• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.389-399
• /
• 2009

Subsurface pressure gauge has many advantages in measuring a wide range of wave spectra in coastal waters from wind waves to long waves. However, a shortcoming of the gauge is related to the difficulties in recovering surface wave spectra from subsurface pressure records. In this study, the effect of current on the pressure transfer function of the pressure gauge, and hence on the surface wave energy spectrum, was investigated by analyzing the subsurface pressure data based on the linear wave theory. For this purpose, laboratory experiments were carried out in a wave-current flume. Subsurface pressure records, as well as the surface elevation data, were obtained simultaneously under different wave and current conditions. Pressure transfer functions were obtained and compared with those estimated from the linear wave theory, both with and without inclusion of the current-effect. It was established that wave spectra obtained from subsurface pressure gauge were in closer agreement with those from surface wave gauge when current-effect on the pressure transfer function was taken into consideration for analysis.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.209-220
• /
• 2010

One of the most difficult tasks in measuring oceanic conditions is to produce oceanic current information. In efforts to overcome the difficulties, various attempts have been carried out to estimate the speed and direction of ocean currents by utilizing sequential satellite images. In this study, we have estimated sea surface current vectors to the south of the Korean Peninsula, based on the maximum cross-correlation method by using sequential ocean color images of SeaWiFS chlorophyll-a. Comparison of surface current vectors estimated by this method with the geostrophic current vectors estimated from satellite altimeter data and in-situ ADCP measurements are good in that current speeds are underestimated by about 15% and current directions are show differences of about $36^{\circ}$ compared with previous results. The technique of estimating current vectors based on maximum cross-correlation applied on sequential images of SeaWiFS is promising for the future application of GOCI data for the ocean studies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers Conference
• /
• 1995.10a
• /
• pp.20-25
• /
• 1995

Surface wind field over an ocean plays a very important role not only to generate wind-driven current, but also to control heat exchange between ocean and atmosphere. However, the surface wind-field used for the ocean circulation and heat exchange is usually estimated by indirect methods because of lack of observed wind data and incomplete spatial coverage. (omitted)

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.219-227
• /
• 2021

Sea surface height (SSH) anomalies were estimated from data recorded by four pressure-recording inverted echo sounders (PIESs) in the Mindanao Current region over a duration of 2 years from December 2017 to November 2019. The steric components of SSH anomalies were derived from round-trip acoustic travel times from the sea floor to the sea surface, whereas mass-loading components were derived from bottom pressures. Temporal variabilities in the total (steric and mass-loading) SSH anomalies and the steric component are extremely similar; this result implies that the steric component plays a major role in SSH anomalies in this region. Comparisons of the PIES-derived SSH anomalies with satellite-measured SSH anomalies reveal that the former has less temporal variability. Correlation coefficients between the total SSH anomalies and satellite-measured SSH anomalies are less than 0.85, which is lower than the correlation coefficient between the steric components and satellite-measured SSH anomalies.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
• /
• 2006.11a
• /
• pp.113-120
• /
• 2006

In this paper, generation mechanisms of ocean freak waves are briefly introduced in the context of wave-current interaction phenomena. As an accurate and efficient numerical tool, the spectral element method is presented with general features and specific treatment for the wave-current interaction problem. The present model of the fluid motion is based on the Navier-Stokes equations incorporating a velocity-pressure formulation. In order to deal with the free surface motion, an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) description is adopted. As an intermediate stage of development, solution procedure and characteristic aspects of the present modeling and numerical method features are addressed in detail, and numerical results for wave-current interaction is left as further study.

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

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.225-242
• /
• 2012

This is the first attempt to produce simultaneous surface current field from satellite altimeter data for the entire East Sea and to provide surface current information to users with formal description. It is possible to estimate surface geostrophic current field in near real-time because satellite altimeters and coastal tide gauges supply sea level data for the whole East Sea. Strength and location of the major currents and meso-scale eddies can be identified from the estimated surface geostrophic current field. The mean locations of major surface currents were explicated relative to topographic, ocean-surface and undersea features with schematic representation of surface circulation. In order to demonstrate the practical use of this surface current information, exemplary descriptions of annual, seasonal and monthly mean surface geostrophic current distributions were presented. In order to objectively classify surface circulation patterns in the East Sea, empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was performed on the estimated 16-year (1993-2008) surface current data. The first mode was associated with intensification or weakening of the East Korea Warm Current (EKWC) flowing northward along the east coast of Korea and of the anti-cyclonic circulation southwest of Yamato Basin. The second mode was associated with meandering paths of the EKWC in the southern East Sea with wavelength of 300 km. The first and second modes had inter-annual variations. The East Sea surface circulation was classified as inertial boundary current pattern, Tsushima Warm Current pattern, meandering pattern, and Offshore Branch pattern by the time coefficient of the first two EOF modes.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.446-456
• /
• 2021

To build an environment facility of a large-scale ocean basin, various detailed reviews are required, but it is difficult to find data that introduces the related research or construction processes on the environment facility. The current generator facility for offshore structure safety evaluation tests should be implemented by rotating the water of the basin. However, when the water in the large basin rotates, relatively large flow irregularities may occur and the uniformity may not be adequate. In this paper, design and review were conducted to satisfy the performance goals of the DOEB through computational numerical analysis on the shape of the waterway and the flow straightening devices to form the current in the large tank. Based on this, the head loss, which decreases the flow rate when the large tank water rotates through the water channel, was estimated and used as the pump capacity (impeller) design data. The impeller of the DOEB current generator was designed through computational numerical analysis (CFD) based on the lift surface theory from the axial-type impeller shape for satisfying the head loss of the waterway and maximum current velocity. In order to confirm the performance of the designed impeller system, the flow rate and flow velocity performance were checked through factory test operation. And, after installing DOEB, the current flow rate and velocity performance were reviewed compare with the original design target values. Finally, by measuring the current velocity of the test area in DOEB formed through the current generator, the spatial current distribution characteristics in the test area were analyzed. Through the analysis of the current distribution characteristics of the DOEB test area, it was confirmed that the realization of the maximum current velocity and the average flow velocity distribution, the main performance goals in the waterway design process, were satisfied.

• Journal of Coastal Disaster Prevention
• /
• v.4 no.spc
• /
• pp.245-253
• /
• 2017

In this study, surface currents measured by small lagrangian GPS drifters (Aquadrifter) in Anmok coastal waters were analysed to account for the variability of nearshore surface current and wave-induced current to understand sediment transport mechanism near the crescentic bars in the surf-zone and near Kangneung breakwater and submerged breakwater in Anmok. The 8 times lagrangian drifter experiments were conducted mostly during in 2nd, 3rd, 4th intensive measurements in winter, summer, and spring seasons with long-term wave observation at the station W1. The analysed surface currents near the breakwaters in Anmok show that wave-induced currents at the middle of the submerged breakwater were separated and flowed toward the shoreline but offshore currents were dominant through the channels between the breakwaters. The longshore currents near the shoreline were flowed to the northwest (southeast) depending on the incoming waves from ENE (NNE). The surface nearshore offshore currents were generated mostly by waves and winds in case of high and low wave energy environments. Using the small-size lagrangian surface drifter experiments, we successfully measured longshore and offshore wave-induced currents in the surf-zone and near submerged breakwater close to Kangneung breakwater. The drifter experiment results show the availability of direct observation of nearshore surface currents to understand the mechanism of sediment transport analysing observed wave-induced current and ebb-current in the surf-zone generated by incoming waves and local winds.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.320-326
• /
• 2016

Rip current forecasts, based on intensity, are marked in four levels—notice, watch, warning, and danger. However, numerical results are represented by current vectors, whose magnitudes are then converted into predictive levels. In the present study, the rose diagram is adapted as a determinative forecasting index and examined for the case of an ideal rip channel consisting of surface, bottom, and averaged currents. Further, it is employed in the sensitivity analysis of wave-induced currents generated by wave conditions at the Haeundae Beach. The simulation of surface onshore and bottom undertow currents is accomplished by including a mass flux term in the wave-averaged continuity equation.