Upper Ocean Hydrography and Currents in the Japan Sea

• Main Author: Riser, Stephen C
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE SCHOOL OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Hydrology; Limnology and Potamology; *HYDROGRAPHY; *JAPAN SEA; *OCEAN CURRENTS; CIRCULATION; LAYERS; MIXED LAYER(MARINE); MIXING; OCEANS; SEASONAL VARIATIONS; WATER; Subarctic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA623779; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA623779

The long-term goal of this project is to better understand the properties of the upper portion of the water column in the Japan Sea. It is important to understand the seasonal cycle in the upper 800-1000 m of the Japan Sea: how the Sea stratifies in spring and summer and how it forms a mixed layer in fall and winter, sometimes with deep convection occurring, and the location and strength of the major features of the mid-depth circulation. I want to be able to study the circulation and hydrography of the upper 800-1000 m of the Japan Sea over at least a few complete seasonal cycles in order to understand the process of mixed-layer formation and destruction there. In some ways the Japan Sea behaves as a subtropical ocean, and in other ways it is more like a subarctic one; as a result, it is a useful laboratory for studying many oceanographic processes that occur throughout the world ocean. I have deployed 36 PALACE floats in the Japan Sea in this study, and the work discussed here fits into a larger program in the Japan Sea with about 20 PIs.