• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2024

The Yeongdong region has suffered from severe snowstorms and the relevant damage such as traffic accidents on slippery roads, and the collapse of greenhouses and temporary buildings. While a lot of research on snowfall has been conducted, the detailed study of snow crystals' phase and habit through intensive observations and the relevant microphysical analysis is still lacking. Therefore, a snowflake camera, PARSIVEL, and intensive radiosonde soundings were utilized to investigate phase and habit changes in solid precipitation. Two remarkable episodes of phase and habit changes were selected such as 19 March 2022 and 15 February 2023. Both events occurred in the synoptic condition of the High in the north and the Low passing by the south, which was accompanied by rapid temperature cooling below 2.5 km. During the events of a short period between 3 to 6 hours, the temperature at 850 hPa decreased by about 4 to 6℃. This cooling led to a change in the main habit of snow particles from riming to aggregate, identified with both MASC and PARSIVEL. Meanwhile, the LDAPS model analyses do not successively represent the rapid cooling and short-term variations of solid precipitation, probably by virtue of overestimating low-level equivalent potential temperature during these periods. The underlying causes of these the low-level temperature variations within 6 hours, still remain unclear. It might be associated with mesoscale orographic phenomenon due to the mountains and East Sea effects, which certainly needs an intensive and comprehensive observation campaign.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.577-587
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• 2021

Drought is generally considered to be a natural disaster caused by accumulated water shortages over a long period of time, taking months or years and slowly occurring. However, climate change has led to rapid changes in weather and environmental factors that directly affect agriculture, and extreme weather conditions have led to an increase in the frequency of rapidly developing droughts within weeks to months. This phenomenon is defined as 'Flash Drought', which is caused by an increase in surface temperature over a relatively short period of time and abnormally low and rapidly decreasing soil moisture. The detection and analysis of flash drought is essential because it has a significant impact on agriculture and natural ecosystems, and its impacts are associated with agricultural drought impacts. In South Korea, there is no clear definition of flash drought, so the purpose of this study is to identify and analyze its characteristics. In this study, flash drought detection condition was presented based on the satellite-derived drought index Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) from 2014 to 2018. ESI is used as an early warning indicator for rapidly-occurring flash drought a short period of time due to its similar relationship with reduced soil moisture content, lack of precipitation, increased evaporative demand due to low humidity, high temperature, and strong winds. The flash droughts were analyzed using hydrometeorological characteristics by comparing Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), soil moisture, maximum temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and precipitation. The correlation was analyzed based on the 8 weeks prior to the occurrence of the flash drought, and in most cases, a high correlation of 0.8(-0.8) or higher(lower) was expressed for ESI and SPI, soil moisture, and maximum temperature.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.75-87
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• 2004

Along the seashore regions in Korea, though strong winds with very large strength are frequently witnessed, no system which can provide appropriate speed information for driving vehicle has been introduced. The driving against strong winds could be very dangerous because of the high possibility of accidents such as rollover and collision. These accidents usually resulted from driver's forced driving try even in difficult situation for steering vehicle, and sometimes overspeed without consideration of wind impact to the vehicles. To reduce accident caused by strong winds, it is important to inform drivers of appropriate driving speeds by perceiving strong winds. By setting up WIS at the main points where strong winds frequently appear and using the variable message sign(VMS) connected to the on-line whether information system, it tis possible to provide desired speed information, which can maintain vehicles' tractive force and maximum running resistance. The case study is conducted on the case of Mokpo-Big-Bridge, which is under construction at Mokpo city. The result show that in case the annual average direction of wind is South and the wind speed is over 8m/hr, the desired speed, which is required in order for vehicles running to South direction to maintain the marginal driving power, is 60km/hr. In addition, for the case of a typhoon such as Memi generated in 2003 year, if wind speed had been 18m/sec in Mokpo city at that time, the running resistance at the speed of 40km/hr is calculated as 1131N. This resistance can not be overcome at the 4th gear(1054N) level, therefore, the gear of vehicles should be reduced down to the 3rd level. In this case, the appropriate speed is 40km/h, and at this point the biggest difference between running resistance and tractive force is generated.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.215-224
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• 2014

Data assimilation effect of mobile rawinsonde observation was evaluated using Unified Model (UM) with a Three-Dimensional Variational (3DVAR) data assimilation system during the intensive observation program of 2013 summer season (rainy season: 20 June-7 July 2013, heavy rain period: 8 July-30 July 2013). The analysis was performed by two sets of simulation experiments: (1) ConTroL experiment (CTL) with observation data provided by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and (2) Observing System Experiment (OSE) including both KMA and mobile rawinsonde observation data. In the model verification during the rainy season, there were no distinctive differences for 500 hPa geopotential height, 850 hPa air temperature, and 300 hPa wind speed between CTL and OSE simulation due to data limitation (0000 and 1200 UTC only) at stationary rawinsonde stations. In contrast, precipitation verification using the hourly accumulated precipitation data of Automatic Synoptic Observation System (ASOS) showed that Equivalent Threat Score (ETS) of the OSE was improved by about 2% compared with that of the CTL. For cases having a positive effect of the OSE simulation, ETS of the OSE showed a significantly higher improvement (up to 41%) than that of the CTL. This estimation thus suggests that the use of mobile rawinsonde observation data using UM 3DVAR could be reasonable enough to assess the improvement of prediction accuracy.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.360-372
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• 2011

In order to clarify the advection and dispersion characteristics of volcanic tephra to be emitted from the Mt. Baekdu, several numerical experiments were carried out using three-dimensional atmospheric dynamic model, Weather and Research Forecast (WRF) and Laglangian particles dispersion model FLEXPART. Four different temporally averaged meteorological values including wind speed and direction were used, and their averaged intervals of meteorological values are 1 month, 10 days, and 3days, respectively. Real time simulation without temporal averaging is also established in this study. As averaging time of meteorological elements is longer, wind along the principle direction is stronger. On the other hands, the tangential direction wind tends to be clearer when the time become shorten. Similar tendency was shown in the distribution of volcanic tephra because the dispersion of particles floating in the atmosphere is strongly associated with wind pattern. Wind transporting the volcanic tephra is divided clearly into upper and lower region and almost ash arriving the Korean Peninsula is released under 2 km high above the ground. Since setting up the temporal averaging of meteorological values is one of the critical factors to determine the density of tephra in the air and their surface deposition, reasonable time for averaging meteorological values should be established before the numerical dispersion assessment of volcanic tephra.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.357-372
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• 2016

Northeast Asian regions have recently become the main source of anthropogenic and natural aerosols. Measurement of aerosols on the sea in these regions have been rarely conducted since the experimental campaigns such as ACE-ASIA (Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment) in 2001. Research vessel observations of aerosol mass and chemical composition were performed on the Yellow and south sea around the Korean peninsula. The ship measurements showed six representative cases such as aerosol event and non-event cases during the study periods. On non-event cases, the anthropogenic chemical and natural soil composition on the Yellow sea were greater than those on the south sea. On aerosol event cases such as haze, haze with dust, and dust, the measured mass concentrations of anthropogenic chemical and element compositions were clearly changed by the events. In particular, methanesulfonate ($MSA^-$, $CH_3SO_3^-$), a main component of natural oceanic aerosol important for sulfur circulation on Earth, was first observed by the vessel in Korea, and its concentration on the Yellow sea was three times that on the south sea during the study period. Sea salt concentration important to chemical composition on the sea is related to wind speed. Coefficients of determination ($R^2$) between wind speed and sea salt concentration were 0.68 in $PM_{10}$ and 0.82 in $PM_{2.5}$. Maximum wave height was not found to be correlated to the sea salt concentration. When sea-salt comes into contact with pollutants, the total sea-salt mass is reduced, i.e., a loss of $Cl^-$ concentration from NaCl, the main chemical composing sea salt, is estimated by reaction with $HNO_3$(gas) and $H_2SO_4$(gas). The $Cl^-$ concentration loss by $SO_4^{2-}$ and $NO_3^-$ more easily increased for $PM_{10}$ compared to $PM_{2.5}$. The results of this study will be applied to verifying a dust-haze forecasting model. In addition, continued vessel measurements of aerosol data will become important to research for climate change studies in the future.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.503-518
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• 2012

Korean type of no-tillage cultivation method which was applied on this study used the ridge and the furrow and constantly recycling them as it was suitable for Korea's weather and farming conditions. This no-tillage cultivation was reported to have little negative impact such as reduction of production (Kwon et al., 1997). In addition, it was found to have a lot of benefits as it requires less agro-materials and energy costs as well as shortened working hours because tillage operation is not needed. (Yang et al., 2012). According to an analysis, no-tillage cultivation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by $344.7kgCO^2$ (58%) in every 10a ($1,000m^2$) compared to ordinary pepper farming technique (Korea averages). Direct-indirect reduction effects from using fertilizer and using less amount of energy were 92% and 44% respectively both of which can be considered very high. Besides the direct effects of no-tillage cultivation, soil management using no-tillage technique raises carbon sequestration effect on soil as time goes on (West & Marland, 2002), that is why the technique is expected to have constant carbon emission reduction effect. For theses reasons, distribution and expansion of Korean type no-tillage cultivation are expected to play a role as major agro-green technologies for achieving our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural sector.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.90-98
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• 2013

Objectives: Many studies have shown that air pollution and temperature have adverse effects on mortality and morbidity. But the interactive effect between air pollution and temperature on mortality has been rarely investigated. This study aims to explore whether temperature modifies the associations between ambient particulate matter less than $10{\mu}m$ in diameter ($PM_{10}$) and mortality in Seoul, Korea. Methods: The time-series analysis examined the effect of the interaction between $PM_{10}$ and temperature on mortality from 1999 to 2010 in Seoul. In order to examine the interactive effect between $PM_{10}$ and temperature on mortality, we fitted a response surface model controlling the time-trends and meteorological variables. The effects of $PM_{10}$ were stratified by temperature stratum to quantitatively estimate the $PM_{10}$-health outcome associations. Results: When temperature was low (below the threshold temperature), the percentage increases per $10{\mu}g/m^3$ increase of $PM_{10}$ increased 0.38% (95% Confidence Interval[CI]: 0.09~0.68%) and 0.31% (95% CI: - 0.07~0.68%) of mortality in the all age group and ${\geq}65$ year age group, respectively. When temperature was high (above the threshold temperature), the percentage increases per $10{\mu}g/m^3$ increase of $PM_{10}$ increased 1.09% (95% CI: 0.47~1.72%) and 1.35% (95% CI: 0.65~2.06%) for mortality in the all age group and ${\geq}65$ year age group, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study showed strong modification by temperature in the association between $PM_{10}$ and mortality. We recommend that public health strategies to minimize adverse health impact of heat and $PM_{10}$ should be considered in control and prevention measures for air pollution and weather-related health impacts.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.559-568
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• 2013

Surface compaction significantly impacts runoff and soil erosion under rainfall since it leads to changes of soil physical characteristics such as increase of bulk density and shear stress, change of microporosity, and decrease of hydraulic conductivity. This study addressed surface compaction effects on runoff and soil loss from bare and disturbed soils that are commonly distributed on construction sites. Thirty-six rainfall simulations from three replicates of each involving rainfall intensities (68.5 mm/hr, 95.6 mm/hr) and plot gradients ($5^{\circ}$, $12.5^{\circ}$, $20^{\circ}$) were conducted to measure runoff and soil loss for two different soil surface treatments (compacted surface, non-compacted surface). Compacted surface increased significantly soil bulk density and soil strength. However, the effect of surface treatments on runoff changed with rainfall intensity and plot gradient. Rainfall intensity and plot gradient had a positive effect on mean soil loss. In addition, the effect of surface treatments on soil loss responded differently with rainfall intensity and plot gradient. Compacted surfaces increased soil loss at gentle slope ($5^{\circ}$) while they decreased soil loss at steep slope ($20^{\circ}$). These results indicate that there exists transitional slope range ($10{\sim}15^{\circ}$) between gentle and steep slope by surface compaction effects on soil loss under disturbed bare soils and simulated rainfalls.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.6_1
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• pp.1101-1117
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• 2018

The clear sky radiance (CSR) is one of the baseline products of the Himawari-8 which was launched on October, 2014. The CSR contributes to numerical weather prediction (NWP) accuracy through the data assimilation; especially water vapor channel CSR has good impact on the forecast in high level atmosphere. The focus of this study is the quality analysis of the CSR of the Himawari-8 geostationary satellite. We used the operational CSR (or clear sky brightness temperature) products in JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) as observation data; for a background field, we employed the CSR simulated using the Radiative Transfer for TOVS (RTTOV) with the atmospheric state from the global model of KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration). We investigated data characteristics and analyzed observation minus background statistics of each channel with respect to regional and seasonal variability. Overall results for the analysis period showed that the water vapor channels (6.2, 6.9, and $7.3{\mu}m$) had a positive mean bias where as the window channels(10.4, 11.2, and $12.4{\mu}m$) had a negative mean bias. The magnitude of biases and Uncertainty result varied with the regional and the seasonal conditions, thus these should be taken into account when using CSR data. This study is helpful for the pre-processing of Himawari-8/Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) CSR data assimilation. Furthermore, this study also can contribute to preparing for the utilization of products from the Geo-Kompsat-2A (GK-2A), which will be launched in 2018 by the National Meteorological Satellite Center (NMSC) of KMA.