| Project/Area Number |
06640562
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Meteorology/Physical oceanography/Hydrology
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| Research Institution | Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus |
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Principal Investigator |
KOGA Momoki Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus.Prof., 理学部, 助教授 (50153515)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KAWAMURA Hiroshi Faculty of Science Tohoku Univ.Prof., 理学部, 教授 (40169769)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1994 – 1995
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1995)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
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| Keywords | Beginning of the Kuroshio / Ferry service / Air-sea interaction / Sea surface heat flux / Variability of oceans / 大気海洋相互作用 |
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| Research Abstract |
The direct measurement of the sea surface temperature(SST)and meteorological variables using a ferry service was continued until March 1996. The measuring system (an automatic weather-station) was set on a ferry between Okinawa and Taiwan and the measurement was started in October 1990. To continue the measurement successfully, we made a careful maintenance of the weather-station system and added a GPS measuring system in September 1994 to improve our system. Finally, almost 5 years' data sets of the SST and the meteorological variables (air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation) were obtained along the ferry route.
Using the measured data along with other available oceanographical and satellite data, we firsts examined fluctuations of the Kuroshio front at the entrance into the East China Sea. Intrusions of the Kuroshio warm water onto the continental shelf water were observed with intervals of about one month. We also examined the variability of the Kuroshio counter current region east of Okinawa Island. We observed a typical meso-scale warm eddy near east of the island and followed the behavior of the eddy that might play an important role in the variability of the counter current.
We estimated the detailed spatial distributions of the latent and sensible surface heat fluxes along the ferry route crossing the Kuroshio. In winter seasons, the estimated latent and sensible heat fluxes over the Kuroshio water were 210 W/m^2 and 52 W/m^2, respectively. These values are about 2 or 3 times larger than those over the cold shelf water. We also used GMS-visible image data to see the cloud distribution over the Kuroshio. The dense cloud distributions over the Kuroshio warm water in winter seasons also suggest the large heat and vapor supply from the Kuroshio surface. These dense clouds reduce the solar radiation over the Kuroshio.
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