Jinsung Seo, Bumshick Shin, Kyuhan Kim, 2014. Monitoring System of High Waves and Tsunami using HF Ocean Radar in the East Coast of Korea, Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 035–040, ISSN 0749-0208.
The east coast of Korea is exposed to the danger of tsunamis because it is contiguous to Japan. Damages took place in the region when tsunami occurred in the west of Japan in 1986 and 1993. Fear of the destruction caused by has increased following the 2011 Great Tsunami of Japan. The west coast of Japan embodies many high tsunami risk areas where tsunami may be triggered by earthquakes. As no earthquake has ever occurred there, these high risk areas contain high amount of potential energy. Furthermore, frequent high waves due to climate change have become one of the major factors with respect to coastal structure damage, beach erosion and various coastal disasters along the shoreline. In order to make a counterplan for coastal disaster, precise analysis of the high wave characteristics, through continuous monitoring, is essential. In this study, continuous long-term observation is implemented with an Ocean Radar. Ocean Radar conducts remote observation equipped with ground-based radars which enable series of simultaneous observations of extensive range of the coast with high frequency. Ocean Radar for continuous long-term observation is operated at Samcheok on the east coast of Korea. Samcheok has experienced tsunami damage in previous years and is where a nuclear power plant is located. In order to examine the reliability of the Ocean Radar, a pressure-type wave gauge, ultrasonic wave gauge, and ocean buoy are installed for data comparison and verification. The Ocean Radar used in this study is an array-type HF-RADAR named WERA (WavE RAdar). Data analysis of the continuous long-term observation verifies more than 90% of the wave data collected within 25km range from the center of two sites. Only less than 1% of the entire observation is unmeasured by time series analysis, but data from other wave gauges show similar features. Moreover, a comprehensive monitoring system supported by such observations is developed for the public for internet based real-time reports on waves and currents.
