Sea Fog around the Korean Peninsula

Abstract

There are many island stations that routinely observe sea fog around the Korean peninsula. Historical daytime sea fog data were used to investigate the relationships between sea fog occurrence and its associated environmental factors. The frequency of sea fog occurrence is at its maximum in July in all seas around the Korean peninsula. The frequency shows a maximum in the west sea and a minimum in the east sea in spite of their similar latitude. The value of the air temperature minus the sea surface temperature is highest in all seas in July, when the frequency of sea fog occurrence is at its maximum. The heavy frequency of sea fog occurrence appears at the strong tidal mixing region in the west sea in summer, when the temperature difference between the air and the sea surface is large. Strong tidal currents provide relatively cold surface water at the mixing region in summer. It is clearly shown that the sea fog occurrence depends on dewpoint temperature (DPT) and sea surface temperature (SST). The frequency of sea fog increases greatly when the DPT is high and the value of DPT minus SST (DPT–SST) is large. A heavy frequency of sea fog of more than 50% appears frequently in cold water regions by strong tidal mixing when DPT is over 12°C and DPT–SST is larger than 2°C in summer.