Decadal Current Variations in the Southwestern Japan/East Sea

Abstract

Absolute geostrophic velocities were calculated along TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) groundtracks located in the Ulleung Basin of the southwestern Japan/East Sea (JES) from a combined analysis of nearly a decade of T/P data and two years of pressure-gauge-equipped inverted echo sounder (PIES) data obtained during the United States Office of Naval Research’s JES Program. Geostrophic velocities have been calculated daily for the Ulleung Basin from June 1999 to July 2001 from a three-dimensional mapping of temperature and salinity produced by PIES data interpreted via the Gravest Empirical Mode (GEM) technique combined with the Navy’s Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System (MODAS). These velocities were then used to convert T/P velocity anomalies to absolute velocities for the T/P time period of 1993 to 2002. Current intensities and variabilities associated with the East Korean Warm Current, Ulleung Warm Eddy, and Offshore Branch are examined. Spatial and temporal variations of the sea surface circulation are strong. Intensification of the currents generally occurred during the fall season. The flow pattern in individual years differed greatly from year to year and differed from climatology in important qualitative ways.