Tracking the 'Seohae Invader'... KIOST Launches Sea Fog Exploration Project

Joint Korea-US Yellow Sea Exploration to Identify Causes of Sea Fog

A Korea-US joint project is being launched to uncover the secrets hidden in the fog, known as the "Predator of the Sea."

The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST, President Kang Do-hyung) will "track" the Yellow Sea, where sea fog frequently occurs, for 20 days from the 20th of this month to July 9.

On the 12th, KIOST announced that it will conduct a Korea-US joint expedition to identify the causes of formation and dissipation processes of sea fog, one of the marine disaster phenomena.

Sea fog, a type of fog occurring over the sea and nearby coastal areas, threatens the safe navigation of vessels and disrupts the control of ports and bridges.

Moreover, because sea fog changes in complex response to the ever-changing marine environment and atmospheric elements, it is known to be much more difficult to detect and predict than land fog.

Hwanghae Sea Fog Korea-US Joint Investigation Summit.

The Yellow Sea, adjacent to Korea’s west coast, is notorious as one of the world's most frequent sea fog occurrence areas. The sea fog in the West Sea is an unwelcome guest that causes maritime safety accidents and hinders the movement of residents on nearby islands.

To scientifically clarify these issues, KIOST is conducting the Fatima Project, a research project on the epidemiology of sea fog occurrence, in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame in the United States. It also plans to strengthen cooperation with the "Korean-type Rainfall Observation Program," currently being promoted mainly by the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences and Kyungpook National University.

The research leaders of the "Sea Fog Project" are KIOST’s Senior Researcher Lee Seok and Professor Harindra J. S. Fernando of the University of Notre Dame. The research leader of the Korean-type Rainfall Observation Program is Professor Lee Kyu-won of Kyungpook National University.

The Korea-US joint research team plans to precisely observe the underwater, marine, and atmospheric conditions in three dimensions throughout the entire process of sea fog formation and dissipation during June, the month with the highest frequency of sea fog occurrence in a year, to clarify the correlation between fog and turbulence.

Yellow Sea Sea Fog Korea-US Joint Research System Diagram.

This expedition will be conducted by equipping KIOST’s ocean research vessel Onnuri with various instruments that precisely observe the state of the ocean and atmosphere, such as CTD (equipment that measures salinity, water temperature, and depth) and ADCP (equipment that observes the speed and direction of currents by water layer).

In addition, information will be collected through the Chollian Satellite 2B (GOCI-II), comprehensive ocean science stations (Ieodo, Gageocho, Socheongcho), and simultaneous investigations will be conducted using the Korea Meteorological Administration’s meteorological observation ship Gisang 1 and meteorological aircraft Nara.

Kang Do-hyung, President of KIOST, said, “Through this international joint expedition, we aim to more clearly reveal the process from the occurrence to the dissipation of sea fog, improve the accuracy of sea fog occurrence prediction technology, and help prevent marine accidents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.