WEB-BASED CTD DATA SETS FOR THE EAST/JAPAN SEA IN APPLICATION TO LARGE AND MESO-SCALE HYDROGRAPHIC STRUCTURE

This paper describes a method for retrieval and optimal interpolation of hydrographic data available from various data sources using Virtual Database (VDB) technology and its application for the East/Japan Sea. The VDB technology implemented through the World Wide Web network provides fast creation of operational datasets for specific diagnostic, forecasting and research purposes. With a development of Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and its regional components this approach is getting an important tool for integration of oceanographic in situ observations obtained by different agencies and countries and distributed over various data archives connected by the web. The method was tested on the analysis of the East/Japan Sea hydrographic structure for summer 1999 and fall 2000. The generated fields of temperature and salinity based on merged CTD data obtained from different cruises over the chosen periods are in a good consistence with the main features of thermohaline structure of the sea. The methods also could reproduce mesoscale features of hydrographic structure associated with eddies and meanders