Overview

The Office of Naval Research is supporting research in the Japan/East Sea during 1998-2000. Field observations include studies of the subpolar front, the Tsushima Current, the Ulleung basin and eddy structures, meteorological forcing, large-scale circulation, and current, optical and hydrographic properties. Modeling includes coupled ocean-atmosphere/physical-biological modeling, oceanic and atmospheric mesoscale circulation, and very high resolution circulation modeling.

The research involves substantial collaboration with Japan, South Korea, and Russia. These countries have been cooperating since 1993 in a research program, Circulation Research of the East Asian Marginal Seas (CREAMS), to understand the water mass structure and circulation in the Japan/East Sea. The ONR JES Program and CREAMS, while separate programs, have a number of common objectives. Hence, the exchange of information between these two projects is expected to enhance understanding of the phenomena of the Japan/East Sea.