• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.5_4
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• pp.1267-1276
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• 2020

To quantitatively predict the impacts of large-scale volcanic eruptions of Mt. Baekdu on air quality and damage around the Korean Peninsula, a three-dimensional chemistry-transport modeling system (Weather Research & Forecasting - Sparse Matrix Operation Kernel Emission - Comunity Multi-scale Air Quality) was adopted. A worst-case meteorology scenario was selected to estimate the direct impact on Korea. This study applied the typical worst-case scenarios that are likely to cause significant damage to Korea among worst-case volcanic eruptions of Mt. Baekdu in the past decade (2005~2014) and assumed a massive VEI 4 volcanic eruption on May 16, 2012, to analyze the concentration of PM_2.5 caused by the volcanic eruption. The effects of air quality in each region-cities, counties, boroughs-were estimated, and vulnerable areas were derived by conducting an exposure assessment reflecting vulnerable groups. Moreover, the effects of cities, counties, and boroughs were analyzed with a high-resolution scale (9 km × 9 km) to derive vulnerable areas within the regions. As a result of analyzing the typical worst-case volcanic eruptions of Mt. Baekdu, a discrepancy was shown in areas between high PM_2.5 concentration, high population density, and where vulnerable groups are concentrated. From the result, PM_2.5 peak concentration was about 24,547 ㎍/㎥, which is estimated to be a more serious situation than the eruption of Mt. St. Helensin 1980, which is known for 540 million tons of volcanic ash. Paju, Gimpo, Goyang, Ganghwa, Sancheong, Hadong showed to have a high PM_2.5 concentration. Paju appeared to be the most vulnerable area from the exposure assessment. While areas estimated with a high concentration of air pollutants are important, it is also necessary to develop plans and measures considering densely populated areas or areas with high concentrations of susceptible population or vulnerable groups. Also, establishing measures for each vulnerable area by selecting high concentration areas within cities, counties, and boroughs rather than establishing uniform measures for all regions is needed. This study will provide the foundation for developing the standards for disaster declaration and preemptive response systems for volcanic eruptions.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.309-312
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• 2008

The advent of high resolution products of surface wind and temperature derived by satellite data has permitted us to investigate ocean and atmosphere interaction studies in detail. Especially the Kuroshio extension region of the western North Pacific is considered to be a key area for such studies. We have constructed gridded products of surface wind/wind stress over the world ocean using satellite scatterometer (Qscat/SeaWinds), available as the Japanese Ocean Flux data sets with Use of Remote sensing Observation (J-OFURO). Using new data based on improved algorithm which have been recently delivered, we are reconstructing gridded product with higher spatial resolution. Intercomparison of this product with the previous one reveals that there are some discrepancies between them in short-period and high wind-speed ranges especially in the westerly wind region. The products are validated by not only comparisons with in-situ measurement data by mooring buoys such as TAO/TRITON in the tropical Pacific and the Kuroshio Extension Observation (KEO) buoys, but also intercomparison with numerical weather prediction model (NWPM) products (the NRA-1 and 2). Our products have much smaller mean difference in the study areas than the NWPM ones, meaning higher reliability compared with the NWPM products. Using the high resolution products together with sea surface temperature (SST) data, we examine a new type of relationship between the lower atmosphere and upper ocean in the Kuroshio Extension region. It is suggested that the spatial relation between the wind speed and SST depends upon, more or less, the surrounding oceanic condition.

• Atmosphere
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.179-189
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to build and evaluate a high-resolution (50 m) KMAPP (Korea Meteorological Administration Post Processing) reflecting building data. KMAPP uses LDAPS (Local Data Assimilation and Prediction System) data to detail ground wind speed through surface roughness and elevation corrections. During the detailing process, we improved the vegetation roughness data to reflect the impact of city buildings. AWS (Automatic Weather Station) data from a total of 48 locations in the metropolitan area including Seoul in 2019 were used as the observation data used for verification. Sensitivity analysis was conducted by dividing the experiment according to the method of improving the vegetation roughness length. KMAPP has been shown to improve the tendency of LDAPS to over simulate surface wind speeds. Compared to LDAPS, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) is improved by approximately 23% and Mean Bias Error (MBE) by about 47%. However, there is an error in the roughness length around the Han River or the coastline. Accordingly, the surface roughness length was improved in KMAPP and the building information was reflected. In the sensitivity experiment of improved KMAPP, RMSE was further improved to 6% and MBE to 3%. This study shows that high-resolution KMAPP reflecting building information can improve wind speed accuracy in urban areas.

• Atmosphere
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.119-133
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• 2022

From 2015 to 2021, high-concentration fine dust episodes with a daily average PM_2.5 concentration of 50 ㎍ m^-3 or higher were selected and classified into 3 types [long range transport (LRT), mixed (MIX) and Local emission and stagnant (LES)] using synoptic chart and backward trajectory analysis. And relationships between the fine particle data (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentration and PM_2.5/PM₁₀ ratio) and meteorological data (PBLH, Ta, WS, U-wind, and Rainfall) were analyzed using hourly observation for the classification episodes on the Korean Peninsula and the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA). In LRT, relatively large particles such as dust are usually included, and in LES, fine particle is abundant. In the Korean peninsula, the rainfall was relatively increased centered on the middle and western coasts in MIX and LES. In the SMA, wind speed was rather strong in LRT and weak in LES. In LRT, rainfall was centered in Seoul, and in MIX and LES, rainfall appeared around Seoul. However, when the dust cases were excluded, the difference between the LRT and other types of air quality was decreased, but the meteorological variables (Ta, RH, Pa, PBLH, etc.) were further strengthened. In the case of the Korean Peninsula, it is difficult to find a clear relationship because regional influences (topographical elevation, cities and coasts, etc.) are complexly included in a rather wide area. In the SMA, it is analyzed that the effects of urbanization such as the urban heat island centered on Seoul coincide with the sea and land winds, resulting in a combination of high concentrations and meteorological phenomena.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.561-569
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• 2012

To evaluate the bacteriological water quality in Yongnam-Gwangdo, located in western Jinhae Bay, seawater samples were analyzed using sanitary indicator bacteria at 57 sampling stations. According to survey results from January 2007 to December 2009, the range of the geometric mean and the estimated 90th percentile for coliforms and fecal coliforms in the samples were <1.8-16.5 and 1.8-246.8 MPN/100 mL and <1.8-7.1 and 1.8-74.8 MPN/100 mL, respectively. The samples, including those taken from stations located in Wonmunman, Gwangdo, and Dangdong, showed high levels of microbial contamination caused by the climate and weather patterns in the marine environment. The bacteriological water quality in the area met Korean criteria for a designated shellfish growing area for export and National Shellfish Sanitation Program criteria for an approved shellfish growing area, except at station #49. A total of 24 direct pollution sources were discharged into the shellfish growing area. The radius of impact was calculated for each pollution source to assess the effect on the shellfish growing area. The calculated radius of impact for most of the pollution sources was below 300 m. However, the radius of impact for the combined pollution sources in Kyeonnaeryang was 93-1973 m. There were significant differences between the calculated closed sea area and actual monitoring results. The closed sea area values calculated from the fecal coliform load in drainage water tended to be higher than the actual monitoring results. Tidal currents and environmental factors such as salinity, water temperature, sunlight, and microbiological factors affect the survival of fecal indicator bacteria in seawater.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.23-34
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• 2019

Global warming becomes a serious issue that poses subsidiary issues like a sea level rise or a capricious climate over the world. Because of severe heat-wave of the summer in Korea in 2016, a big attention has been focused on urban heat island since then. Not just about heat-wave itself, many researches have been concentrated on how to adapt in this trendy warming climate and weather in a small scope. A big part of existing studies is mitigating "Urban Heat Island effect" and that is because of huge impervious surface in urban area where highly populated areas do diverse activities. It is a serious problem that this thermal context has a high possibility causing mortality by heat vulnerability. However, there have been many articles of a green infrastructures' cooling impact in summer. This research pays attention to measure cooling effect of a street planting considering urban canyon and type of green infrastructures in neighborhood scale. This quantitative approach was proceeded by ENVI-met simulation with a spatial scope of a commercial block in Seoul, Korea. We found the dense double-row planting is more sensitive to change in temperature than that of the single-row. Among the double-row planting scenarios, shrubs which have narrow space between the plant and the land surface were found to store heat inside during the daytime and prevent emitting heat so as to have a higher temperature at night. The quantifying an amount of vegetated spaces' cooling effect research is expected to contribute to a study of the cost and benefit for the planting scenarios' assessment in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.514-524
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• 2016

The Bio-Climatic impact Assessment System, BioCAS was utilized to produce analysis maps of daily maximum perceived temperature ($PT_{max}$) and excess mortality ($r_{EM}$) over the entire Seoul area on a heat wave event. The spatial resolution was 25 m and the Aug. 5, 2012 was the selected heat event date. The analyzed results were evaluated by comparing with observed health impact data - mortality and morbidity - during heat waves in 2004-2013 and 2006-2011,respectively. They were aggregated for 25 districts in Seoul. Spatial resolution of the comparison was equalized to district to match the lower data resolution of mortality and morbidity. Spatial maximum, minimum, average, and total of $PT_{max}$ and $r_{EM}$ were generated and correlated to the health impact data of mortality and morbidity. Correlation results show that the spatial averages of $PT_{max}$ and $r_{EM}$ were not able to explain the observed health impact. Instead, spatial minimum and maximum of $PT_{max}$ were correlated with mortality (r=0.53) and morbidity (r=0.42),respectively. Spatial maximum of $PT_{max}$, determined by building density, affected increasing morbidity at daytime by heat-related diseases such as sunstroke, whereas spatial minimum, determined by vegetation, affected decreasing mortality at nighttime by reducing heat stress. On the other hand, spatial maximum of $r_{EM}$ was correlated with morbidity (r=0.52) but not with mortality. It may have been affected by the limit of district-level irregularity such as difference in base-line heat vulnerability due to the age structure of the population. Areal distribution of the heat impact by local building and vegetation, such as spatial maximum and minimum, was more important than spatial mean. Such high resolution analyses are able to produce quantitative results in health impact and can also be used for economic analyses of localized urban development.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.401-412
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• 2016

A 3D sonic anemometer has been installed at Yongpyong alpine slope since Oct. 23th 2014 to observe the slope winds and to analyze turbulent characteristics with the change in surface cover (grass and snow) and the synoptic wind strength. Eddy covariance method has been applied to calculate the turbulent quantity after coordinate transformation of a planar-fit rotation. We have carefully selected 3 good episodes in the winter season (23 October 2014 to 28 February 2015) for each category (9 days in total), such as grass and snow covers in case of weak synoptic wind condition, and grass cover of strong synoptic wind. The diurnal variations of the slope winds were well developed like the upslope wind in the daytime and downslope wind in the nighttime for both surface covers (grass and snow) in the weak synoptic forcing, when accordingly both heat and momentum fluxes significantly increased in the daytime and decreased in the nighttime. Meanwhile, diurnal variation of heat flux was not present on the snow cover probably in associated with significant fraction of sunlight reflection due to high albedo especially during the daytime in comparison to those on the grass cover. In the strong synoptic regime, the most dominant feature at Yongpyong, only the southeasterly downslope winds were steadily generated irrespective of day and night with significant increases in momentum flux and turbulent kinetic energy as well, which could suggest that local circulations are suppressed by the synoptic scale forcing. In spite of only one season analysis applied to the limited domain, this kind of an observation-based study will provide the basis for understanding of the local wind circulation in the complex mountain domain such as Gangwon in Korea.

• Atmosphere
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.441-458
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• 2008

A TP/WVP-3000A, ground-based microwave radiometer, that was first introduced to South Korea has been operated since August 22, 2007 at the National Center for Intensive Observation of Severe Weathers (NCIO). Using the dual-band, the radiometer provides temperature and humidity soundings from the surface up to 10 km height with the high-temporal resolution of a few minutes. In this study, the performance of the radiometer on the predictability of the high impact weathers was evaluated and various practical applications were investigated. To verify the retrieved profile data from the radiometer, temperature and relative humidity soundings are compared with those from the rawinsonde launched at the NCIO and Gwangju station. The root mean squared errors for temperature and relative humidity soundings were smaller under rainy weather conditions. The correlation coefficient between PWVs (Precipitable Water Vapors) obtained from the radiometer and Global Positioning System satellite at Mokpo station is 0.92 on average. In order to investigate the structure and characteristics of precipitation, stability indexes related to rainfall such as the Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE), K-index, and Storm RElative Helicity (SREH) were calculated using windprofiler at the NCIO from 14 to 16 September, 2007. CAPE and K-index tended to be large when the thermodynamic unstability was strong. On the other hand, SREH index was dominantly large when the dynamic unstability was strong due to the passage of the typhoon 'Nari'.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.128-134
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• 2020

The daily gridded meteorological information and climatology with high resolution (30m and 270m) was produced from 94 Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) of Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) for the past 50 years (1971-current) by different downscaling methods. In addition, the difference between daily meteorological data and the mean state of past 30 years (1981-2010) was calculated for the analysis of climate change. These datasets with GeoTiff format are available from the web interface (https://agecoclim. agmet.kr). The performance of the data is evaluated using 172 Automatic Weather S tation (AWS ) of Rural Development of Administration (RDA). The data have biases lower than 2.0, and root mean square errors (RMSE) lower than 3.8. This data may help to better understand the regional climatic change and its impact on agroecosystem in S outh Korea.