Acidification at the Surface in the East Sea: A Coupled Climate-carbon Cycle Model Study

This modeling study investigates the impacts of increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentration on acidification in the East Sea. A historical simulation for the past three decades (1980 to 2010) was performed using the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model (version 2), a coupled climate model with atmospheric, terrestrial and ocean cycles. As the atmospheric CO₂ concentration increased, acidification progressed in the surface waters of the marginal sea. The acidification was similar in magnitude to observations and models of acidification in the global ocean. However, in the global ocean, the acidification appears to be due to increased in-situ oceanic CO₂ uptake, whereas local processes had stronger effects in the East Sea. pH was lowered by surface warming and by the influx of water with higher dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from the northwestern Pacific. Due to the enhanced advection of DIC, the partial pressure of CO₂ increased faster than in the overlying air; consequently, the in-situ oceanic uptake of CO₂ decreased.     

Assimilation of sea surface temperature in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas using the ensemble Kalman filter

Satellite-borne sea surface temperature (SST) data were assimilated with the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) in a Northwest Pacific Ocean circulation model to examine the effect of data assimilation. The model domain included the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas, such as the Yellow Sea and East/Japan Sea. The performance of the data assimilation was evaluated by comparing the simulated ocean state with that observed. Spatially averaged root-mean-squared errors in the SST and sea surface height (SSH) decreased by 0.44 °C and 4 cm, respectively, by the assimilation. The results of the numerical experiments substantiated the effectiveness of the SST assimilation via the EnKF for all marginal seas, as well as the Kuroshio region. The benefit of the data assimilation depended on the characteristics of each marginal sea. The variation of the SST in the East/Japan Sea and the Kuroshio extension (KE) region were improved 34% and those in the Yellow Sea 12.5%. The variation of the SSH was improved approximately 36% in the KE region. This large improvement was achieved in the deep-water regions because assimilation of SST data corrected the separation point of the western boundary currents, such as the Kuroshio and the East Korea Warm Current, and the associated horizontal surface currents. The SST assimilation via the EnKF also improved the subsurface temperature profiles. The effectiveness of SST assimilation was seasonally dependent, with the improvement being relatively larger in winter than in summer, which was related to the seasonal variation of the vertical mixing and stratification in the ocean surface layer.     

Direct measurement of vorticity and its transport in the surface layer over a paddy field

Direct measurement of the fluctuation of vorticity and its vertical transport was attempted in the surface layer over a paddy field, combining four sonic anemometers. The results obtained after some corrections of the raw data were in reasonable agreement with those expected from a dimensional analysis.     

Variability in scale growth rates of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) in relation to climate changes in the late 1980s

Fish scales were used to investigate the interannual variability in chum salmon growth rates at specific ages in relation to climatic/environmental changes during the 1980s–1990s. Scales were obtained from adult salmon returning to the east coast of Korea between 1984 and 1998. Assuming proportionality between scale size increments and fish length, distances between scale annuli were regarded as the growth conditions in different habitat areas with respect to the life stages of chum salmon. In estuarine and coastal areas, growth rates of fingerling salmon were higher in the 1990s than in the 1980s. Zooplankton abundance off the east coast of Korea increased after the late 1980s, which may have provided favorable growth conditions for young salmon in the 1990s. Growth of juvenile chum salmon during the first summer (Okhotsk Sea) was relatively stable, and neither SST nor zooplankton biomass fluctuated significantly during the study period. However, in the Bering Sea, salmon growth rates between age-2 and age-4 (i.e. ocean-phase immature salmon) were higher in the 1980s than in the 1990s. Variability in salmon growth in the Bering Sea was correlated to zooplankton biomass. These results suggest that the climate regime shift of 1988/1989 in the subarctic North Pacific affected salmon growth mediated by changes of zooplankton biomass, revealing a bottom-up process.     

Distribution and Acoustic Characteristics of Shallow Gas in the Korea Strait Shelf Mud off SE Korea

Shallow gas in the Korea Strait shelf mud (KSSM) off SE Korea, revealed by high-resolution subbottom profiles, is associated with acoustic blanking, acoustic turbidity, seepages with plumes in the water column, and seafloor depressions. The acoustic blanking, characterized by strong, consistent top reflection and wipeout below, is most dominant. The seaward edge of the acoustic blanking zone generally coincides with the 100-m water-depth contour, suggesting that the water depth (the pressure) may control the distribution of shallow gas. The acoustic turbidity, characterized by diffuse top reflection, is a dark smear, partially blanking the data below. The seepages with plumes, characterized by vertical smearing and disturbed seafloor, are seen only along the shallowest, landward edge of the acoustic blanking zone. This may suggest that the decreased gas solubility at shallow water depths, caused by the lowered pressure, increases the volume of free gas in the sediments, facilitating the gas escape. The seafloor depressions, interpreted as pockmarks, are accompanied by cone-shaped acoustic masking, which is probably the reflection from a narrow vent of gas. The gas-related acoustic anomalies appear to occur mostly in the upper, recent mud of the KSSM. Neither permeable beds nor faults, which can act as vertical migration pathways for deep thermogenic gas, are evident in the recent mud. We interpret that the bacterial degradation of organic matter in situ is the main source for the gas in the KSSM. The upwelling off SE Korea may be an important source for the increased organic matter in the area.     

公元1840年以来东亚夏季风降水变化—— 以中国和韩国的树轮记录为例

根据中国和韩国3条树木年轮降水记录, 本文分析了过去160 a以来东亚夏季风降水的变迁历史. 统计分析表明, 年际间中国和韩国季风降水不存在线性相关, 而在10 a尺度上则表现出同步变化的趋势. 1860~1890, 1910~1925, 1940~1960年是3个降水量较多的时段; 1890~1910, 1925~1940, 1960~1998年, 则是3个降水量较少的时段. 3条降水重建序列均揭示1920年代中期东亚夏季风降水快速由多转少. 同时树木年轮季风降水重建序列也被基于中国历史文献记载所划分的旱涝指数和韩国雨量记录所证实.     

LH-moment estimation of Wakeby distribution with hydrological applications

This article discusses the method of higher-order L-moment (LH-moment) estimation for the Wakeby distribution (WAD), and describes and formulates details of parameter estimation using LH-moments for WAD. Monte Carlo simulation is performed, to illustrate the performance of the LH-moment method via heavy-tail quantiles (over all quantiles) using WAD. The LH-moment method proves as useful and effective as the L-moment approach in handling data that follow WAD, and it is then applied to annual maximum flood and wave height data.