• 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.