Abstract
The Yellow Sea is the most fog-prone region of the East Asian marginal seas. Since sea fog is caused due to complex interactions between atmospheric and oceanic environments, direct observations can help understand the physical processes involved in fogging over the oceans. Completed in 2014, the Socheongcho Ocean Research Station (S-ORS) plays a critical role in monitoring air-sea interactions over the Yellow Sea. This study aimed to evaluate the conditions favorable for fog generation and the physical processes underlying it using a suite of observations and turbulent heat flux data from S-ORS. First, we used the visibility data from S-ORS to quantify the frequency of sea fog over the Yellow Sea. From April to June 2016, sea-fog occurred 61 times, with a maximum duration of 135 h (approximately 5.6 days). Next, to understand the origin and characteristics of air mass associated with fog events, we classified the primary airflow paths in the region using a Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model. Among the four clusters identified from the cluster analysis, the third and fourth had distinct physical properties characteristic of cold and warm fog, respectively. The third cluster was characterized by relatively weak or negative heat advection and weak vertical mixing, while the fourth one featured strong positive heat transport and moisture convergence over the Yellow Sea. Finally, based on cluster analysis, we choose the representative cases related to these two clusters observed at S-ORS and compared the characteristics of turbulent air-sea fluxes associated with fog formations.
Highlights
The Yellow Sea is a semi-enclosed marginal sea of the northwestern Pacific Ocean surrounded by the Korean Peninsula to the east and the Chinese mainland to the west and is recognized for its strong ocean-atmosphere interactions (Xie et al, 2002; Subrahamanyam et al, 2007, 2009; Kim et al, 2018; Sim et al, 2018; Yang et al, 2019)
This study focused on evaluating the conditions favorable for fog generation and the underlying physical processes using a suite of reanalysis datasets and observations and turbulent heat flux data from Socheongcho Ocean Research Station (S-ORS)
From April to June 2016, the Yellow Sea was under the influence of the anticyclonic circulation, which increased the inflow of moisture and heat transport from the low latitude near the sea surface
Summary
The Yellow Sea is a semi-enclosed marginal sea of the northwestern Pacific Ocean surrounded by the Korean Peninsula to the east and the Chinese mainland to the west and is recognized for its strong ocean-atmosphere interactions (Xie et al, 2002; Subrahamanyam et al, 2007, 2009; Kim et al, 2018; Sim et al, 2018; Yang et al, 2019). To better understand the underlying processes driving air-sea interactions, direct and accurate quantification of the turbulent fluxes over the ocean surface are needed (Garratt, 1992; Paw et al, 2000; Ha et al, 2007; Oh et al, 2010, 2011; Yun et al, 2015; Katz and Zhu, 2017). There are three main observatories based in the Yellow Sea: Ieodo Ocean Research Station (I-ORS), installed in 2003; Gageocho Ocean Research Station (G-ORS), established in 2009; Socheongcho Ocean Research Station (S-ORS) completed in 2014. The northernmost of these stations, S-ORS performs direct, long-term measurements of turbulent fluxes, which facilitates studies on regional air-sea interactions
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