Water Dynamics In The Kuril Straits Area: Study With Ers Sar
Water circulation in the area of the Kuril straits is characterized by joint action of tidal and nonperiodic flows between the Okhotsk Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Strong tidal currents and rough bottom topography around the islands play an important role in local hydrography and are responsible for f...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.20.6424 http://earth.esa.int/pub/ESA_DOC/gothenburg/456mitni.pdf |
| Summary: | Water circulation in the area of the Kuril straits is characterized by joint action of tidal and nonperiodic flows between the Okhotsk Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Strong tidal currents and rough bottom topography around the islands play an important role in local hydrography and are responsible for formation of fronts, rips, wakes and vortices, and packets of internal waves. ERS-1 and ERS-2 SAR images of the Yekaterina Strait which separates the islands Kunashir and Iturup and the Friz Strait between the islands Iturup and Urup in the southern Kuril Islands are analyzed together with ancillary data and calculated tidal currents to study peculiarities of water dynamics in the southern Okhotsk Sea. The SAR signatures of the ocean surface are related to the changes of water mass properties, current shear, natural surfactant concentration, and stability of the boundary layer of the atmosphere. The SAR images have allowed us to identify the submesoscale features such as tidal fronts in the strait area, eddies of 1-10 km in diameter as well as intrusion of the Okhotsk Sea waters into the Pacific Ocean. Pattern of the shear fronts on the SAR images varies with a tidal phase. However the main areas of tidal energy dissipation seem to be stable and are tightly related to the bottom topography. Typical spatial patterns of water dynamics in the Yekaterina and Friz Strait area and new fine details of the surface water structure are discussed. |
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