A Model-generated Circulation in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea : I. Depth-mean Flow Fields

Abstract

This paper presents the depth-mean monthly variation in the circulation of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea computed using a robust diagnostic model. The mixed three-dimensional finite-difference Galerkin function model developed by Lee et al. (2000, 2001) has been extended to take into account baroclinic effects and then used to calculate the depth-mean flow fields as part of the results. In addition to M2 tide and oceanic flows previously considered, the model has been driven by the monthly mean wind stresses from Na and Seo (1998), the density gradient calculated based on by GDEM data set released by US Navy. Model results are very encouraging in that many of observed features including Jeju Cyclonic Gyre and frontal eddies along the shelfside of the Kuroshio main stream and west of Kyushu, are satisfactorily reproduced and are expected to be of value in interpreting observations in various oceanograhic disciplines.