• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.435-444
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• 2016

In spite of considerable progress in the recent decades, there still remain large uncertainties in numerical cloud models. In this study, effects of uncertainty in terminal velocity of graupel on cloud simulation are investigated. For this, a two-dimensional bin microphysics cloud model is employed, and deep convective clouds are simulated under idealized environmental conditions. In the sensitivity experiments, the terminal velocity of graupel is changed to twice and half the velocity in the control experiment. In the experiment with fast graupel terminal velocity, a large amount of graupel mass is present in the lower layer. On the other hand, in the experiment with slow graupel terminal velocity, almost all graupel mass remains in the upper layer. The graupel size distribution exhibits that as graupel terminal velocity increases, in the lower layer, the number of graupel particles increases and the peak radius in the graupel mass size distribution decreases. In the experiment with fast graupel terminal velocity, the vertical velocity is decreased mainly due to a decrease in riming that leads to a decrease in latent heat release and an increase in evaporative cooling via evaporation, sublimation, and melting that leads to more stable atmosphere. This decrease in vertical velocity causes graupel particles to fall toward the ground easier. By the changes in graupel terminal velocity, the accumulated surface precipitation amount differs up to about two times. This study reveals that the terminal velocity of graupel should be estimated more accurately than it is now.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.59-71
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• 2002

Theoretical models of radiative transfer are developed to simulate the 85 GHz brightness temperature (T85) observed by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) radiometer as a function of rain rate. These simulations are performed separately over regions of the convective and stratiform rain. TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) observations are utilized to construct vertical profiles of hydrometeors in the regions. For a given rain rate, the extinction in 85 GHz due to hydrometeors above the freezing level is found to be relatively weak in the convective regions compared to that in the stratiform. The hydrometeor profile above the freezing level responsible for the weak extinction in convective regions is inferred from theoretical considerations to contain two layers: 1) a mixed (or mixed-phase) layer of 2 km thickness with mixed-phase particles, liquid drops and graupel above the freezing level, and 2) a layer of graupel extending from the top of the mixed layer to the cloud top. Strong extinction in the stratiform regions is inferred to result from slowly-falling, low-density ice aggregates (snow) above the freezing level. These theoretical results are consistent with the T85 measured by TMI, and with the rain rate deduced from PR for the convective and stratiform rain regions. On the basis of this study, the accuracy of the rain rate sensed by TMI is inferred to depend critically on the specification of the convective or stratiform nature of the rain.

• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.73-85
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• 2012

The collision efficiency data for collision between graupel or hail particles and cloud drops that take into account the differences of particle density are applied to the Takahashi cloud model. The original setting assumes that graupel or hail collision efficiency is the same as that of the cloud drops of the same volume. The Takahashi cloud model is run with the new collision efficiency data and the results are compared with those with the original. As an initial condition, a thermodynamic profile that can initiate strong convection is provided. Three different CCN concentration values and therefore three initial cloud drop spectra are prescribed that represent maritime (CCN concentration = 300 $cm^{-3}$), continental (1000 $cm^{-3}$) and extreme continental (5000 $cm^{-3}$) air masses to examine the aerosol effects on cloud and precipitation development. Increase of CCN concentration causes cloud drop sizes to decrease and cloud drop concentrations to increase. However, the concentration of ice particles decreases with the increase of CCN concentration because small drops are difficult to freeze. These general trends are well captured by both model runs (one with the new collision efficiency data and the other with the original) but there are significant differences: with the new data, the development of cloud and raindrop formation are delayed by (1) decrease of ice collision efficiency, (2) decrease of latent heat from riming process and (3) decrease of ice crystals generated by ice multiplication. These results indicate that the model run with the original collision efficiency data overestimates precipitation rates.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2020

This study presented the effects of the assumed mass-size relationship for snow on the simulated surface precipitation by using cloud microphysics parameterizations in Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The selected cloud microphysics parameterizations are WRF Double-Moment 6-class (WDM6) and WRF Single-Moment 6-class (WSM6) in the WRF model. We replaced the mass-size relationship for snow in WDM6 and WSM6 with Thompson's mass-size relationship retrieved from measurement data. The sensitivity of the modified WDM6 and WSM6 was tested for the idealized 2-dimensional squall line and winter precipitation system over the Korean peninsula, respectively. The modified WDM6 and WSM6 resulted in the increase of graupel/rain mixing ratios and the decrease of snow mixing ratio in the low atmosphere. The changes of hydrometeor mixing ratio and surface precipitation could be due to the collision-coalescence process between raindrops and snow and the graupel melting process.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.234-243
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• 2022

In Korea, hail damage occurs every year, and in the case of agriculture, it causes severe field crop and cultivation facility losses. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a hail information service system customized for Korea's primary production and crop-growing areas to minimize hail damage. However, the observation of hail is relatively more difficult than that of other meteorological variables, and the available data are also spatially and temporally variable. A hail information service system was developed to understand the temporal and spatial distribution of hail occurrence. As part of this, a hail observation database was established that integrated the observation data from Korea Meteorological Administration with the information from newspaper reports. Furthermore, a hail risk map was produced based on this database. The risk map presented the nationwide distribution and characteristics of hail showers from 1970 to 2018, and the northeastern region of South Korea was found to be relatively dangerous. Overall, hail occurred nationwide, especially in the northeast and some inland areas (Gangwon, Gyeongbuk, and Chungbuk province) and in winter, mainly on the north coast and some inland areas as graupel (small and soft hail). Analyzing the time of day, frequency, and hailstone size of hail shower occurrences by region revealed that the incidence of large hail stones (e.g., 10 cm at Damyang-gun) has increased in recent years and that showers occurred mainly in the afternoon when the updraft was well formed. By integrating multidisciplinary data, the temporal and spatial gap in hail data could be supplemented. The hail risk map produced in this study will be helpful for the selection of suitable crops and growth management strategies under the changing climate conditions.

• Atmosphere
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.161-169
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• 2013

We examine the effects of the sea surface temperature (SST) distribution on heavy snowfall over the Yellow Sea using high-resolution SST products and WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model simulations in 30 December 2010. First, we evaluate the model by comparing the simulated and observed fresh snowfall over the Korean peninsula (Ho-Nam province). The comparison shows that the model reproduces the distributions and magnitudes of the observed snowfall. We then conduct sensitivity model simulations where SST perturbations by ${\pm}1.1^{\circ}C$ relative to baseline SST values (averaged SST for $5{\sim}15^{\circ}C$) are uniformly specified over the region of interest. Results show that ${\pm}1.1^{\circ}C$ SST perturbation simulations result in changes of air temperature by $+0.37/-0.38^{\circ}C$, and by ${\pm}0.31^{\circ}C$ hPa for sea level pressure, respectively, relative to the baseline simulation. Atmospheric responses to SST perturbations are found to be relatively linear. The changes in SST appear to perturb precipitation variability accounting for 10% of snow and graupel, and 18% of snowfall over the Yellow Sea and Ho- Nam province, respectively. We find that anomalies of air temperature, pressure, and hydrometeors due to SST perturbation propagate to the upper part of cloud top up to 500 hPa and show symmetric responses with respect to SST changes.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.2161-2166
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• 2009

It is important for 0-6 hour nowcasting to provide for a high-quality initial condition in a meso-scale atmospheric model by a data assimilation of several observation data. The polarimetric radar data is expected to be assimilated into the forecast model, because the radar has a possibility of measurements of the types, the shapes, and the size distributions of hydrometeors. In this paper, an impact on rainfall prediction of the data assimilation of hydrometeor types (i.e. raindrop, graupel, snowflake, etc.) is evaluated. The observed information of hydrometeor types is estimated using the fuzzy logic algorism. As an implementation, the cloud-resolving nonhydrostatic atmospheric model, CReSS, which has detail microphysical processes, is employed as a forecast model. The local ensemble transform Kalman filter, LETKF, is used as a data assimilation method, which uses an ensemble of short-term forecasts to estimate the flowdependent background error covariance required in data assimilation. A heavy rainfall event occurred in Okinawa in 2008 is chosen as an application. As a result, the rainfall prediction accuracy in the assimilation case of both hydrometeor types and the Doppler velocity and the radar echo is improved by a comparison of the no assimilation case. The effects on rainfall prediction of the assimilation of hydrometeor types appear in longer prediction lead time compared with the effects of the assimilation of radar echo only.

• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.227-239
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• 2019

This paper reviews various bulk-type cloud microphysics parameterizations (BCMPs). BCMP, predicting the moments of size distribution of hydrometeors, parameterizes the grid-resolved cloud and precipitation processes in atmospheric models. The generalized gamma distribution is mainly applied to represent the hydrometeors size distribution in BCMPs. BCMP can be divided in three different methods such as single-moment, double-moment, and triple-moment approaches depending on the number of prognostic variables. Single-moment approach only predicts the hydrometeors mixing ratio. Double-moment approach predicts not only the hydrometeors mixing ratio but also the hydrometeors number concentration. Triple-moment approach predicts the dispersion parameter of hydrometeors size distribution through the prognostic reflectivity, together with the number concentrations and mixing ratios of hydrometeors. Triple-moment approach is the most time expensive method because it has the most number of prognostic variables. However, this approach can allow more flexibility in representing hydrometeors size distribution relative to single-moment and double-moment approaches. At the early stage of the development of BMCPs, warm rain processes were only included. Ice-phase categories such as cloud ice, snow, graupel, and hail were included in BCMPs with prescribed properties for densities and sedimentation velocities of ice-phase hydrometeors since 1980s. Recently, to avoid fixed properties for ice-phase hydrometeors and ad-hoc category conversion, the new approach was proposed in which rimed ice and deposition ice mixing ratios are predicted with total ice number concentration and volume.

• Atmosphere
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.457-475
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• 2023

Accurately predicting localized heavy rainfall is challenging without high-resolution mesoscale cloud information in the numerical model's initial field, as precipitation intensity and amount vary significantly across regions. In the Korean Peninsula, the radar observation network covers the entire country, providing high-resolution data on hydrometeors which is suitable for data assimilation (DA). During the pre-processing stage, radar reflectivity is classified into hydrometeors (e.g., rain, snow, graupel) using the background temperature field. The mixing ratio of each hydrometeor is converted and inputted into a numerical model. Moreover, assimilating saturated water vapor mixing ratio and decomposing radar radial velocity into a three-dimensional wind vector improves the atmospheric dynamic field. This study presents radar DA experiments using a numerical prediction model to enhance the wind, water vapor, and hydrometeor mixing ratio information. The impact of radar DA on precipitation prediction is analyzed separately for each radar component. Assimilating radial velocity improves the dynamic field, while assimilating hydrometeor mixing ratio reduces the spin-up period in cloud microphysical processes, simulating initial precipitation growth. Assimilating water vapor mixing ratio further captures a moist atmospheric environment, maintaining continuous growth of hydrometeors, resulting in concentrated heavy rainfall. Overall, the radar DA experiment showed a 32.78% improvement in precipitation forecast accuracy compared to experiments without DA across four cases. Further research in related fields is necessary to improve predictions of mesoscale heavy rainfall in South Korea, mitigating its impact on human life and property.

• Atmosphere
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.203-213
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• 2006

The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of physical parameterization on the simulation of a snowfall event over Korea caused by air-mass transformation by using the PSU/NCAR MM5. A heavy snowfall event over Korea during 3-5 January 2003 is selected. In addition to the control experiments employing simple-ice microphysics scheme, MRF PBL scheme, and original surface layer process, three consequent physics sensitivity experiments are performed. Each experiment exchanges microphysics (Reisner Graupel), boundary layer (YSU PBL) schemes, and revised surface layer process with a reduced thermal roughness length for the control run. The control run reproduces an overall pattern of snowfall over Korea, but with a high bias by a factor of about 2. As revealed in the previous studies, the cloud microphysics and PBL parameterizations do not show a significant sensitivity for the case of snowfall. A more sophisticated cloud processes does not reveal a discernible effect on the simulated snowfall. Further, high bias in snowfall is exaggerated when a more realistic PBL scheme is employed. On the other hand, it is found that the revised surface layer process plays a role in improving the prediction of snowfall by reducing it. Thus, it is found that a realistic design of surface layer physics in mesoscale models is an important factor to the reduction of systematic bias of the snowfall over Korea that is caused by air-mass transformation over the Yellow sea.