands, Japan. The basic pattern of current field changes slightly from winter to summer, and the main axis of the Tsushima Current in the Korea Strait is found to shift seasonally. The drifter experiment does not support the claim that the Yellow Sea Warm Current is separated from the northward branch current on the outer shelf southeast of Cheju Island. We suggest that the use of the term 'Tsushima Current' be limited to the northeast channel flow in the Korea Strait. The new term 'Kuroshio Branch Current' is suggested for the northward branch current on the outer shelf south of Cheju-do, which is separated from the Kuroshio.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1271-1281
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• 2009

The heavy snowfall event over the eastern part of Seoul, Korea on Mar. 04, 2008 has been abruptly occurred after the frontal system with the heavy snowfall event had been past over the Korean peninsula on Mar. 03, 2008. Therefore, this heavy snowfall event couldn't be predicted well by any means of theoretical knowledges and models. After the cold front passed by, the cold air mass was flown over the peninsula immediately and became clear expectedly except the eastern part and southwestern part of peninsula with some large amount of snowfall. Even though the wide and intense massive cold anticyclone was expanded and enhanced by the lowest tropospheric baroclinicity over the Yellow Sea, but the intrusion and eastward movement of cold air to Seoul was too slow than normally predicted. Using the data of numerical model, satellite and radar images, three dimensional analysis Products(KLAPS : Korea Local Analysis and Prediction System) of the environmental conditions of this event such as temperature, equivalent potential temperature, wind, vertical circulation, divergence, moisture flux divergence and relative vorticity could be analyzed precisely. Through the analysis of this event, the formation and westward advection of lower cyclonic circulation with continuously horizontal movement of air into the eastern part of Seoul by the analyses of KLAPS fields have been affected by occurring the heavy snowfall event. As the predictability of abrupt snowfall event was very hard and dependent on not only the synoptic atmospheric circulation but also for mesoscale atmospheric circulation, the forecaster can be predicted well this event which may be occurred and developed within the very short time period using sequential satellite images and KLAPS products.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1999

Hydrographic survey was carried out in the mid-eastern Yellow Sea from Keum River to Taean Peninsula in order to study the motion of the freshwater from the Keum River during July 07-12, 1997 when a large volume of freshwater was discharged from the Keum River weir. The low-salinity (less than 30.0 psu) plume was distributed over the large area between the Keum River and Ochong Island, 60 km northwest off the Keum River mouth. A band of relatively low saline water, originating from the Keum River, was also observed to the north of Ochong Island. The strong haline front had advanced from near Sibidongpa Island to Ochong Island, 25 km northwest of Sibidongpa Island, for 48 hours. A northwestward flow of a speed greater than 0.2 m/s was observed in the surface plume layer to the north of Sibidongpa Island where the water column was strongly stratified. The observed mean flow and the change of the frontal position are interpreted as resulting from the spreading of the Keum River plume. These results suggest that the discharge from the Keum River plays an important role in the coastal circulation of the mid-eastern Yellow Sea adjacent to the river.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.67-85
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• 2007

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model with the fine grid is applied to simulate the barotropic tides, tidal currents, residual currents and salinity dispersions in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. Data inputs include seasonal hydrography, mean wind and river input, and oceanic tides. Computed tidal distributions of four major tides($M_2,\;S_2,\;K_1$ and $O_1$) are presented and results are in good agreement with the observations in the domain. The model reproduces well the tidal charts. The tidal residual current is relatively strong around west coast of Korea including the Cheju Island and southern coast of China. The current by $M_2$ has a maximum speed of 10 cm/s in the vicinity of Cheju Island with a anti-clockwise circulation in the Yellow Sea. General tendency of the current, however, is to flow eastward in the South Sea. Surface residual current simulated with $M_2$ and with $M_2+S_2+K_1+O_1$ tidal forcing shows slightly different patterns in the East China Sea. The model shows that the southerly wind reduces the southward current created by freshwater discharge. In summer during high runoff(mean discharge about $50,000\;m^3/s$ of Yangtze), low salinity plume-like structure(with S < 30.0 psu) extending some 160 km toward the northeast and Changjiang Diluted Water(CDW), below salinity 26 psu, was found within about 95 km. The offshore dispersion of the Changjiang outflow water is enhanced by the prevailing southerly wind. It is estimated that the inertia of the river discharge cannot exclusively reach the around sea of Cheju Island. It is noted that spatial and temporal distribution of salinity and the other materials are controlled by mixture of Changjiang discharge, prevailing wind, advection by flowing warm current and tidal current.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.217-232
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• 2017

An Eulerian-Lagrangian hybrid modeling system to analyze physical and chemical processes during the transport of air parcels was developed. The Backward-tracking Model Analyzer (BMA) was designed to take advantages of both Eulerian and Lagrangian modeling approaches. Simulated trajectories from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration HYSPLIT model were combined with the US Environmental Protection Agency Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ)-simulated concentrations and additional diagnostic analyses. In this study, we first introduced a generalized methodology to seamlessly match polylines (HYSPLIT) and threedimensional polygons (CMAQ), which enables mass-conservative analyses of physio-chemical processes of transporting air parcels. Two applications of the BMA were conducted: (1) a long-range transport case of pollutant plume across the Yellow Sea using CMAQ Integrated Process Rate analyses, and (2) a domestic circulation of pollutants within (and near) the South Korea based on the sulfate tracking analyzer. The first episode demonstrated a secondary formation of nitrate and ammonium during the transport over the Yellow Sea while sulfate is mostly transported after being formed over the China, and the second episode demonstrated a dominant impact of boundary condition with active sulfate formation from gas-phase oxidation near the Seoul Metropolitan Area.

• International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 1998

The numerical simulation of heavy precipitation event occurred in the central Korean Peninsula on July 26-28, 1996 was performed using the fine mesh model. ARPS (Advanced Regional Prediction System) developed by the CAPS (Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms). Usually, the heavy rainfalls occurred at late July in the Korean Peninsula were difficult to predict, and showed very strong rainfall intensity. As results, they caused a great loss of life and property. As it usual, this case was unsuccessful to predict the location of rain band and the precipitation intensity with the coarse-mesh model. The same case was, however, simulated well with fine-mesh storm-scale model, ARPS. Moisture band at 850 hPa appeared along the Changma Front in the area of China through central Korea passed Yellow Sea. Also the low-level jet at 700 hPa existed in the Yellow Sea through central Korea and they together offered favorable condition to induce heavy rainfall in that area. The convective activities developed to a meso-scale convective system were observed at near the Yangtze River and moved to the central Korean Peninsula. Furthermore, the intrusion of warm and moist air, origninated from typhoon, into the Asia Continent might result in heavy rainfall formation through redistribution of moisture and heat. In the vertical circulation, the heavy rainfall was formed between the upper- and low-level jets, especially, the entrance region of the upper-level jet above the exit the region of the low-level jet. The low level convergence, the upper level divergence and the strong vertical wind were organized to the very north of the low level jet and concentrated on tens to hundreds km horizontal distance. These result represent the upper- and low-level jets are one of the most important reasons on the formation of heavy precipitation.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 2016

Recently, there has been a growing interest in physical-biological ocean-modeling systems by communities in the fields of science and business. In this paper, we present preliminary results from a coupled physical-biological model for the Northwestern Pacific marginal seas. The ocean circulation component is an implementation of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), and the lower trophic level ecosystem component is a Nutrient-Phytoplankton-Zooplankton-Detritus (NPZD) model. The ROMS-NPZD coupled system, with a 25 km resolution, is forced by climatological atmospheric data and predicts the physical variables and concentrations of nitrate, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and detritus. Model results are compared with remote-sensed sea surface temperature and chlorophyll, and with climatological sea surface salinity and nitrate. Our model adequately reproduces the observed spatial distribution and seasonal variability of nitrate and chlorophyll concentrations as well as physical variables, showing a high correlation in the East Sea (ES) and Kuroshio/Oyashio Extension (KOE) region but relatively low correlation in the Yellow Sea (YS) and East China Sea (ECS). Although some deficiencies were found in the biological components, such as the over/underestimation of the intensity of phytoplankton blooms in the ES and KOE/the YS and ECS, our system demonstrates the capability of the model to capture and record dominant seasonal variability in physical-biological processes and this holds out the promise of coming to a better understanding of such processes and making better predictions .

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.53-57
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• 2003

Low salinity water appears by outflow of fresh water from the Yangtze River in southwestern sea of the Korean peninsula. The water volume discharged form the Yangtze River is not constant with year, according to the time series data recorded in the past, the maximum value of the discharged volume is two times as high asr minimum value. Therefore, the distribution of low salinity water over study area with different discharged fresh water volume is studied using numerical model, Princeton Ocean Model (POM). POM is three dimensional circulation model selecting a $\sigma$­coordinate. According to the result of numerical simulation by the Model, current velocity on the continental slope is faster than those in other regions, current which flows toward the central part of the Yellow Sea through western part of Jeju exists, and also, southward flow along the coastal region exists. the greater discharged volume from the Yangrze River is. the lower salinity water appears closer to Jeju.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.865-875
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• 2022

Field measurements and numerical simulations using EFDC model were performed to quantify the changes of water circulation near Gusipo coast located in the Yellow Sea of Korea to estimate the impact of the construction of the coastal structures (jetty, groin, Gusipo port and bridge). The model predicted tide and tidal currents agreed reasonably well with the measurements. The maximum currents during spring tide near the Gusipo Beach (GB) have the range of 20~40 cm/sec whereas those off the GB range from 60 to 80 cm/sec. The typical patterns of tidal current show parallel with the local isobath. Tidal currents flow northeastward during the flood tide whereas the currents during the ebb tide flow southwestward. The current speeds at shielded waters after the construction of coastal structures strongly decreased as compared with those before the construction. The tidal volume due to the construction of coastal structures was estimated using the depth averaged velocity for 24 hours of spring tide. Tidal volume after construction of coastal structures was compared with initial state (before construction). Tidal volume at present state (after construction of jetty, groin, Gusipo port and bridge) decreased by 28.4% as compared with that of the initial state. The volume after construction of jetty and groin decreased by 21.3%, and the volume after construction of Gusipo port and bridge decreased by 9.8%.