Analysis of currents near the Sakhalin southeastern coast from instrumental measurements

Abstract

Field experimental materials on the sea current measurements, carried out by the Sakhalin Research Institute for Fishery and Oceanography in September–December 2004 near the Sakhalin southeastern coast, are analyzed. The experiment included the installation of two coastal and one more remote autonomous buoy stations. The tidal flows in this region, unlike those on the northeastern shelf of the island, are relatively small and do not play a significant role in the dynamics of the coastal zone. The character of currents at coastal stations is determined primarily by their response to the wind effect. In particular, significant water temperature falls of 6–8°C, observed from 2–3 days to a week, are indicative of coastal upwelling induced by the wind. During the passage of a deep cyclone that caused a storm wave 1 m high, the flow velocity at coastal stations increased up to 1.5 knots. At a more remote station, in the region of Cape Svobodnyi, the flow character was determined by the East Sakhalin Current, whose autumn intensification was observed in the second ten-day period of October. It manifested itself in a sharp intensification of the flow, directed southward and southeastward throughout the entire water column, which practically was not pronounced at the coastal stations.