• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.481-499
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• 2019

National Institute of Meteorological Sciences has conducted a total 54 cloud seeding experiments with a silver iodide and calcium chloride using aircrafts from 2008 to 2018. The goal of the experiments is to improve the techniques of precipitation enhancement in Korea. The cloud seeding experiments using the silver iodide and calcium chloride were 36 and 18 times, respectively. During the cloud seeding experiments of the silver iodide and calcium chloride, the average values of total cloud amount for two kinds of seeding materials were 9.6 for and 8.1, respectively. The cloud type with the highest occurrence was Nimbostratus (Ns)-Stratus (St) (58%) in the silver iodide cloud seeding experiment. It was Altostratus (As)-Stratocumulus (Sc) (44%) in the calcium chloride cloud seeding experiment. Compared to probability of obtaining cloud seeding effect of the experiments using a leased aircraft, the probability using an atmospheric research aircraft increased from 43% to 63% in the silver iodide cloud seeding experiment and from 29% to 75% in the calcium chloride cloud seeding experiment. However, the increasing tendency was only shown during the one year experiment (2018). To get the meaningful statistical tendency of the cloud seeding effects, it is needed to implement many experiments in several years. Further we have to more clearly understand the characteristics of clouds developing in Korea and implement the cloud seeding experiments under a variety of weather conditions in order to develop the optimized precipitation enhancement technology in Korea.

• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.35-53
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• 2024

Under the leadership of the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences (NIMS), the first domestic autonomous flight-type weather modification experimental drone for fog and lower-level cloud seeding was developed in 2021. This drone is designed based on a multi-copter configuration with a maximum takeoff weight of approximately 25 kg, enabling the installation of up to four burning flares for seeding materials and facilitating weather observations (temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind) as well as aerosol (PM₁₀, PM_2.5, and PM_1.0) particle measurements. This research aims to introduce the construction of the drone and its recent applications over the past two years, providing insights into the experimental procedures, effectiveness verification, and improvement directions of the weather modification drone-based rain enhancement. In particular, partial confirmation of the experimental effects was obtained through the fog dissipation experiment on December 10, 2021, and the lower-level cloud seeding case study on October 5, 2022. To enhance the scope and rainfall amount of weather modification experiments using drones, various technological approaches, including adjustments to experimental altitude, seeding lines, seeding amount, and verification methods are necessary. Through this research, we aim to propose the development direction for weather modification drone technology, which will serve as foundational technology for practical application of domestic rain enhancement technology.

• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.203-216
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• 2024

The National Institute of Meteorological Sciences in Korea has developed the Weather Modification Hybrid Rocket (WMHR), an advanced system that offers enhanced stability and cost-effectiveness over conventional solid-fuel rockets. Designed for precise operation, the WMHR enables accurate control over the ejection altitude of pyrotechnics by modulating the quantity of oxidizer, facilitating specific cloud seeding at various atmospheric layers. Furthermore, the rate of descent for pyrotechnic devices can be adjusted by modifying parachute sizes, allowing for controlled dispersion time and concentration of seeding agents. The rocket's configuration also supports adjustments in the pyrotechnic device's capacity, permitting tailored seeding agent deployment. This innovation reflects significant technical progression and collaborations with local manufacturers, in addition to efforts to secure testing sites and address hybrid rocket production challenges. Notable outcomes of this project include the creation of a national framework for weather modification technology utilizing hybrid rockets, enhanced cloud seeding methods, and the potential for broader meteorological application of hybrid rockets beyond precipitation augmentation. An illustrative case study confirmed the WMHR's operational effectiveness, although the impact on cloud seeding was limited by unfavorable weather conditions. This experience has provided valuable insights and affirmed the system's potential for varied uses, such as weather modification and deploying high-altitude meteorological sensors. Nevertheless, the expansion of civilian weather rocket experiments in Korea faces challenges due to inadequate infrastructure and regulatory limitations, underscoring the urgent need for advancements in these areas.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.999-1013
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• 2020

Weather modification research has been actively performed worldwide, but a technology that can more quantitatively prove the research effects are needed. In this study, the seeding effect, the efficiency of precipitation enhancement in weather modification experiment, was verified using the radar data. Also, the effects of seeding material on hydrometeor change was analyzed. For this, radar data, weather conditions, and numerical simulation data for diffusion were applied. First, a method to analyze the seeding effect in three steps was proposed: before seeding, during seeding, and after seeding. The proposed method was applied to three cases of weather modification experiments conducted in Gangwon-do and the West Sea regions. As a result, when there is no natural precipitation, the radar reflectivity detected in the area where precipitation change is expected was determined as the seeding effect. When natural precipitation occurs, the seeding effect was determined by excluding the effect of natural precipitation from the maximum reflectivity detected. For the application results, it was found that the precipitation intensity increased by 0.1 mm/h through the seeding effect. In addition, it was confirmed that ice crystals, supercooled water droplets, and mixed-phase precipitation were distributed in the seeding cloud. The results of these weather modification research can be used to secure water resources as well as for future study of cloud physics.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.498-510
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• 2022

Cloud-aerosol interactions are one of the paramount but least understood forcing factors in climate systems. Generally, an increase in the concentration of aerosols increases the concentration of cloud droplet numbers, implying that clouds tend to persist for longer than usual, suppressing precipitation in the warm boundary layer. The cloud lifetime effect has been the center of discussion in the scientific community, partly because of the lack of cloud life cycle observations and partly because of cloud problems. In this study, the precipitation susceptibility (S_o) matrix was employed to estimate the aerosols' effect on precipitation, while the non-aerosol effect is minimized. The S_o was calculated for the typical coupled, well-mixed maritime stratocumulus decks and giant cloud condensation nucleus (GCCN) seeded clouds. The GCCN-artificially introduced to the marine stratocumulus cloud decks-is shown to initiate precipitation and reduces S_o to approximately zero, demonstrating the cloud lifetime hypothesis. The results suggest that the response of precipitation to changes in GCCN must be considered for accurate prediction of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction by model studies

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2018

Parametric method of flood frequency analysis involves fitting of a probability distribution to observed flood data. When record length at a given site is relatively shorter and hard to apply the asymptotic theory, an alternative distribution to the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution is often used. In this study, we consider the beta-P distribution (BPD) as an alternative to the GEV and other well-known distributions for modeling extreme events of small or moderate samples as well as highly skewed or heavy tailed data. The L-moments ratio diagram shows that special cases of the BPD include the generalized logistic, three-parameter log-normal, and GEV distributions. To estimate the parameters in the distribution, the method of moments, L-moments, and maximum likelihood estimation methods are considered. A Monte-Carlo study is then conducted to compare these three estimation methods. Our result suggests that the L-moments estimator works better than the other estimators for this model of small or moderate samples. Two applications to the annual maximum stream flow of Colorado and the rainfall data from cloud seeding experiments in Southern Florida are reported to show the usefulness of the BPD for modeling hydrologic events. In these examples, BPD turns out to work better than $beta-{\kappa}$, Gumbel, and GEV distributions.