Lagrangian Coherent Structures and the Dispersion of Green Algal Bloom in the Yellow and East China Sea

Abstract

ABSTRACT Son, Y.B.; Kim, Y.H.; Choi, B.-J., and Park, Y.-G., 2016. Lagrangian Coherence Structures and the dispersion of green algal bloom in the Yellow and East China Sea. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 1237 - `1241. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. During the summer 2011, the Geostationary Ocean Colour Imager (GOCI) detected patches of the recurrent massive floating green algae in the central part of the Yellow Sea (YS) and East China Sea (ECS). This study utilizes the Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCSs) analysis to demonstrate the horizontal dispersion pattern of algal bloom patches. This approach is based on the assumption that unstable manifolds such as ridges in the finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE) fields coincide with material transport barriers. To calculate the FTLE fields, flow fields derived from the Regio...