• Atmosphere
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.475-483
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• 2008

The hourly precipitation data from 1973 to 2007 observed at 60 weather stations over Korea are used to characterize the diurnal and semidiurnal cycles of total precipitation amount, intensity and frequency and examine their spatial patterns and interannual variations. The results show that the diurnal cycle peaks in the morning (03-09LST) and the semidiurnal cycle peaks in the late afternoon (16-20LST). It is found that the spatial variations of the peak phase of diurnal or semidiurnal cycle relative to their corresponding seasonal mean cycle are considerably small (large) for total precipitation amount and intensity (frequency, respectively) in both winter and summer seasons. Also, the diurnal phase variations for individual years relative to the seasonal mean precipitation show the significant interannual variability with dominant periods of 2-5 years for all three elements of precipitation and the slightly decreasing trend in total precipitation amount and intensity. To compare the relative contributions of frequency and intensity to the diurnal and semidiurnal cycles (and their sum) of total precipitation amount, the percentage variance of each cycle of precipitation amount explained by frequency is estimated. The fractional variance accounted for by precipitation intensity is greater than that of frequency for these three cycles. All above analyses suggest that intensity plays a more important role than frequency in the diurnal variations of total precipitation amount.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.219-228
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• 2002

Based on the five-year (October 1992 through September 1997) Topex/Poseidon altimeter measurements, we describe the statistical characteristics of the eddy variability in the East Sea in terms of sea surface height anomaly, slope variability, and eddy kinetic energy (EKE). The sea surface height anomalies in the East Sea are produced with standard corrections from Topex/Poseidon measurements. In order to eliminate the high frequency noise in the sea surface height anomaly data, the alongtrack height anomaly data was filtered by about 40 km low-pass Lanczos filter based on Strub et al. (1997) and Kelly et a1. (1998). We find that there exists a distinct spatial contrast of high eddy variability in the south and low eddy energy in the north, bordering the Polar Front. In the northwestern area $(north\;of\;39^{\circ}N\;and\;west\;of\;133^{\circ}E)$ from the Polar Front where the eddies frequently appear, the EKE is also considerabel. The high kinetic energy in the southern East Sea reveals a close connection with the paths of the Tsushima Warm Current, suggesting that the high variability in the south is mainly generated by the baroclinic instability process of the Tsushima Warm Current. This finding is supported by other studies (Fu and Zlontnicki, 1989; Stammer, 1997) wh.ch have shown the strong eddy energy coupled in the major current system. The monthly variation of the EKE in both areas of high and low eddy variability shows a strong seasonality of a high eddy kinetic energy from October to February and a relatively low one from March to September. The sequential pattern of wind stress curl shows resemblance with those of monthly and seasonal EKE and the two sequences have a correlation of 0.82 and 0.67, respectively, providing an evidence that wind stress curl can be the possible forcing for the monthly and seasonal variation of the EKE in the East Sea. The seasonality of the EKE also seems to correlate with the seasonality of the Tsushima Warm Current. There also exists the large spatial and interannual variabilities in the EKE.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.343-356
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• 2007

This paper explored the characteristics of the interannual sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the equatorial Pacific by analyzing the simulated data from a newly coupled general circulation model (CGCM). The CGCM simulates well the realistic ENSO variability as well as the mean climatologies including SST, seasonal cycle, precipitation, and subsurface structures. It is argued that the zonal gradient of SST in the equatorial Pacific is responsible for the over-energetic SST variability near the equatorial western boundary in the model. This variability could also be related to the strong westward propagation of SST anomalies which resulted from the enhanced the zonal advection feedback. The simple two-strip model supports this by sensitivity tests. Analysis of the relationship between zonal mean thermocline depth and NINO3 SST index suggested that the ENSO variability is controlled by the recharge-discharge oscillator of the model. The lead-lag regression result reveals that heat buildup process in the western equatorial Pacific associated with the increase of the barrier layer thickness (BLT) is a precedent condition for El $Ni\widetilde{n}o$ to develop.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.181-199
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• 2020

Cyclone Heat Potential (CHP) is an essential parameter for accurate prediction of the intensity of tropical cyclones. The variability of the heat storage in the near-surface layers and the vertical stratification near the surface due to large fresh water inputs create challenges in predicting the intraseasonal and interannual evolution of monsoons and tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal. This paper for the first time presents the D26- referenced cyclone heat potential observed in the Bay of Bengal during the period 2012-17 based on the in-situ data collected from 5.5 million demanding offshore instrument-hours of operation in the Ocean Moored Buoy Network for Northern Indian Ocean (OMNI) buoy network by the National Institute of Ocean Technology. It is observed that the CHP in the Bay of Bengal varied from 0-220 kJ/㎠ during various seasons. From the moored buoy observations, a CHP of ~ 90 kJ/㎠ with the D26 isotherm of minimum 100m is favorable for the intensification of the post-monsoon tropical cyclones. The responses of the D26 thermal structure during major tropical cyclone events in the Bay of Bengal are also presented.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.246-253
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• 2019

Background: Water use efficiency (WUE) is an indicator of the trade-off between carbon uptake and water loss to the atmosphere at the plant or ecosystem level. Understanding temporal dynamics and the response of WUE to climatic variability is an essential part of land degradation assessments in water-limited dryland regions. Alternative definitions of and/or alternative methodologies used to measure WUE, however, have hampered intercomparisons among previous studies of different biomes and regions. The present study aims to clarify semantic differences among WUE parameters applied in previous studies and summarize these parameters in terms of their definition and methodology. Additionally, the consistency of the responses of alternative WUE parameters to interannual changes in moisture levels in Northeast Asia dryland regions (NADRs) was tested. Results: The literature review identified more than five different WUE parameters defined at leaf and ecosystem levels and indicates that major conclusions regarding the WUE response to climatic variability were partly inconsistent depending on the parameters used. Our demonstration of WUE in NADR again confirmed regional inconsistencies and further showed that inconsistencies were more distinct in hyper- and semi-arid climates than in arid climates, which might reflect the different relative roles of physical and biological processes in the coupled carbon-water process. Conclusions: The responses of alternative WUE parameters to drying and wetting may be different in different regions, and regionally different response seems to be related to aridity, which determines vegetation coverage.

• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.659-669
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• 2019

This study assesses the quality of the total column ozone (TCO) data from five reanalysis datasets against nine independent observation in East Asia. The assessed datasets are the ECMWF Interim reanalysis (ERAI), Monitoring Atmosphere Composition and Climate reanalysis (MACC), Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service reanalysis (CAMS), the NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version2 (MERRA2), and NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR). All datasets reasonably well capture the spatial distribution, annual cycle and interannual variability of TCO in East Asia. In particular, characteristics of TCO according to the latitude difference were similar at all points with a maximum bias of less than about 4%. Among them, CAMS and CFSR show the smallest mean bias and root-mean square error across all nine ground-based observations. This result indicates that while TCO data in modern reanalyses are reasonably good, CAMS and CFSR TCO data are the best for analysing the spatio-temporal variability and change of TCO in East Asia.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2002

Seasonal and interannual variation of volume transport through the La-Perouse Strait were estimated using the difference of sea level observed at Krillion of Sakhalin, Russia, and Wakkanai of Hokkaido, Japan, during the period of 1975-1988. Historical sea level measurements between Russian and Japanese tide gauge data were normalized using an independent direct volume transport measurement. Volume transport from the East Sea (Sea of Japan) to the Sea of Okhotsk varied from -0.01 to 1.18 Sv with an annual mean value of 0.61 Sv. Monthly water transport rates showed a unimodal distribution with its maximum occurring in summer (August) and minimum in winter (December-February). The annual mean volume transport varied from 0.2 to 0.8 Sv during the period of 1975-1988 with the maximum variance of 0.6 Sv.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1413-1414
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• 2003

Interannual variability in the patterns of satellitederived pigment concentrations, sea-level height anomaly, sea surface temperature anomaly, and zonal wind anomaly are observed during the 2002-2003 El Ni${\tilde{n}}$o. The largest spatial extent of the phytoplankton bloom was recovery from El Ni${\tilde{n}}$o over the equatorial Pacific. The evolution towards a warm episode (El Ni${\tilde{n}}$o) started from spring of 2002 and continued during January 2003, while equatorial Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly (SSTA) remained greater than +1$^{\circ}$C in the central equatorial Pacific. The EOS (Earth Observing System) and OSMI (Ocean Scanning Multispectral Imager) data are used for detection of dramatic changes in the patterns of pigment concentration during El Ni${\tilde{n}}$o.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2022

Wildfires, which occur sporadically and irregularly worldwide, are distinct natural disturbances in combustible vegetation areas, important parts of the global carbon cycle, and natural disasters that cause severe public emergencies. While many previous studies have investigated the variability and changes in wildfires globally based on fire emissions, burned areas, and fire weather indices, studies on East Asia are still limited. Here, we explore the characteristics of variability and changes in wildfire danger over East Asia by analyzing the fire weather index for the 40 years-1981-2020. The first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode of fire weather index variability represents an increasing trend in wildfire danger over most parts of East Asia over the last 40 years, accounting for 29% of the total variance. The major contributor is an increase in the surface temperature in East Asia associated with global warming and multidecadal ocean variations. The effect of temperature was slightly offset by the increase in soil moisture. The second EOF mode exhibits considerable interannual variability associated with the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, accounting for 17% of the total variance. The increase (decrease) in precipitation in East Asia during El Nino (La Nina) increases (decreases) soil moisture, which in turn reduces (increases) wildfire danger. This dominant soil moisture effect was slightly offset by the temperature increase (decrease) during El Nino (La Nina). Improving the understanding of variability and changes in wildfire danger will have important implications for reducing social, economic, and ecological losses associated with wildfire occurrences.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 2006

Processes controlling the interannual variation of mixed layer temperature (MLT) averaged over the NINO3 domain ($150-90^{\circ}W$, $5^{\circ}N-5^{\circ}S$) are studied using an ocean data assimilation product that covers the period of 1993 to 2003. Advective tendencies are estimated here as the temperature fluxes through the domain's boundaries, with the boundary temperature referenced to the domain-averaged temperature to remove the dependence on temperature scale. The overall balance is such that surface heat flux opposes the MLT change but horizontal advection and subsurface processes assist the change. The zonal advective tendency is caused primarily by large-scale advection of warm-pool water through the western boundary of the domain. The meridional advective tendency is contributed mostly by Ekman current advecting large-scale temperature anomalies though the southern boundary of the domain. Unlike many previous studies, we explicitly evaluate the subsurface processes that consist of vertical mixing and entrainment. In particular, a rigorous method to estimate entrainment allows an exact budget closure. The vertical mixing across the mixed layer (ML) base has a contribution in phase with the MLT change. The entrainment tendency due to temporal change in ML depth is negligible comparing to other subsurface processes. The entrainment tendency by vertical advection across the ML base is dominated by large-scale changes in wind-driven upwelling and temperature of upwelling water. Tropical instability waves (TIWs) result in smaller-scale vertical advection that warms the domain during La Ni? cooling events. When the advective tendencies are evaluated by spatially averaging the conventional local advective tendencies of temperature, the apparent effects of currents with spatial scales smaller than the domain (such as TIWs) become very important as they redistribute heat within the NINO3 domain. However, such internal redistribution of heat does not represent external processes that control the domain-averaged MLT.