This paper presents a precise geoid (PNU95 Geoid) over the southern half of the Korean peninsula. The geoid using the OSU91A reference gravity model to degree and order of 167 with an integration radius of 27 km fits to the well-distributed 71 GPS data best. The RMS difference between the modeled geoid and the GPS/leveling-implied geoid is 0.15 m, and its accuracy with respect to the GPS/leveling distance is 1.1 ppm. The resulting PNU95 Geoid varies from 21.8 m at the western part of the peninsula, Kanghwa-Do, to 30.2 m at the south-eastern part. Kyungju, generally increasing eastward.

The GPS/levelling geoid calculated from GPS survey that data at 123 bench marks represents an appropriate regional geoid of the southern Korean peninsula. The GPS/levelling geoid fits best to the geoid calculated from the EGM96 geopotential model of degree and order to 360 with RMS difference 0.176 m. The good agreement of the GPS/levelling geoid with the EGM96 geoid suggests that the bench mark network is well established in Korea and the EGM96 geopotential model well represents the gravity field in the southern Korean peninsula.

Seismic tomography using the graph theoretical method of ray tracing is performed in two synthetic data sets with laterally varying velocity structures. The straight-ray tomography shows so poor results in imaging the laterally varying velocity structure that the ray-traced tomographic techniques should be used. Conventional ray tracing methods have serious drawbacks, i.e. problems of convergence and local minima, when they are applied to seismic tomography. The graph theretical method finds good approximated raypaths in rapidly varying media even in shadow zones, where shooting methods meet with convergence problems. The graph theoretical method ensures the globally minimal traveltime raypath while bending methods often cause local minima problems. Especially, the graph theoretical method is efficient in case that many sources and receivers exist, since it can find the traveltimes and corresponding raypaths to all receivers from a specific source at one time. Moreover, the algorithm of graph theoretical method is easily applicable to the ray tracing in anisotropic media, and even to the three dimensional case. Among the row-active inversion techniques, the conjugate gradient (CG) method is used because of fast convergence and high efficiency. The iterative sequence of the ray tracing by the graph theoretical method and the inversion by the CG method is an efficient and robust algorithm for seismic tomography in laterally varying velocity structures.

Theory and observations relating to the photoelectrons are reviewed. The photoelectrons play a very important role in the photochemistry and energetics of the upper atmosphere. It is a dominant heating source for the ambient electrons in the ionosphere. This paper covers the solar EUV flux calculation, local photoelectron production rates and the two-stream approximation of the photoelectron transport in the upper atmosphere. Some data are compiled and tabulated for reference.

We present a theoretical study on how the plasmasphere responses to the sudden impulses in the magnetosphere. A mechanism on how Pi 2 pulsations are excited in the magnetosphere is also proposed. When impulsive disturbances associated with the substorm onset are assumed in the magnetotail, their propagation toward the sunward direction is investigated with a wave equation. The propagation speed undergoes serious variations owing to the existence of the plasmasphere, which results in various reflection and tunneling of traveling disturbances at the plasmapause. In order to examine the effect of the plasmapause on initial impulsive disturbances, we analytically solve the wave equation based on the model of reasonable Alfven speed profile. The exact solution shows that virtual resonant states exist inside the plasmaspheric cavity. We obtain the result that these unique modes strongly persist for arbitrary incoming impulses from the source in the magnetotail, which quantitatively corresponds to the signature of PI 2 pulsations.

Numerical prediction of nocturnal thermal high in summer of the 1995 near Taegu city located in a basin has been carried out by a non-hydrostatic numerical model over complex terrain through one-way double nesting technique in the Z following coordinate system. Under the prevailing westerly winds, vertical turbulent fluxes of momentum and heat over mountains for daytime hours are quite strong with a large magnitude of more than $120W/\textrm{m}^2$, but a small one of $5W/\textrm{m}^2$ at the surface of the basin. Convective boundary layer (CBL) is developed with a thickness of about 600m over the ground in the lee side of Mt. Hyungje, and extends to the edge of inland at the interface of land sea in the east. Sensible heat flux near the surface of the top of the mountain is $50W/\textrm{m}^2$, but its flux in the basin is almost zero. Convergence of sensible heat flux occurs from the ground surface toward the atmosphere in the lower layer, causing the layer over the mountain to be warmed up, but no convergance of the flux over the basin results from the significant mixing of air within the CBL. As horizontal transport of sensible heat flux from the top of the mountain toward over the basin results in the continuous accumulation of heat with time, enhancing air temperature at the surface of the basin, especially Taegu city to be higher than $39.3^{\circ}C$. Since latent heat fluxes are $270W/\textrm{m}^2$ near the top of the mountain and $300W/\textrm{m}^2$ along the slope of the mountain and the basin, evaporation of water vapor from the surface of the basin is much higher than one from the mountain and then, horizontal transport of latent heat flux is from the basin toward the mountain, showing relative humidity of 65 to 75% over the mountain to be much greater than 50% to 55% in the basin. At night, sensible heat fluxes have negative values of $-120W/\textrm{m}^2$ along the slope near the top of the mountain and $-50W/\textrm{m}^2$ at the surface of the basin, which indicate gain of heat from the lower atmosphere. Nighttime radiative cooling produces a shallow nocturnal surface inversion layer with a thickness of about 100m, which is much lower than common surface inversion layer, and lifts extremely heated air masses for daytime hours, namely, a warm pool of $34^{\circ}C$ to be isolated over the ground surface in the basin. As heat transfer from the warm pool in the lower atmosphere toward the ground of the basin occurs, the air near the surface of the basin does not much cool down, resulting in the persistence of high temperature at night, called nocturnal thermal high or tropical night. High relative humidity of 75% is found at the surface of the basin under the moderate wind, while slightly low relative humidity of 60% is along the eastern slope of the high mountain, due to adiabatic heating by the srong downslope wind. Air temperature near the surface of the basin with high moisture in the evening does not get lower than that during the day and the high temperature produces nocturnal warming situation.

This is the bibliographical compilation of paper in the fields of geodesy and geophysics published in the Republic of Korea during July 1996 to June 1997. Materials were mainly collected from the following publications.