How do wind forcings over the Yellow and East China Seas control the Tsushima current which flows into and controls the hydrography of the Sea of Japan. Wind forcings have been hypothesized as one mechanism for bringing Tsushima waters northward and into the Yellow Sea. Both model results and geostrophic current variations will be used to correlate local wind forcings to the Tsushima current variations. Previous hydrographic studies have been too sparse and inconsistent to determine the flow from the Kuroshio into the Tsushima strait, how this flow varies in time, and the forcing mechanisms behind it. The investigation will stand on two legs, remotely sensed observations and modeling, each of comparable importance.
Observations provide boundary conditions for the model and verification of model results.
The remotely sensed data proposed to be used here will continuously span a time period more than 5 years. The data consistency and coverage will surpass hydrographic in situ measurements to date. The level primitive equation model provides the dynamical understanding of observed events. In addition, the model can be forced in a modular approach by removing either winds or port forcings to resolve the importance of each. Variations in the currents will be modeled using both Sigma coordinate and finite element models.