Table of observational projects
Click here for: Ocean color images from SeaWifs data. Follow links to Japan sea. A user name and password are required - contact Bob Arnone at arnone@nrlssc.navy.mil.
Objective: Use SeaWiFS and AVHRR satellite imagery to further our understanding of physical and bio-optical processes in the Japan/East Sea.
Approach: The approach is to calibrate the imagery via direct comparison with physical and optical properties observed in-situ aboard an oceanographic research vessel.
Short Work Statement: The investigator will analyze AVHRR and SeaWiFS imagery and establish a three year time series of imagery processed to bio-optical properties (absorption, scattering, and chlorophyll) and SST, both co-registered at 1 km spatial resolution. He will also go on the two SEASOAR cruises to download satellite data on board ship in real time and provide guidance to the rest of the research team regarding the strength and location of fronts, eddies, etc.
International Collaborators:
Abstract. The zooplankton community of the Japan sea remains poorly understood. Available data suggests that the northern japan Sea has a low turnover and is characterized by a resident boreal community, while the southern half is characterized by rapid advective throughput of an oligotrophic community from the Kuroshio Current. It is possible that a transition zone community exists in the Subpolar Front separating the northern and southern Japan Sea. Presently there are no data on the basin-scale distirubtions of zooplankton collected concomitantly with hydrographic data, and the flux of zooplankton into and out of the straits has not been quantified.
We propose to conduct two cruises to the Japan Sea, one during the stratified
summer season (June/July 1999) and the second during the well-mixed winter season
(February/March 2000), in order to obtain high resolution measurements of the
basin-scale distributions of zooplankton abundance and taxonomic and size
composition in relation to the hydrography, currents, light, fluorescence, and
beam attenuation. Towyo transects will be made using the Video POlankton Recorder
to determine distributions of zooplankton and associated variables over scales
from centimeters to hundreds of kilometers. We will sample 5 transects extending
across the sea from Japan to Russia, plus 4 tidally resolved transects across the
four straits to quantify flux of zooplankton into and out of the Japan Sea. The
proposed work will provide a better understanding of how boreal and tropical
zooplankton communities maintain themselves in a dynamic physical environment.
Click here for project website.
Objective: Examine and quantify the atmospheric forcing over the
Japan/East Sea.
Approach: The approach is to combine a) ship and shore observations
and b) modeling and analysis to understanding the atmospheric forcing
(fluxes of heat and momentum) over the Japan/East Sea.
Short Work Statement: The investigators will use shipboard IMET
observations from U.S. and foreign vessels and shore stations in Korea,
Russia and Japan to quantify the atmospheric forcing in the region.
They (Dorman) will also use Russian ships of opportunity to make direct
boundary layer observations in a cold air outbreak.
International Collaborators:
Project website.
(Click on Japan/East Sea.)
Objective: Analyze 1) historical temperature and salinity data and 2)
synoptic AXBT data obtained in the Japan/East Sea to develop an
improved description of the upper layer circulation, including its
seasonal variability.
Approach: The investigator will obtain, organize and analyze data from
the Master Oceanographic Observations (MOODS) data set and use this
data to address the scientific questions of interest.
Short Work Statement: The investigator will use the MOODS data set
(over 51,000 stations from many nations) to study 1) The branching of
the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC); 2) Mesoscale eddies; and 3) Origins of
the TWC in the East China Sea.
International Collaborators:
None specifically called out in the proposal.
Objective: To utilize regional coupled physical-biological and
ocean-atmosphere numerical models of the Japan/East Sea to obtain a
better understanding of its circulation, water mass structure, and
biological/optical state of its upper layers.
Approach: The emphasis here is on coupled modeling, using the NCAR MM5
community model in the atmosphere and the University of Colorado
modified version of the Princeton Ocean Model (CU-POM) in the ocean.
Dr. Clayson's focus will be on the air/ocean coupling while the CU
emphasis will be on the bio-physical coupling.
Short Work Statement: The investigators will adapt the CU-POM presently
running in the northern Indian Ocean to the Japan/East Sea. They will
then transition this to a fully coupled (with continuous feedback
between the atmosphere and ocean) regional model of the sea.
International Collaborators:
Click here for a chart of the field plan.
Objective: To describe the subpolar frontal circulation in the
Japan/East Sea.
Approach: The investigator will use small, autonomous underwater
vehicles (gliders) to delineate the subpolar front and to make time
series observations and repeat cross-sections at the front.
Short Work Statement: Four gliders will be deployed off Korea, allowed
to seek and transit to their duty stations in the front, collect data
in the front, and then seek and transit to a recovery point off Japan.
The T-S profiles thus collected will be analyzed to study the dynamics
of the front. No large research vessels are necessary.
International Collaborators:
Dr. Charles N. Flagg
ONR has provided funding for acquiring the shipboard ADCP
data from the R/V Revelle, processing it, and making it available
to JES investigators. The website is:
http://bnlpo.das.bnl.gov/japan_east
Click here for more complete work statement.
Objective: To produce an improved description and understanding of
Tsushima Current. Specific objectives are: 1) to provide a detailed
description of Tsushima Current through data analysis; and 2) to elucidate
essential physics governing the current behavior through analytical and
numerical modeling. Two prominent features of the current representing its
main evolution stages will be investigated. They are the branching of
Tsushima Current after it enters the Japan Sea, and the generation of
Tsushima eddies farther downstream.
Approach: An interactive approach of data analysis and modeling will be
pursued. The data analysis will provide a detailed description of the
current, and which would guide the model development; the model on the
other hand is intended to isolate and elucidate essential physics governing
the flow behavior, thus aiding the interpretation of the observational
data. The data source include the archived and ongoing data collection
activities of JES-DRI, CREAMS, and Japanese marine agencies' in situ and
satellite data. The numerical model to be used is Lamont Ocean Circulation
Model (LOAM).
Short Work Statement:
Observational data will be used to describe the form and variability of
Tsushima Current from its initiation in the channel east of the Tsushima
Island to its flow path along the Japanese coast. The data sources include
the archived and data to be collected by Japan and US JES participants.
The modeling task is to construct an analytical model to explore the
consequence of above hypothesis, and to compare the model results with
observation.
The generation of Tsushima eddies farther downstream:
For numerical calculations, we will conduct following experiments:
International collaborations:
Japan: Various Japanese agencies are planning to obtain an extensive array
of CTD, hull ADCP down to 500-m in the Tsushima Current every month of the
year (except January) at least for the next 4 years. Japanese collaborators
include: Prof. Yoon, Prof. Isoda, Dr. Hirai, Dr. Yoritaka, Dr. Michida and
Prof. Awaji.
Korea: Kordi's PORES program (Suk and Chang of Kordi; integrated with NRL
Korean/Tsushima Strait array).
Click here for the extensive project website.
Objective: Investigate Japan/East Sea dynamics in a systematic and
progressive fashion using a sequence of increasingly complex ocean
models and model-data comparisons.
Approach: The investigator will use numerical models of increasing
sophistication to study the Japan/East Sea dynamics, and will compare
the results with the intensive field program.
Short Work Statement: The investigator will 1) Write up results from
the basic Navy Layered Ocean Model (NLOM) runs; 2) Add investigations
using the Miami Isopycnal Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM); and 3) Begin
joint development (with Prof. Rainer Bleck, University of Miami) of a
new hybrid isopycnal/sigma (generalized) coordinate ocean model for
marginal seas to maintain high vertical resolution over the shelf and
in the mixed layer.
International Collaborators:
Click here for extensive project website.
Click here for AGU Fall 2000 presentation.
Click here for a chart of the field plan.
Objective: 1) To study eddies and meanders near the subpolar front in
the Japan/East Sea, and their secondary circulations and bio-optical
implications; 2) Document wintertime water mass formation at the front;
and 3) characterize and understand the physical and optical transitions
between coastal and basin water masses.
Approach: The investigators will use a towed undulating vehicle called
SEASOAR, equipped with the latest physical oceanography and marine
optics instrumentation, to map out the subpolar front in the Japan/East
Sea in the summer and winter seasons.
Short Work Statement: This investigator is primarily responsible for
the optical instrumentation with the others (Lee, Brink, WHOI) doing
the physical oceanography. Two cruises of approximately 15 days each,
guided by satellite remote sensing of ocean color and temperature, will
map out the front using "radiator" sampling patterns. The data will be
analyzed to address the objectives above.
International Collaborators:
Objective: To accomplish a detailed characterization of the temporal
and spatial variability of optical properties in the Japan/East Sea,
and to demonstrate the value of using optics as a diagnostic tool to
help trace water mass structure and circulation.
Approach: The PI will test the hypothesis that the Japan/East Sea can
be divided into five geographic optical "provinces" and can thus be
used as tracers to determine where the water came from.
Short Work Statement: The optical properties of the upper ocean in the
Japan/East Sea will be observed using state of the art, multi-spectral
instrumentation on board a series of cruises on U.S. (2 per year),
Korean (1 per year), and Japanese (1 per year) research vessels. The
in-situ optical observations will then be compared with the physical
oceangraphy observations and satellite remote sensing to determine the
local vs. remote sources of optical variability.
International Collaborators:
Click here for Real-time data website for the JES region.
Including:
surface (hourly)
and upper-air (12 hourly) station obs, global model analysis and
forecast (e.g., NCEP AVN, ECMWF, etc.), NCEP SST (daily from 7-day
running mean). We will keep a few days worth of loops on line for now.
The raw data will be archived for future use.
Objective: To develop a nowcast/forecast system for the Japan/East Sea
in concert with a rigorous suite of field observations obtained by
others in the region.
Click here for project website (click on East Sea).
Objective: To carry out an observational study of the wind-driven
circulation of the western part of the Japan/East Sea with the central
scientific goal of mapping the seasonal evolution of the current and
wind systems near the east coast of Korea.
Approach: The investigator will use state of the art surface drifters
to make direct observations of the current and wind systems in the
study region.
Short Work Statement: A total of 55 minimet surface drifters to measure
current speed and direction, wind speed and direction, barometric
pressure and sea surface temperature will be deployed over a period of
2 years starting in 1999. Deployments will be made from Korean, U.S.,
and Russian ships. Data will subsequently be analyzed and made
available in near-real time on the world wide web for other
investigators in the program to use.
International Collaborators:
Click here for the extensive project website.
Click here for a chart of the field plan.
NRL's LINKS program will explore the East Asian Marginal Seas and their
interconnections through a combination of remote sensing, in situ
measurements, and numerical modeling. The in situ observations will
concentrate on the Korea/Tsushima Strait, where an array of ten bottom
mounted ADCPs will be maintained for a year. They will be arranged in
sections to monitor fluxes through the strait and their variability on
time scales ranging from tidal to seasonal. A series of three cruises is
planned:
Date : Duration: Operations
CTD and optical profile stations will also be made during each cruise.
The
ADCPs are housed in trawl-resistant mounts.
Atmospheric forcing and its spatial variability over the
Japan/East Sea
Principal Investigators: Bob Beardsley (WHOI), Alberto Scotti (WHOI),
Richard Limburner (WHOI), Clive Dorman (SIO/SDSU), Carl Friehe (UCI)
Contact Information:
The upper-layer circulation of the Japan/East Sea: Historical
data analysis
Principal Investigator: Amy Bower
Contact Information:
Studies of the physical and biological processes in the
Japan/East Sea using coupled numerical models
Principal Investigator(s): Carol-Anne Clayson (Purdue) L. Kantha (Univ. of
Colorado)
Contact Information:
Glider surveys of the Japan/East Sea Circulation
Principal Investigator(s): Charlie Eriksen
Contact Information:
Shipboard ADCP data base
Principal Investigator: Charles N. Flagg
Contact Information:
Bldg 490D
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton, NY 11973
Phone: (516) 344-3128
Fax: (516) 344-2060
flagg@bnl.gov
Studies of the Tsushima Current
Principal Investigator(s): Hsien-Wang Ou and Arnold L. Gordon
Contact Information:
1) buoyant flow over a uniform slope.
2) buoyant flow along a curved vertical wall.
3) simulation of Tsushima Current using realistic topography and geometry
of Japan Sea.
The observational data to be used to describe the evolution
of the Tsushima Current eddies are the archived and ongoing data collection
of the Japanese agencies, as mentioned above. The TOPEX POSEIDON data will
be used to describe the eddy form and evolution.
Japan/East Sea dynamics using numerical models with 1/8 to 1/64
degree resolution
Principal Investigators: Harley Hurlburt, Pat Hogan, Gregg Jacobs
Contact Information:
Physical and optical structures in the upper ocean of the
Japan/East Sea
Principal Investigator(s): Craig Lee (with Brink, WHOI; and Jones, USC)
Contact Information:
Optical properties as tracers of water mass structure and
circulation patterns in the Japan/East Sea
Principal Investigator: Greg Mitchell, Dariusz Stramki, Piotr Flatau
(SIO)
Contact Information:
Modeling support for CREAMS II: Oceanic and atmospheric
mesoscale circulation and marine ecosystem simulations for the
Japan/East Sea
Principal Investigators: Chris Mooers, Shuyi Chen (RSMAS)
Contact Information:
Wind forcing of currents in the Japan/East Sea
Principal Investigator(s): Peter Niiler (SIO), Dong-Kyu Lee (PNU) and Hahn
(NFRDI)]
Contact Information:
NRL LINKS program
Principal Investigator: Henry Perkins
Contact Information:
May 99: 11 days: Deploy ADCPs
Oct 99: 14 days: Recover, service and redeploy ADCPs
May 00: 16 days: Recover ADCPs
