Application of Real-time Monitoring Buoy Systems for Physical and Biogeochemical Parameters in the Coastal Ocean around the Korean Peninsula

Abstract

A B S T R A C TWe introduce technological achievements while developing real-time ocean monitoring buoy systems in the key coastal regions around the Korean peninsula, and highlight their potential contribution to oceanographic studies in the region. Major achievements are an integration of physical and biogeochemical sensors, real-time and two-way communication, sustainable maintenance with stable power supply and mooring design, and the two-way control of sensor and sampling strategies with high sampling rates (as often as every minute). The time-series data from two buoy systems deployed in the key coastal regions are given as examples to show their potential use in studying oceanographic issues, such as major current variations along the east coast of Korea, wind-driven episodic events including typhoon passages, and frequent changes due to internal wave passages. The real-time and high-frequency monitoring of biogeochemical properties of seawater together with physical parameters could be used for numerous oceanographic studies in the coastal region, i.e., air-sea gas exchange, harmful dinoflagellate bloom, interaction between physical and biogeochemical processes.

Real‐time monitoring of nutrient concentrations and red‐tide outbreaks in the southern sea of Korea

“…A real‐time monitoring system for measuring nutrients, chlorophyll a , bioluminescence, CTD (temperature and salinity), and currents using an ocean buoy [from Nam et al , 2005]. …”

“…For this purpose, we deployed a monitoring buoy system which houses various environmental sensors for measuring temperature, salinity, currents, waves, winds, nutrients, chlorophyll a, bioluminescence, and methane. The details of buoy-system instrumentation have been reported by Nam et al [2005]. We thought that these real-time data would provide the best information on the actual environmental conditions for red-tide outbreaks in collaboration with shipboard observations or laboratory experiments.…”

Summertime coastal current reversal opposing offshore forcing and local wind near the middle east coast of Korea: Observation and dynamics

“…Long time series data have been collected since 1999 using a surface buoy, the East Sea Real-time Ocean Buoy (ESROB), off 8 km from the coast at a depth of 130 m [Nam et al, 2005b;Kim et al, 2005] Also shown are locations of moored current measurements at L85, L84, UB0, and UB2. Long-term (longer than 2 years) mean depth-averaged currents (5-125 m at ESROB and 30-130 m at UB2) and short-term mean currents in July from other studies at UB0 [Lee and Chang, 2014], L84 [Lie, 1984], and L85 [Lie and Byun, 1985], spanning from 10 days to 6 months, in July are indicated by blue vectors.…”

“…Long time series data have been collected since 1999 using a surface buoy, the East Sea Real-time Ocean Buoy (ESROB), off 8 km from the coast at a depth of 130 m [Nam et al, 2005b;Kim et al, 2005] (Figure 1b). The ESROB is equipped with an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measuring full-depth currents at every 5 m interval and five Seabird conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors at 5, 20, 40, 60, and 130 m and meteorological sensors.…”

Tidal influence on the sea-to-air transfer of CH₄ in the coastal ocean

“…We employed code division multiple access (CDMA) as a communication platform for two‐way communication between the sensors on the buoy and a database computer and/or personal cellular phone (Nam et al, 2005). The CTD, ADCP and CH 4 sensors were programmed to generate data at 10‐min intervals.…”