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http://dx.doi.org/10.14191/Atmos.2016.26.1.019

Analysis of the Relationship of Water Vapor with Precipitation for the Winter ESSAY (Experiment on Snow Storms At Yeongdong) Period  

Ko, A-Reum (Department of Atmospheric Environmental Sciences, Gangneung-Wonju National University)
Kim, Byung-Gon (Department of Atmospheric Environmental Sciences, Gangneung-Wonju National University)
Eun, Seung-Hee (Department of Atmospheric Environmental Sciences, Gangneung-Wonju National University)
Park, Young-San (Applied Meteorology Research Division, National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, KMA)
Choi, Byoung-Choel (High-Impact Weather Research Center, Observational Research Division, National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, KMA)
Publication Information
Atmosphere / v.26, no.1, 2016 , pp. 19-33 More about this Journal
Abstract
Water vapor in the atmosphere is an important element that generates various meteorological phenomena and modifies a hydrological cycle. In general, the Yeongdong region has a lot of snow compared to the other regions in winter due to the complex topography and an adjacent East Sea. However, the phase change from water vapor to ice cloud and further snowfall has little been examined in detail. Therefore, in this study, we investigated phase change of liquid water in terms of a quantitative budget as well as time lag of water vapor conversion to snowfall in the ESSAY (Experiment on Snow Storms At Yeongdong) campaign that had been carried out from 2012 to 2015. First, we classified 3 distinctive synoptic patterns such as Low Crossing, Low Passing, and Stagnation. In general, the amount of water vapor of Low Crossing is highest, and Low Passing, Stagnation in order. The snowfall intensity of Stagnation is highest, whereas that of Low Crossing is the lowest, when a sharp increase in water vapor and accordingly a following increase in precipitation are shown with the remarkable time lag. Interestingly, the conversion rate of water vapor to snowfall seems to be higher (about 10%) in case of the Stagnation type in comparison with the other types at Bukgangneung, which appears to be attributable to significant cooling caused by cold surge in the lower atmosphere. Although the snowfall is generally preceded by an increase in water vapor, its amount converted into the snowfall is also controlled by the atmosphere condition such as temperature, super-saturation, etc. These results would be a fundamental resource for an improvement of snowfall forecast in the Yeongdong region and the successful experiment of weather modification in the near future.
Keywords
Water vapor; precipitation; synoptic patterns; water budget; time lag;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 9  (Citation Analysis)
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