• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.545-556
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• 2015

This study is to project the future snowfall and to assess heavy snowfall vulnerable area in South Korea using ground measured snowfall data and RCP climate change scenarios. To identify the present spatio-temporal heavy snowfall distribution pattern of South Korea, the 40 years (1971~2010) snowfall data from 92 weather stations were used. The heavy snowfall days above 20 cm and areas has increased especially since 2000. The future snowfall was projected by HadGEM3-RA RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios using the bias-corrected temperature and snow-water equivalent precipitation of each weather station. The maximum snowfall in baseline period (1984~2013) was 122 cm and the future maximum snow depth was projected 186.1 cm, 172.5 mm and 172.5 cm in 2020s (2011~2040), 2050s (2041~2070) and 2080s (2071~2099) for RCP 4.5 scenario, and 254.4 cm, 161.6 cm and 194.8 cm for RCP 8.5 scenario respectively. To analyze the future heavy snowfall vulnerable area, the present snow load design criteria for greenhouse (cm), cattleshed ($kg/m^2$), and building structure ($kN/m^2$) of each administrative district was applied. The 3 facilities located in present heavy snowfall areas were about two times vulnerable in the future and the areas were also extended.

• Atmosphere
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.3-18
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• 2004

A heavy snowfall event occurred over the middle part of the Korean peninsula on March 4, 2004. The numerical models of KMA failed to forecast this heavy snowfall event because this event was due to small scale disturbance by low lever convergence and atmospheric instability. The analyses for this heavy snowfall have been performed to give forecasters useful suggestions for forecasting heavy snowfall events in the future. The analyses for the snowfall event were recounted by the Hourly Korean Peninsula Analysis Weather Chart (HKPAWC) presenting on the KMA intranet system. We confirmed that warm air flows of low level into south central Korea in conjunction with strong southwesterly winds played important role in the heavy snowfall event. We suggested several check points to improve the forecast of heavy snowfall events in the future through the results of the analyses.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.42-51
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• 2017

Snowfall is an important natural hazard in Korea. In recent years, the socioeconomic importance of impact-based forecasts of meteorological phenomena have been highlighted. To further develop forecasts, we first need to analyze the climatic characteristics of each region. In this study, homogeneous regions for snowfall analysis were classified using a self-organizing map for impact-based forecast and warning services. Homogeneous regions of snowfall were analyzed into seven clusters and the characteristics of each group were investigated using snowfall, observation days, and maximum snowfall. Daegwallyeong, Gangneung-si, and Jeongeup-si were classified as areas with high snowfall and Gyeongsangdo was classified as an area with low snowfall. Comparison with previous studies showed that representative areas were well distinguished, but snowfall characteristics were found to be different. The results of this study are of relevance to future policy decisions that use impact-based forecasting in each region.

• Atmosphere
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.433-443
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• 2021

The wind speed and wind direction in Yeongdong are one of the crucial meteorological factors for forecasting snowfall in this area. To improve the snowfall forecast in Yeongdong region, Yeongdong Extreme Snowfall-Windstorm Experiment, YES-WEX was designed. We examined the wind field variation simulated with Local Data Assimilation and Prediction System (LDAPS) using observed wind field during YES-WEX period. The simulated wind speed was overestimated over the East Sea and especially 2 to 4 times in the coastal line. The vertical wind in Yeongdong region, which is a crucial factor in the snowfall forecast, was not well simulated at the low level (850 hPa~1000 hPa) until 12 hours before the forecast. The snowfall distribution was also not accurately simulated. Three hours after the snowfall on the East Sea coast was observed, the snowfall was simulated. To improve the forecast accuracy of snowfall in Yeongdong region, it is important to understand the weather conditions using the observed and simulated data. In the future, data in the northern part of the East Sea and the mountain slope of Taebaek observed from the meteorological aircraft, ship, and drone would help in understanding the snowfall phenomenon and improving forecasts.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.463-477
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• 2003

This study identified the effects of global temperature rise on snowfall change over Korea selecting Seoul, Gangneung, Gunsan, and Daegu as study areas. The trend of snowfall change has generally decreased since 1950s over Korea, but has only increased in Gunsan since 1990s. The variation of snowfall days are similar to those of snowfall. The relationship between snowfall over Korea and the anomaly of global mean temperature in spring has a negative correlation. The change of Siberian High intensity also has a good relationship with snowfall in both Gunsan and Gangneung; the former is positively correlated while the latter is negatively correlated. This result might suggest that if the intensity of Siberian High would weakens due the ongoing global warming in the future, there would be a possibility that the amount snowfall could decrease in Gunsan but it could increase in Gangneung.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.188-202
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• 2011

Due to emissions of greenhouse gases caused by increased use of fossil fuels, the climate change has been detected and this phenomenon would affect even larger changes in temperature and precipitation of South Korea. Especially, the increase of temperature by climate change can affect the amount and pattern of snowfall. Accordingly, we tried to predict future snowfall and the snowfall pattern changes by using the downscaled GCM (general circulation model) scenarios. Causes of snow varies greatly, but the information provided by GCM are maximum / minimum temperature, rainfall, solar radiation. In this study, the possibility of snow was focused on correlation between minimum temperatures and future precipitation. First, we collected the newest fresh snow depth offered by KMA (Korea meteorological administration), then we estimate the temperature of snow falling conditions. These estimated temperature conditions were distributed spatially and regionally by IDW (Inverse Distance Weight) interpolation. Finally, the distributed temperature conditions (or boundaries) were applied to GCM, and the future snowfall was predicted. The results showed a wide range of variation for each scenario. Our models predict that snowfall will decrease in the study region. This may be caused by global warming. Temperature rise caused by global warming highlights the effectiveness of these mechanisms that concerned with the temporal and spatial changes in snow, and would affect the spring water resources.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.34-39
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• 2019

Vinyl house consists of main rafter, lateral member, clamps and polyethylene film. Many vinyl houses are used in the countryside to grow vegetables. These vinyl houses have occasionally been collapsed due to heavy snowfall in winter. Many farmers get a lot of economical damages, if vinyl houses are collapsed. So it is most important to built a safe vinyl house that can withstand heavy snowfall. In this study, a structural analysis was performed on three types of vinyl houses(07-single-01, 10-single-04, 12-single-01). In addition, the structural analysis of the three types of vinyl houses provided axial forces, flexural moment, and combined stress. For these three types of vinyl houses, structural safety was reviewed by obtaining the combined stress ratio by the strength design method. This structural review showed that the specifications for the vinyl house proposed in the design are not safe. Especially, the result of increasing the design snow load by 15 percent and 30 percent showed that the vinyl house structure constructed as a standard for vinyl house was a more dangerous structure. Therefore, it is necessary to revise regulations such as increasing the thickness of rafters or widening the gap in order to make vinyl houses structurally safe for heavy snowfall in the future, and to devise diverse methods to make vinyl houses that are structurally safe.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.3-11
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• 2013

Under the consumption of bad weather situation affects traffic flows, the study scope is focused on highway capacity and speed variations among other highway traffic flow characteristic changes according to snowfall density. Thus, this study carried out through the data collection and statistical analysis by focusing on capacity and speed changes. Traffic volume, speed and density were selected as factors to explain the property change of a traffic flow for analysis, and 7 basic sections such as 3 highways in Gyeonggi-do and 4 highways near the meteorological observatory were selected as survey points for data collection. Snowfall levels were classified into 3 steps(Light, Medium, Heavy Snow) to analyze the capacity change by snowfall levels. As a result of analysis, the change of capacity depending on snowfall levels decreased 13.2% in case of light snow compared to a good weather, 18.6% in case of medium snow and 32.0% in case of heavy snow, so the capacity reduction rate increased as the snowfall level increased. The worsening weather appeared to have a very big possibility to act as a factor to reduce the operational efficiency of a road, so a road design and operation method considering this should be presented in the future.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-33
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• 2016

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.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.02a
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• pp.509-512
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• 2008

The objectives of the on-the-spot inspection in Honam district are to find out the situation of the damages on facilities and the reason of the damages caused by heavy snow, and to suggest the preventive plan for reducing the damages from the future heavy snow. From the results of the on-the-spot inspection, plastic houses, barns and ginseng cultivation facilities are mainly damaged by heavy snow in the Honam district, and the importance of the future heavy snow preparedness measures is highly recognized in an agricultural district. In this research, 4 kinds of alternative proposals for the heavy snow are suggested.