• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.305-323
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• 2012

The ocean's response to the Pinatubo and 1259 volcanic eruptions was investigated using an ocean general circulation model equipped with an energy balance model. Volcanic eruptions release gases into the atmosphere which increases the aerosol optical depth and acts to reduce the incoming short-wave radiation. For example, there was a huge volcanic eruption (Pinatubo) in 1991 which reduced the global mean radiative forcing by about 3 W $m^{-2}$. Two numerical experiments were simulated. The first experiment features the Pinatubo eruption and the second experiment simulates the much larger volcanic eruption that occurred in 1259 when the radiative forcing was reduced by 7 times compared to the Pinatubo event. With the reduced radiative forcing due to the Pinatubo eruption at about 3 W $m^{-2}$ and 1259 eruption at about 21 W $m^{-2}$, the global mean sea surface temperature (SST) decreased to its lowest in the second year after each event by about $0.4^{\circ}C$ and $1.6^{\circ}C$, respectively. Sea surface salinity (SSS) increased substantially in the northern North Pacific, northern North Atlantic, and the Southern Ocean. The reduced SST together with SSS increased ocean convection, which yielded an increase in North Atlantic Deep Water, Antarctic Bottom Water, and North Pacific Intermediate Water production and their outflows. The increase in overturning circulation eventually increased the pole-ward ocean heat fluxes. In conclusion, huge volcanic eruptions perturb the ocean substantially and their hallmarks last for more than a decade, confirming the importance of volcanic eruptions in illustrating the decadal-climate variability recorded in the paleoclimate proxy data for the past million years.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.271-285
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• 2006

A two-dimensional photochemical transport model (2D PTM) is simulated to describe the transport and chemical reaction of ozone related to aerosols in the troposphere and stratosphere. The vertical profiles and total amounts of ozone, which are advected by both residual Eulerian circulation and the adiabatic circulation under certain circumstance, have been compared with the observation data such as ozonesondes, Brewer spectrometer, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrophotometer (TOMS). As a result, we find that the observed distribution of ozone Is adequately reproduced in the model at middle and high latitude in the Northern Hemisphere as well as at Phang ($36^{\circ}\;02'N,\;129^{\circ}\;23'E$) in South Korea. In particular, the 2D PTM is well simulated in the ozone decrease due to the Pinatubo volcanic eruption in 1991. However, ozone mixing ratio are more underestimated than those of UARS and ozonesondes, because are very sensitive to the latitude of transport across the tropopause associated with both Rummukainen errors and off-line model. Relative mean bias errors and relative root mean square errors of ozone calculations using the 2D PTM are shown within${\pm}10%$, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.415-422
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• 2001

Studies of atmospheric general circulation in the troposphere and stratosphere are very important to understand the influence of human activities on the global climate and its change. Recently, the existence of an annual cycle in the circulation has been reported by a number of studies. In this study, the residual mean meridional circulation is calculated by the TEM momentum and continuity equations for the period from December 1985 to November 1995 (10 years), and the long-term variations of the circulation and mass fluxes across the 100hPa surface are examined. The multiple regression statistical model is used to obtain quantitatively the long-term variations. This study is focused especially on mean meridional circulation in the troposphere and stratosphere associated with ENSO (El Ni${\tilde{n}}$o-Southern Oscillation) which is known as a cause of the unusual weather, global climate, and its change. The results show that the global scale troposphere-stratosphere mean meridional circulation is intensified during El Ni${\tilde{n}}$o event and QBO (quasi-biennal oscillation) easterly phase and weakened during La Ni${\tilde{n}}$o event and QBO westerly phase. The signal of Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption in June 1991 is obtained. Due to the volcanic eruption the global scale troposphere-stratosphere mean meridional circulation is abruptly intensified.

• Atmosphere
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.349-359
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• 2011

The climatology in stratospheric ozone over the Korean Peninsula, presented in previous studies (e.g., Cho et al., 2003; Kim et al., 2005), is updated by using daily and monthly data from satellite and ground-based data through December 2009. In addition, long-term satellite data [Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), 1979~2009] have been also analyzed in order to deduce the spatial distributions and temporal variations of the global total ozone. The global average of total ozone (1979~2009) is 298 DU which shows a minimum of about 244 DU in equatorial latitudes and increases poleward in both hemispheres to a maximum of about 391 DU in Okhotsk region. The recent period, from 2006 to 2009, shows reduction in total ozone by 6% relative to the values for the pre-1980s (1979~1982). The long-term trends were estimated by using a multiple linear regression model (e.g., WMO, 1999; Cho et al., 2003) including explanatory variables for the seasonal variation, Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and solar cycle over three different time intervals: a whole interval from 1979 to 2009, the former interval from 1979 to 1992, and the later interval from 1993 to 2009 with a turnaround point of deep minimum in 1993 is related to the effect of Mt. Pinatubo eruption. The global trend shows -0.93% $decade^{-1}$ for the whole interval, whereas the former and the later interval trends amount to -2.59% $decade^{-1}$ and +0.95% $decade^{-1}$, respectively. Therefore, the long-term total ozone variations indicate that there are positive trends showing a recovery sign of the ozone layer in both North/South hemispheres since around 1993. Annual mean total ozone (1985~2009) is distributed from 298 DU for Jeju ($33.52^{\circ}N$) to 352 DU for Unggi ($42.32^{\circ}N$) in almost zonally symmetric pattern over the Korean Peninsula, with the latitudinal gradient of 6 DU $degree^{-1}$. It is apparent that seasonal variability of total ozone increases from Jeju toward Unggi. The annual mean total ozone for Seoul shows 323 DU, with the maximum of 359 DU in March and the minimum of 291 DU in October. It is found that the day to day variability in total ozone exhibits annual mean of 5.7% in increase and -5.2% in decrease. The variability as large as 38.4% in increase and 30.3% in decrease has been observed, respectively. The long-term trend analysis (e.g., WMO, 1999) of monthly total ozone data (1985~2009) merged by satellite and ground-based measurements over the Korean Peninsula shows increase of 1.27% $decade^{-1}$ to 0.80% $decade^{-1}$ from Jeju to Unggi, respectively, showing systematic decrease of the trend magnitude with latitude. This study also presents a new analysis of ozone density and trends in the vertical distribution of ozone for Seoul with data up to the end of 2009. The mean vertical distributions of ozone show that the maximum value of the ozone density is 16.5 DU $km^{-1}$ in the middle stratospheric layer between 24 km and 28 km. About 90.0% and 71.5% of total ozone are found in the troposphere and in the stratosphere between 15 and 33 km, respectively. The trend analysis reconfirms the previous results of significant positive ozone trend, of up to 5% $decade^{-1}$, in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere (0~24 km), with negative trend, of up to -5% $decade^{-1}$, in the stratosphere (24~38 km). In addition, the Umkehr data show a positive trend of about 3% $decade^{-1}$ in the upper stratosphere (38~48 km).