Sea surface height and transport stream function of the South China Sea from a variable-grid global ocean circulation model

The study on the South China Sea (SCS) circulation has a history of more than 40 years. Nevertheless, the SCS circulation is not fully understood compared with the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea and East China Sea (ECS). Many numerical studies on the SCS circulati…     

Tsunami research in Korea

The tsunamis that have occurred in many places around the world over the past decades have taken a heavy toll on human lives and property. The eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula is not safe from tsunamis and has sustained tsunami damage in the past. The aim of this study is to review the past, present, and future of some aspects of tsunami research in Korea. A composite numerical model comprising propagation and inundation models is described. The paper also covers tsunami mitigation efforts in Korea, and a tsunami hazard map is developed and introduced.     

Dependence of the amount of open magnetic flux on the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field

The power generated by the solar wind—magnetosphere dynamo is proportional to the amount of the open magnetic flux Φ. It is difficult to use this fact in determining observationally the dependence of Φ on the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field vector. It is shown that, for a simple vacuum superposition of the earth's dipole field and a uniform magnetic field, Φ is very closely proportional to sin θ/2) for a wide range of the intensity of the uniform field, where θ denotes the polar angle of the interplanetary magnetic field vector in the Y-Z plane of solar-magnetospheric coordinates.     

Effect of the Bottom Topography on Tsunami Propagation in the East （Japan） Sea

A study of tsunami events in the East （Japan） Sea using continuous Galerkin finite element model, aiming at reproducing tsunami waves generated by underwater earthquakes in 1983 and 1993 respectively has been performed focusing on the geographic extent of a topographic feature in the East （Japan） Sea. Numerical models can be the proper tools to study the combined effects of realistic topography. Subsequently, using the FEM based two-dimensional model we have simulated the smoothed and flattened topographic effects by removal of Yamato Rise and seamounts for the cases of tthe 1983 Central region earthquake tsunami and the 1993 southwestern Hokkaido earthquake tsunami. The results have shown that there will be higher tsunamis along the eastern coasts of Korea in general except some areas, like Sokcho with removal of topographic highs, thus providing complicated bottom topography of the East （Japan） Sea as effective tsunami energy scattering.     

Interbasin freshwater,heat and salt transport through the boundaries of the East and South China Seas from a variable-grid global ocean circulation model

It has long been recognized that the circulation in the East China Sea (ECS) and Japan/East Sea (JES) is closely related with that in Pacific, especially with the Kuroshio (e.g., Nitani[1], Hi-daka[2]). Based on current measurements in the Taiwan Strait a…     

Wave Hindcast for the Neighbouring Seas of Korea Based on Loosely Coupled Wave-Tide-Surge Model

A hindcast simulation of 75 typhoons and winter monsoons which affected the coastal areas of Korean Peninsula is performed by use of a third generation ocean wave prediction model, WAM-cycle 4 model, loosely coupled with a com-bined tide and surge model. Typhoon wind fields are derived from the planetary marine boundary layer model for effective neutral winds embedding the vortical storm wind from the parameterized Rankin vortex type model in the limited areas of the overall modeled region. The hindcasted results illustrate that significant wave heights (SWH) considering the wave-tide-surge coupled process are significantly different from the results via the decoupled case especially in the region of the estuaries of the Changjiang Estuary, The Hangzhou Bay, and the southwestern tip of Korean Peninsula. This extensive model simulation is the first attempt to investigate the strong wave-tide-surge interaction for the shallow depth area along the coasts of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea Continental