A Study on the Sea Level Variations in Korean Coastal Area

한국연안해역에서의 해면수위의 변동에 관한 연구

This paper is to estimate the long and short term variations of mean sea level in Korean coastal waters by identifying interrelations among the mean sea level, atmospheric pressure and air temperature along the coast. For this, long-term tidal data observed at tidal and weather observation stations were brought into a statistical analysis. It was noted that, in a general sense, an inverse relationship exists between the sea level and the atmospheric pressure and a positive relationship between the sea level and air temperature, respectively. The maximum difference of monthly mean sea level was in the range of 21 to 25 cm at the eastern and southeastern coasts, meanwhile more than 30 cm being in both in southern and western coasts. It was also noted that mean sea level continues to rise in a long-term basis. Long-term variation of mean sea level trends to rise 0.10 ∼ 0.44 cm per year for each region. However, the long-term variation of mean sea level in the isolated islands shows a different trend, Ullngdo being 0.41 cm fall per year and Chejudo being 0.44 cm rise per year.