Sea Level Rise around the Korean Peninsula due to Ekman Transport caused by Typhoon Khanun in August 2023

Abstract

Typhoon Khanun landed in southern Korea on August 10th, 2023, and caused about 55 million dollars in damage in Korea, including coastal flooding. The higher the sea level is, the greater the damage from coastal flooding is. In August 2023, daily mean sea level (MSL) from satellite altimetry data had been rising from 2nd to 9th in the northern East China Sea (ECS), from 5th to 9th in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), and from 7th to 15th in the Yellow Sea, when typhoon Khanun was passing through the ECS and around the Korean Peninsula (KP). August-monthly MSL around the KP in 2023 was higher than those in 1998, 2003, 2005, and 2016 when there was no typhoon passed through the northern ECS. The historical records reveal that the August-monthly MSLs around the KP when there were typhoons that passed through the northern ECS were also higher than those when there was no typhoon passed through the northern ECS. The sea level rises around the KP by northward Ekman transport due to typhoons traveling through the northern ECS could cause severe coastal flooding in Korea. There are some other factors that raise the sea level around the KP, such as atmospheric pressure, precipitation, heat convergence, etc. In this study, we provided some prospects of the relationship between sea level rise and Ekman transport due to tropical cyclones with those other factors.