A multi-scale three-dimensional variational (MS-3DVAR) scheme is developed to assimilate high-resolution Himawari-8 sea surface temperature (SST) data for the first time into an operational ocean nowcast/forecast system targeting the North Western Pacific, JCOPE2. MS-3DVAR improves representation of the Kuroshio path south of Japan, its associated sea level variations, and temperature/salinity profiles south of Japan, the Kuroshio/Oyashio mixed water region, and the Japan Sea as compared to those of the products by the traditional single-scale 3DVAR. Validation results demonstrate that MS-3DVAR well assimilates the sparsely distributed in situ temperature and salinity profiles data by spreading the information over the large scale and by representing the detailed information near the measurement points. MS-3DVAR succeeds to assimilate the Himawari-8 SST product without noisy features caused by the cloud effects. We also find that MS-3DVAR is more effective for estimating oceanic conditions in regions with smaller mesoscale variability including the mixed water region and Japan Sea than in south of Japan.

With combined use of the ocean–atmosphere simulation models and field observation data, we evaluate the parameters associated with the total caesium-137 amounts of the direct release into the ocean and atmospheric deposition over the western North Pacific caused by the accident of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (FNPP) that occurred in March 2011. The Green's function approach is adopted for the estimation of two parameters determining the total emission amounts for the period from 12 March to 6 May 2011. It is confirmed that the validity of the estimation depends on the simulation skill near FNPP. The total amount of the direct release is estimated as 5.5–5.9 × 10¹⁵ Bq, while that of the atmospheric deposition is estimated as 5.5–9.7 × 10¹⁵ Bq, which indicates broader range of the estimate than that of the direct release owing to uncertainty of the dispersion widely spread over the western North Pacific.

We analyze a concurrent simulation result of the ocean circulation and tidal currents using a data‐assimilative ocean general circulation model covering the Western North Pacific with horizontal resolution of 1/36° to investigate possible interactions between them. Four sites of active M₂ internal tide variability in open ocean (hot spots), such as Tokara Strait, Izu Ridge, Luzon Strait, and Ogasawara Ridge, are detected from both the satellite observation and the simulation. Energy cycle analysis of the simulated M₂ baroclinic tide indicates two types of the hot spots: dissipation (Tokara Strait and Izu Ridge) and radiation (Luzon Strait and Ogasawara Ridge) dominant sites. Energy conversion from barotropic to baroclinic M₂ tides at the hot spots is modulated considerably by the lower‐frequency changes in the density field. Modulation at the two spots (Tokara Strait and Izu Ridge) is affected by the Kuroshio path variation together with the seasonal variation of the shallow thermocline. At the other two sites, influence from changes in the relatively deep stratification through the Kuroshio intrusion into South China Sea (Luzon Strat) and mesoscale eddy activity (Ogasawara Ridge) is dominant in the modulation.

In winter, a branch of the China Coastal Current can turn in the Taiwan Strait to join the poleward-flowing Taiwan Coastal Current. The associated cross-strait flows have been inferred from hydrographic and satellite data, from observed abundances off northwestern Taiwan of cold-water copepod species Calanus sinicus and, in late March of 2012, also from debris found along the northwestern shore of Taiwan of a ship that broke two weeks earlier off the coast of China. The dynamics related to such cross flows have not been previously explained and are the focus of this study using analytical and numerical models. It is shown that the strait’s currents can be classified into three regimes depending on the strength of the winter monsoon: equatorward (poleward) for northeasterly winds stronger (weaker) than an upper (lower) bound and cross-strait flows for relaxing northeasterly winds between the two bounds. These regimes are related to the formation of the stationary Rossby wave over the Changyun Ridge off midwestern Taiwan. In the weak (strong) northeasterly wind regime, a weak (no) wave is produced. In the relaxing wind regime, cross-strait currents are triggered by an imbalance between the pressure gradient and wind and are amplified by the finite-amplitude meander downstream of the ridge where a strong cyclone develops.

A new method to determine near‐surface vertical current shear from noncoherent marine X‐band radar (MR) data is introduced. A three‐dimensional fast Fourier transform is employed to obtain the wave number‐frequency spectrum of a MR image sequence. Near‐surface currents are estimated from the Doppler‐shifted surface gravity wave signal within the spectrum. They represent a weighted mean of the upper ocean flow. The longer the ocean waves on which the current estimates are based, the greater their effective depth. The novelty lies in the wave number‐dependent retrieval method, yielding ∼100 independent current estimates at effective depths from ∼2 to 8 m per ∼12 min measurement period. First, MR near‐surface vertical current shear measurements are presented using data collected from R/V Roger Revelle during the 2010 Impact of Typhoons on the Ocean in the Pacific experiment in the Philippine Sea. Shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and anemometer measurements as well as WAVEWATCH III (WW3) model results are used to demonstrate that results are in accord with physical expectations. The wind and wave‐driven Ekman flow is obtained by subtracting ADCP‐based background currents from the radar measurements. At ∼2 m, it is on average ∼1.6% of the wind speed and ∼38.9° to the right of the wind. With increasing effective depth, the speed factor decreases and the deflection angle increases. Based on WW3 results, the MR‐sensed Stokes drift speed is ∼50% of the Ekman flow at ∼2 m and ∼25% at ∼8 m. These findings are consistent with previous observations and Ekman theory.