• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.33 no.5_2
• /
• pp.641-645
• /
• 2017

This study was conducted to compare three agro-climatic indices among 22 agro-climatic zones in Northeast China area. Meteorological data produced by NASA (MERRA-2) was used to calculate growing degree days (GDD), frost free period (FFP), and growth season length (GSL) at this study sites. The three indices did not differ among 6 years (2011-2016). However, they showed statistical spatial difference among agro-climatic zones. The GDD ranged between $531.7^{\circ}C{\cdot}day$ (zone 22) and $1650.6^{\circ}C{\cdot}day$ (zone 1). The range of the FFP was from 141.5 day (zone 22) to 241.7 day (zone 1). And the GSL showed spatial distribution between 125.1 day (zone 22) and 217.9 day (zone 1).

• Journal of Climate Change Research
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.13-19
• /
• 2014

In the past, Korea agro-climatic zone except Jeju-do was classified into nineteen based on rice culture by using air temperature, precipitation, and sunshine duration etc. during rice growing periods. It has been used for selecting safety zone of rice cultivation and countermeasures to meteorological disasters. In this study, the climatic variables such as air temperature, precipitation, and sunshine duration of twenty agro-climatic zones including Jeju-do were compared decennially (1970's, 1980's, 1990's, and 2000's). The meteorological data were obtained in Meteorological Information Portal Service System-Disaster Prevention, Korea Meteorological Administration. The temperature of 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s were $12.0{\pm}0.14^{\circ}C$, $11.9{\pm}0.13^{\circ}C$, $12.2{\pm}0.14^{\circ}C$, and $12.6{\pm}0.13^{\circ}C$, respectively. The precipitation of 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s were $1,270.3{\pm}20.05mm$, $1,343.0{\pm}26.01mm$, $1,350.6{\pm}27.13mm$, and $1,416.8{\pm}24.87mm$, respectively. And the sunshine duration of 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s were $421.7{\pm}18.37hours$, $2,352.4{\pm}15.01hours$, $2,196.3{\pm}12.32hours$, and $2,146.8{\pm}15.37hours$, respectively. The temperature in Middle-Inland zone ($+1.2^{\circ}C$) and Eastern-Southern zone ($+1.1^{\circ}C$) remarkably increased. The temperature increased most in Taebak highly Cold zone ($+364mm$) and Taebak moderately Cold Zone ($+326mm$). The sunshine duration decreased most in Middle-Inland Zone (-995 hours). The temperature (F=2.708, df=3, p= 0.046) and precipitation (F=5.037, df=3, p=0.002) increased significantly among seasons while the sunshine duration decreased significantly(F=26.181, df=3, p<0.0001) among seasons. In further study, it will need to reclassify agro-climatic zone of rice and it will need to conduct studies on safe cropping season, growth and developing of rice, and cultivation management system etc. based on reclassified agro-climatic zone.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.34-37
• /
• 2019

BACKGROUND: A region can be divided into agroclimatic zones based on homogeneity in weather variables that have greatest influence on crop growth and yield. The agro-climatic zone has been used to identify yield variability and limiting factors for crop growth. This study was conducted to classify agro-climatic zones in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil for predicting crop productivity and assessing crop suitability etc. METHODS AND RESULTS: For agro-climatic zonation, monthly mean temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation data from Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, USA) between 1980 and 2010 were collected. Altitude and vegetation fraction of Brazil from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) were also used to classify them. The criteria of agro-climatic classification were temperature in the hottest month ($30^{\circ}C$), annual precipitation (600 mm and 1000 mm), and altitude (200 m and 500 m). The state of Mato Gross in Brazil was divided into 9 agro-climatic zones according to these criteria by using matrix classification method. CONCLUSION: The results could be useful as information for estimating agro-meteorological characteristics and predicting crop development and crop yield in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.229-237
• /
• 2019

This study was conducted to estimate annual reference evapotranspiration (ET₀) for the agro-climatic zones for rice paddy fields in South Korea between 1980 and 2015. The daily ET₀ was estimated by applying the Penman-Monteith method to meteorological data from 61 weather stations provided by Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA). The average of annual ET₀ from 1980 to 2015 was 1334.1±33.89 mm. The ET₀ was the highest at the Southern Coastal Zone due to their higher air temperature and lower relative humidity. The ET₀ had significantly increased with 2.81 mm/yr for the whole zones over 36 years. However, the change rate of it was different among agro-climatic zones. The annual ET₀ highly increased in central zones and eastern coastal zones. In terms of correlation coefficient, the temporal change of the annual ET₀ was closely related to variations of four meteorological factors (i.e., mean, minimum temperatures, sunshine duration, and relative humidity). The results demonstrated that whole Korean agro-climatic zones have been undergoing a significant change in the annual ET₀ for the last 36 years. Understanding the spatial pattern and the long-term variation of the annual ET₀ associated with global warming would be useful to improve crop and water resource managements at each agro-climatic zone of South Korea.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.189-199
• /
• 2013

Using meteorological data collected from 60 observation stations during the last 38 years from 1973 through 2010, we have analysed the occurrence frequencies of abnormally low or high temperature leading to agrometeorological disasters. The analysis was made for 20 agro-climatic zones that had already been divided by the Rural Development Administration before. Since 1973, there have been an average of 1.8 frequency of abnormal air temperature occurrence per year. The frequency of abnormally high temperature occurrence has increased from an average of 0.2 per year in 1970s to 1.0 in 2000s. However, the frequency of abnormally low temperature occurrence has decreased from an average of 2.06 per year in 1970s to 0.63 in 2000s, which might be able to explain a recent global warming. The highest frequency of abnormally high temperature occurrence appeared in Taebaek Alpine zone with an average of 0.76 frequency per year. Meanwhile, abnormally low temperature was the highest in Western Sobaek Inland zone with an average of 1.43 frequency per year.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.102-107
• /
• 2015

This study was conducted to classify agro-climatic zones in Northeast district of China. For agro-climatic zoning, monthly mean temperature and precipitation data from Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, USA) between 1979 and 2010 (http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/) were collected. Altitude and vegetation fraction of East Asia from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) were also used to classify them. The criteria of agro-climatic classification were altitude (200 m, between 200-800 m, 800 m), vegetation fraction (60%), annual mean temperature ($0^{\circ}C$), temperature in the hottest month ($22^{\circ}C$), and annual precipitation (700 mm). In Northeast district of China, mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, and solar radiation were $3.4^{\circ}C$, 613.2 mm, and $4,414.2MJ/m^2$ between 2009 and 2013, respectively. Twenty-two agro-climatic zones identified in Northeast district of China by metrics classification method, from which the map of agro-climatic zones for Northeast district of China was derived. The results could be useful as information for estimating agro-meteorological characteristics and predicting crop development and crop yield of Northeast district of China as well as those of North Korea.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.133-142
• /
• 2018

Climate change will affect not only the crop productivity but also the pattern of rice disease epidemics in Korea. Impact assessments for the climate change are conducted using various climate change scenarios from many global climate models (GCM), such as a scenario from a best GCM or scenarios from multiple GCMs, or a combination of both. Here, we evaluated the feasibility of using a climate change scenario from the best GCM for the impact assessment on the potential epidemics of a rice leaf blast disease in Korea, in comparison to a multi?model ensemble (MME) scenario from multiple GCMs. For this, this study involves analyses of disease simulation using an epidemiological model, EPIRICE?LB, which was validated for Korean rice paddy fields. We then assessed likely changes in disease epidemics using the best GCM selected for individual agro?climatic zones and MME scenarios constructed by running 11 GCMs. As a result, the simulated incidence of leaf blast epidemics gradually decreased over the future periods both from the best GCM and MME. The results from this study emphasized that the best GCM selection approach resulted in comparable performance to the MME approach for the climate change impact assessment on rice leaf blast epidemic in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.113-120
• /
• 2008

The increase in average air temperature over the past 100 years in northern Asia including Korea is the greatest (about ${1.5}^{\circ}C$) among the various regions of the world. Considering a further warming projected by the IPCC, fluctuations of agro-climatic indices under climate change must precede an evaluation of vulnerability. The purpose of this study is to analyze how climate changes represented by global warming have altered agro-climatic indices in Korea over various time scales. Drought index during the rice-transplanting period of 15 May to 5 June has changed toward the favorable with recently increased precipitation in the Taebaek Alpine and Semi-Alpine Zone, and Yeongnam Basin and Inland Zone. The frequency of low temperature occurrence below $13^{\circ}C$ during the rice transplanting has decreased, while climatic production index (CPI) has fallen because of the decreased sunshine hour and increased temperature during the rice ripening period. We therefore concluded that the recent change of climate conditions was against the rice productivity in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.83-91
• /
• 2014

The occurrence of abnormal sunshine duration was analyzed using meteorological data collected from 60 observation stations during the last 38 years (1973-2010). The 20 agro-climatic zones defined by the Rural Development Administration, were used as a spatial unit for the analysis. On average, abnormal duration of sunshine occurred 1.24 times per year since 1973. The abnormally long duration of sunshine occurred less frequenctly in 2000s (0.47 per year) than in 1970s (1.26 per year). However, the frequency of abnormally short duration of sunshine has increased from an average of 0.58 per year in 1970s to 0.98 in 2000s. The highest frequency of abnormally long duration of sunshine appeared in Central Inland zone with an average of 1.35 frequencies per year. On the other hand, abnormally short duration of sunshine was the most frequent in South Eastern Coastal zone with an average of 0.97 frequencies per year.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.287-298
• /
• 2020

It is predicted that future climate warming will occur, and the subtropical climate zone currently confined to the south coast of Korea will gradually rise north. The shift of climate zone implies a change in area for cultivating crops. This study aimed to evaluate the current and future status of climate zones based on the high-resolution climate data of South Korea to prepare adaptation measures for cultivating crops under changing agricultural climate conditions. First, the climatic maps of South and North Korea were produced by using the high-resolution monthly maximum and minimum daily temperature and monthly cumulative precipitation produced during the past 30 years (1981-2010) covering South and North Korea. Then the climate zones of the Korean Peninsula were classified based on the Köppen climate classification. Second, the changes in climate zones were predicted by using the corrected monthly climate data of the Korean Peninsula (grid resolution 30-270m) based on the RCP8.5 scenario of the Korea Meteorological Administration. Köppen climate classification was applied based on the RCP8.5 scenario, the temperature and precipitation of the Korean Peninsula would continue to increase and the climate would become simpler. It was predicted that the temperate climate, appearing in the southern region of Korea, would be gradually expanded and the most of the Korean Peninsula, excluding some areas of Hamgkyeong and Pyeongan provinces in North Korea, would be classified as a temperate climate zone between 2071 and 2100. The subarctic climate would retreat to the north and the Korean Peninsula would become warmer and wetter in general.