Observation of currents in the southern Yellow Sea in the summers of 2001 and 2003

Abstract

Long term current observations in the southern Yellow Sea are very scarce because of the intense fishing and trawling activities. Most of the previous studies on tides and circulation were not rigorously validated with direct current measurements. In this study, tidal and sub-tidal currents were examined using current profiles from three bottom-moored Sontek Acoustic Doppler Profilers (ADPs) deployed in the southern Yellow Sea in the summers of 2001 and 2003. The measured current time series were dominated by tidal currents. The maximum velocities were between 40–80 cm s⁻¹ at the mooring stations. The M₂ current was the dominant primary tidal constituent, while the MS₄ and M₄ components produced the most significant shallow water tidal currents with much weaker amplitudes. The measured mean sub-tidal velocities were less than 5 cm s⁻¹. The mean flows in the lower layer implied that an anti-cyclonic circulation pattern might exist in the deeper central Yellow Sea. However, the previously expected cyclonic circulation pattern in the upper layer was not clearly shown by the observations.