Wintertime Winds and Coastal Sea-Level Fluctuations in the Northeast China Sea. Part II: Numerical Model

Abstract

Abstract As a sequel to data analysis reported in Part I, a numerical model of the wintertime wind-driven circulation of the northeast Chine Sea is developed with the primary purpose of achieving an understanding of the underlying dynamics to several observed features of the coastal sea-level behavior. The model is linear and pertains to the vertically integrated balance of momentum and mass in a well mixed shallow ocean. The model bathymetry incorporates a realistic shelf embayment and an open-ocean region of a depth so limited that observed sea-level differences across open boundaries in the deep western Pacific do not result in unreasonably large model transports. From results of model runs for the 1980/81 winter, it is found that 1) along the west coast of South Korea, sea-level setup to the south is a consequence chiefly of the presence, at the end of the Korean Peninsula, of relatively deep offshore water that is less responsive to wind forcing than the shallow shelf water, 2) pressure gradient forc...