Although the prevailing northwesterly winds and the southward-
flowing ESC have been considered the main drivers of
the southward drift of sea ice, the relative contributions of each
has not been understood. Simizu et al. (2014) examine the contributions
of the wind and ocean current to the ice drift by using
data measured with a moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler,
the simulation results of a 3-D ocean model, wind analysis data,
and satellite observations of sea ice. They report that wind contributes
more than the ocean currents to the southward drift of
sea ice, although the influence of the ESC is larger near the coast
and in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, where its flow is
stronger.