• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.217-231
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• 2024

The Korea Integrated Model (KIM)-based real-time volcanic ash dispersion prediction system, which employs the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, has been developed to quantitatively predict volcanic ash dispersion in East Asia and the Northwest Pacific airspace. This system, known as KIM-HYSPLIT, automatically generates forecasts for the vertical and horizontal spread of volcanic ash up to 72 hours. These forecasts are initiated upon the receipt of a Volcanic Ash Advisory (VAA) from the Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center by the server at the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). This system equips KMA forecasters with diverse volcanic ash prediction information, complemented by the Unified Model (UM)-based HYSPLIT (UM-HYSPLIT) system. Extensive experiments have been conducted using KIM-HYSPLIT across 128 different volcanic scenarios, along with qualitative comparisons with UM-HYSPLIT. The results indicate that the ash direction predictions from KIM-HYSPLIT are consistent with those from UM-HYSPLIT. However, there are slight differences in the horizontal extent and movement speed of the volcanic ash. Additionally, quantitative verifications of the KIM-HYSPLIT forecasts have been performed, including threat score evaluations, based on recent eruption cases. On average, the KIMHYSPLIT forecasts for 6 and 12 hours show better quantitative alignment with the VAA forecasts compared to UM-HYSPLIT. Nevertheless, both models tend to predict a broader horizontal spread of the ash cloud than indicated in the VAA forecasts, particularly noticeable in the 6-hour forecast period.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.573-584
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• 2015

In this study, the atmospheric dispersion of radioactive material ($^{137}Cs$) was simulated with regard to its impact within a 50-km radius from the Kori Nuclear Power Plant (NKPP) based on two different types of models (the non-steady-state puff model CALPUFF and the lagrangian model HYSPLIT) during the spring of 2012 (May 2012). The dispersion distribution of $^{137}Cs$ calculated in the CALPUFF model was similar to that of the HYSPLIT model, but the magnitudes of differences in its spatio-temporal concentrations between the two models were different. The $^{137}Cs$ concentrations simulated by the CALPUFF were significantly lower than those of the HYSPLIT due to a limitation of puff models (e.g. puff size growth over time). The CALPUFF had the advantage of determining the dispersion of radioactive materials and their impacts on the surrounding regions, compared with the HYSPLIT that had high concentrations of $^{137}Cs$ in only small local areas with the movement of air masses along the local winds.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.303-314
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• 2014

Mt. SAKRAJIMA in southern Kagosima, japan is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. On 18 August 2013, the SAKRAJIMA volcano recently went into the largest scaled eruption with a huge plume of volcanic ash. Therefore, the concern arises if this considerable amount of ashes might flow into the Korea peninsula as well as Japan. In this paper, we performed numeric experiment to analyze how volcanic product resulted from the SAKRAJIMA volcano has impacted on Korea. In order to predict the spread pathway of ash, HYSPLIT model and UM data has been used and 17th September 2013 has been selected as observation date since it is expected that the volcanic ash would flow into the South Korea. In addition, we have detected ash dispersion by using optical Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite- Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (COMS-GOCI) images. As the results, we come to a very satisfactory conclusion that the spread pathway of volcanoes based on HYSPLIT model are matched 63.52 % with ash dispersion area detected from GOCI satellites image.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.222-234
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• 2021

Airborne-pests can be introduced into Korea from overseas areas by wind, which can cause considerable damage to major crops. Meteorological models have been used to estimate the wind trajectories of airborne insects. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of input settings on the prediction of areas where airborne pests arrive by wind. The wind trajectories were predicted using the HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. The HYSPLIT model was used to track the wind dispersal path of particles under the assumption that brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens) was introduced into Korea from sites where the pest was reported in China. Meteorological input data including instantaneous and average wind speed were generated using meso-scale numerical weather model outputs for the domain where China, Korea, and Japan were included. In addition, the calculation time intervals were set to 1, 30, and 60 minutes for the wind trajectory calculation during early June in 2019 and 2020. It was found that the use of instantaneous and average wind speed data resulted in a considerably large difference between the arrival areas of airborne pests. In contrast, the spatial distribution of arrival areas had a relatively high degree of similarity when the time intervals were set to be 1 minute. Furthermore, these dispersal patterns predicted using the instantaneous wind speed were similar to the regions where the given pest was observed in Korea. These results suggest that the impact assessment of input settings on wind trajectory prediction would be needed to improve the reliability of an approach to predict regions where airborne-pest could be introduced.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1043-1052
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• 2013

This study was conducted to investigate the correlations between the $PM_{10}$ concentration trend and meteorological elements in the Gimhae region and analyze the transportation routes of air pollutants through back-trajectory analysis. Among the air quality measuring stations in the Gimhae regions, the $PM_{10}$ concentration of the Sambangdong station was higher than that of the Dongsangdong station. Also, an examination of the relationships between $PM_{10}$ concentration and meteorological elements showed that the greater the number of yellow dust occurrence days was and the lower the temperature and precipitation were, the higher the $PM_{10}$ concentration appeared. Furthermore, a cluster analysis through the HYSPLIT model showed that there were 4 clusters of trajectories that flowed into the Gimhae region and most of them originated in China. The meteorological characteristics of the four clusters were analyzed and they were similar to those of the air masses that influence South Korea. These analyses found that meteorological conditions affect the $PM_{10}$ concentration.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.217-232
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• 2017

An Eulerian-Lagrangian hybrid modeling system to analyze physical and chemical processes during the transport of air parcels was developed. The Backward-tracking Model Analyzer (BMA) was designed to take advantages of both Eulerian and Lagrangian modeling approaches. Simulated trajectories from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration HYSPLIT model were combined with the US Environmental Protection Agency Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ)-simulated concentrations and additional diagnostic analyses. In this study, we first introduced a generalized methodology to seamlessly match polylines (HYSPLIT) and threedimensional polygons (CMAQ), which enables mass-conservative analyses of physio-chemical processes of transporting air parcels. Two applications of the BMA were conducted: (1) a long-range transport case of pollutant plume across the Yellow Sea using CMAQ Integrated Process Rate analyses, and (2) a domestic circulation of pollutants within (and near) the South Korea based on the sulfate tracking analyzer. The first episode demonstrated a secondary formation of nitrate and ammonium during the transport over the Yellow Sea while sulfate is mostly transported after being formed over the China, and the second episode demonstrated a dominant impact of boundary condition with active sulfate formation from gas-phase oxidation near the Seoul Metropolitan Area.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.520-529
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• 2015

The ambient $PM_{2.5}$ samples were collected by $PM_{2.5}$ sampler from September 2010 to December 2012 at Daegu University, Gyeongsan. A total of 260 samples were collected and 27 species were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma, ion chromatography, and thermal optical reflectance methods. Factor analysis identified four sources such as biomass burning source/secondary aerosol source, soil source, industry source, and incinerator source/mobile source. Also, backward trajectories were calculated using HYSPLIT 4 (Hybrid single-particle lagrangian integrated trajectory) model and PSCF (Potential source contribution function) model was applied to identify the possible source locations of carbonaceous species and water soluble ions species. PSCF results showed that the possible source locations of most chemical constituents measured in Gyeongsan were the industrial areas in the eastern coast of China, northeast regions of China, the Gobi Desert, and east sea of Korea.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.55-69
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• 2021

Chungnam region accounts for the largest SO_X (22.8%) emission with the second-largest NO_X (10.8%) emission in Korea due to the integration of many large industrial sources including a steel mill, coal-fired power plants, and petrochemical complex. Air pollutants emitted by large industrial sources can cause harmful problems to humans and the environment. Thus, it is necessary to understand dispersion patterns of air pollutants from large industrial sources in Chungnam to characterize atmospheric contamination in Chungnam and the surrounding area. In this study, seasonal atmospheric dispersion characteristics for SO_X, NO_X, and PM2.5 from ten major point sources in Chungnam were evaluated using HYSPLIT 4 model, and their contributions to SO₂, NO₂ concentrations in the regions near the source areas were estimated. The predictions of the HYSPLIT 4 model show a seasonal different dispersion pattern, in which air pollutants were dispersed toward the southeast in winter while, northeast in summer. In summer, due to weaker wind speed, air pollutants concentrations were higher than in winter, and they were dispersed to the metropolitan area. The local emissions of air pollutants in Taean area had a greater influence on the ambient SO₂ and NO₂ concentrations at Taean, whereas SO_X and NO_X emissions from large sources located at Seosan showed relatevely little effect on the ambient ambient SO₂ and NO₂ concentrations at Seosan.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.81-96
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• 2015

The characteristics of atmospheric dispersion of radioactive material (i.e. $^{137}Cs$) related to local wind patterns around the Kori nuclear power plant (KNPP) were studied using WRF/HYSPLIT model. The cluster analysis using observed winds from 28 weather stations during a year (2012) was performed in order to obtain representative local wind patterns. The cluster analysis identified eight local wind patterns (P1, P2, P3, P4-1, P4-2, P4-3, P4-4, P4-5) over the KNPP region. P1, P2 and P3 accounted for 14.5%, 27.0% and 14.5%, respectively. Both P1 and P2 are related to westerly/northwesterly synoptic flows in winter and P3 includes the Changma or typhoons days. The simulations of P1, P2 and P3 with high wind velocities and constant wind directions show that $^{137}Cs$ emitted from the KNPP during 0900~1400 LST (Local Standard Time) are dispersed to the east sea, southeast sea and southwestern inland, respectively. On the other hands, 5 sub-category of P4 have various local wind distributions under weak synoptic forcing and accounted for less than 10% of all. While the simulated $^{137}Cs$ for P4-2 is dispersed to southwest inland due to northeasterly flows, $^{137}Cs$ dispersed northward for the other patterns. The simulated average 137Cs concentrations of each local wind pattern are $564.1{\sim}1076.3Bqm^{-3}$. The highest average concentration appeared P4-4 due to dispersion in a narrow zone and weak wind environment. On the other hands, the lowest average concentration appeared P1 and P2 due to rapid dispersion to the sea. The simulated $^{137}Cs$ concentrations and dispersion locations of each local wind pattern are different according to the local wind conditions.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.1029-1041
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• 2013

In this study, eight episode days of high-concentration $PM_{10}$ occurrences in the Gimhae region between 2006 and 2011 were analyzed. Most of them appeared in winter and the highest concentration was observed around 12 LST. Furthermore, the wind direction, wind velocity, and temperature elements were compared with observed values to verify the WRF numerical simulation results used in this study, and they simulated well in accordance with the trend of the observed values. The wind was generally weak in the high-concentration episode days that were chosen through surface weather chart and the numerical simulation results for wind field, and the air pollutants were congested due to the effects of the resulting local winds, thereby causing a high concentration of air pollutants. Furthermore, the HYSPLIT model was performed with the WRF numerical simulation results as input data. As a result, they originated from China and flowed into Gimhae in all eight days, and the lowest concentration appeared on the days when recirculation occurred.