• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.415-422
• /
• 2009

The wave observation system in Korea has been established with an emphasis on pointmeasurement based on in situ instrumentations. However, the system cannot fully investigate the coastal wave-related problems that are significantly localized and intensified with three-dimensional regional geometries. Observation technique that can cover local processes with large time and spatial variation needs to be established. Video imaging techniques that can provide continuous monitoring of coastal waves and related phenomena with high spatial and temporal resolutions at minimum cost of instrumentation risks are reviewed together with present status of implementation in Korea. Practical applications of the video imaging techniques are suggested to tackle with various coastal issues of public concern in Korea including, real-time monitoring of wave runup and overtopping of swells on the east coast of Korea, longshore and rip currents, morphological and bathymetric changes, storm surge and tsunami inundation, and abnormal extreme waves in the west coast of Korea, etc.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.33 no.spc3
• /
• pp.385-395
• /
• 2011

Time-series sediment traps were deployed at 1,000 m water depth of the northwestern subtropical Pacific from July 2009 to June 2010, with the aim of understanding temporal and spatial variations of sinking-particle fluxes. The opening and closing of the traps was synchronized at 18-day periods for 20 events. Total mass fluxes showed distinct seasonal variations with high values for the summer-fall seasons and relatively low values for winter-spring. This seasonal variation at two stations was characterized by a distinct difference in $CaCO_3$ fluxes between the two seasons. The enhanced $CaCO_3$ flux in the summer - fall seasons might be attributed to an increased planktonic foraminiferal flux. Total mass flux at FM10 station was nearly 50% higher than that at FM1 station. The difference in $CaCO_3$ fluxes between two stations contributed nearly 70% of the difference of total mass fluxes. The $CaCO_3$ flux was a major component controlling temporal and spatial variation of sinking - particle fluxes in the western subtropical Pacific Ocean.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.45-58
• /
• 2005

Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, COD, dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN), dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), and chlorophyll were measured in the surface and bottom waters of Cheonsu Bay in April, August, December 2003, and Hay 2004. DIN showed a large seasonal variation, with higher values in summer and lower in spring. The significant decrease in DIN concentration was observed from April to May, which may imply the occurrence of spring phytoplankton bloom sometime in these periods. In contrast, DIP did not show distinct seasonal variation, with relatively low values compared with other coastal regions. The low DIP concentration in Cheonsu Bay is ascribed to a limited phosphorus input around Cheonsu Bay. The Nf ratios of Cheonsu Bay much higher than the Redfield ratio(16) in all season indicate that phytoplankton growth is limited by phosphorus. Based on low chlorophyll concentrations and eutrophication index, Cheonsu Bay has not been in eutrophic condition during our observation periods. In the artificial lakes located around Cheonsu Bay, however, chlorophyll concentrations were very high, mostly over $10{\mu}g\;l^{-1}$, indicating that they are now in severe eutrophic condition.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.145-148
• /
• 2008

ICESat launched in Jan. 2003 has a capability to monitor polar regions with its inclination of 94 degree. ICESat carries GLAS (Geosciences Laser Altimetry System) to measure Earth's topography in unprecedented accuracy, and thus it can be applied for glacier variation due to recent climate changes. Here we present a new method to estimate velocity structure of Amery Ice-Shelf using ICESat altimtery data. ICESat data shows horizontal displacement of Amery Ice-Shelf, which can be directly used for velocity estimation. This method is expected to extend to other ice-shelves in Antarctica.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.305-311
• /
• 2016

The spatial size and variation of Arctic sea ice play an important role in Earth's climate system. These are affected by conditions in the polar atmosphere and Arctic sea temperatures. The Arctic sea ice concentration is calculated from brightness temperature data derived from the Defense Meteorological Satellite program (DMSP) F13 Special Sensor Microwave/Imagers (SSMI) and the DMSP F17 Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) sensors. Many previous studies point to significant reductions in sea ice and their causes. We investigated the variability of Arctic sea ice using the daily sea ice concentration data from passive microwave observations to identify the sea ice melting regions near the Arctic polar ice cap. We discovered the abnormal melting of the Arctic sea ice near the North Pole during the summer and the winter. This phenomenon is hard to explain only surface air temperature or solar heating as suggested by recent studies. We propose a hypothesis explaining this phenomenon. The heat from the deep sea in Arctic Ocean ridges and/or the hydrothermal vents might be contributing to the melting of Arctic sea ice. This hypothesis could be verified by the observation of warm water column structure below the melting or thinning arctic sea ice through the project such as Coriolis dataset for reanalysis (CORA).

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.247-255
• /
• 2009

We measured phosphate benthic fluxes and conducted phosphate adsorption experiments in order to find out the effects of adsorption on phosphate benthic fluxes in the intertidal sediments of Keunso Bay during summer and winter. Organic carbon contents showed little variation with season at St. S1, but noticeable changes were observed at St. S2, which were three times higher in winter than in summer. The higher organic carbon contents in winter resulted from the bloom of benthic algae in surface sediments. Pore water phosphate concentrations were much higher in summer than in winter. The higher phosphate concentration in summer was probably due to the faster remineralization rate of organic matter in summer. At St. S1, benthic fluxes of phosphate showed a negative value in summer and a positive value in winter. However, St. S2 had a negative benthic flux both in summer and winter. The negative benthic flux was ascribed to the phosphate adsorption on iron oxides in surface sediments. The equilibrium concentrations of phosphate obtained from the adsorption experiment were three times higher at St. S1 than at St. S2. The relatively high adsorption coefficient and low equilibrium concentration indicated that phosphate was strongly adsorbed on the surface sediments of Keunso Bay. The strong adsorption affinity significantly reduced benthic fluxes of phosphate in the intertidal sediments.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.147-152
• /
• 2002

Seasonal and interannual variation of volume transport through the La-Perouse Strait were estimated using the difference of sea level observed at Krillion of Sakhalin, Russia, and Wakkanai of Hokkaido, Japan, during the period of 1975-1988. Historical sea level measurements between Russian and Japanese tide gauge data were normalized using an independent direct volume transport measurement. Volume transport from the East Sea (Sea of Japan) to the Sea of Okhotsk varied from -0.01 to 1.18 Sv with an annual mean value of 0.61 Sv. Monthly water transport rates showed a unimodal distribution with its maximum occurring in summer (August) and minimum in winter (December-February). The annual mean volume transport varied from 0.2 to 0.8 Sv during the period of 1975-1988 with the maximum variance of 0.6 Sv.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.161-172
• /
• 2001

A model-to-model comparison is attempted between Princeton Ocean Model (POM) and Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM) as a first step to extend our knowledge of models' performances in studying the East Sea circulation. The two models have fundamentally different numerical schemes and boundary conditions imposed on these models are not exactly the same each other. This study indicates that MICOM has a critical weak point in that it does not reproduce the shallow surface currents properly while it handles the thermohaline processes and associated movements of intermediate and deep waters efficiently. It is suggested that the mixed layer scheme needs to be modified so that it can match with inflow boundary conditions in order to reproduce the surface currents properly in MICOM. POM reproduces the surface current pattern better than MICOM, although the surface currents in POM appear to undergo the unrealistic seasonal variation and have exaggeratedly large vertical scale. These defects seem to arise during the process of adapting POM to the East Sea, and removing these defects is left as a future task.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.23-35
• /
• 2015

A 450 m-long sediment section was recovered from Hole U1359D located at the eastern levee of the Jussieau submarine channel on the Wilkes Land continental rise (East Antarctica) during IODP Expedition 318. The age model for Hole U1359D was established by paleomagnetic stratigraphy and biostratigraphy, and the ages of core-top and core-bottom were estimated to be about 5 Ma and 13 Ma, respectively. Biogenic opal content during this period varied between 3% and 60%. In the Southern Ocean, high biogenic opal content generally represents warm climate characterized by the increased light availability due to the decrease of sea-ice distribution. The surface water productivity change in terms of biogenic opal content at about 10.2 Ma in the Wilkes Land continental rise was related to the development of Northern Component Water. After about 10.2 Ma, more production of Northern Component Water in the North Atlantic caused to increase heat transport to the Southern Ocean, resulting in the enhanced diatom production. Miocene isotope events (Mi4~Mi7), which are intermittent cooling intervals during the Miocene, appeared to be correlated to the low biogenic opal contents, but further refinement was required for precise correlation. Biogenic opal content decreased abruptly during 6 Ma to 5.5 Ma, which most likely corresponds to the Messinian salinity crisis. Short-term variation of biogenic opal content was related to the extent of sea-ice distribution associated with the location of Antarctic Polar Front that was controlled by glacial-interglacial paleoclimate change, although more precise dating and correlation will be necessary. Diatom production in the Wilkes Land continental rise increased during the interglacial periods because of the reduced sea-ice distribution and the southward movement of Antarctic Polar Front.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.282-291
• /
• 2022

Background: The Arctic permafrost stores enormous amount of carbon (C), about one third of global C stocks. However, drastically increasing temperature in the Arctic makes the stable frozen C stock vulnerable to microbial decomposition. The released carbon dioxide from permafrost can cause accelerating C feedback to the atmosphere. Soil organic matter (SOM) composition would be the basic information to project the trajectory of C under rapidly changing climate. However, not many studies on SOM characterization have been done compared to quantification of SOM stocks. Thus, the purpose of our study is to determine soil properties and molecular compositions of SOM in four different Arctic regions. We collected soils in different soil layers from 1) Cambridge Bay, Canada, 2) Council, Alaska, USA, 3) Svalbard, Norway, and 4) Zackenberg, Greenland. The basic soil properties were measured, and the molecular composition of SOM was analyzed through pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (py-GC/MS). Results: The Oi layer of soil in Council, Alaska showed the lowest soil pH and the highest electrical conductivity (EC) and SOM content. All soils in each site showed increasing pH and decreasing SOC and EC values with soil depth. Since the Council site was moist acidic tundra compared to other three dry tundra sites, soil properties were distinct from the others: high SOM and EC, and low pH. Through the py-GC/MS analysis, a total of 117 pyrolysis products were detected from 32 soil samples of four different Arctic soils. The first two-axis of the PCA explained 38% of sample variation. While short- and mid-hydrocarbons were associated with mineral layers, lignins and polysaccharides were linked to organic layers of Alaska and Cambridge Bay soil. Conclusions: We conclude that the py-GC/MS results separated soil samples mainly based on the origin of SOM (plants- or microbially-derived). This molecular characteristics of SOM can play a role of controlling SOM degradation to warming. Thus, it should be further investigated how the SOM molecular characteristics have impacts on SOM dynamics through additional laboratory incubation studies and microbial decomposition measurements in the field.