• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.643-662
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• 2011

As the concentration of people in urban area become severe and abnormal meteorological disasters such as regional torrential rains, heavy snows, sweltering heat, and so on have been increasing, the interest on the urban meteorological information service, which considers the specific characteristics of metropolitan areas in weather forecasting, are also increasing. The urban meteorological information service is one of up-to-date technologies which observes urban weather in a more microscale perspective compared to the present weather forecasting system and provides useful meteorological information which is specialized for metropolises in real time. Therefore, urban meteorological information service is expected to contribute to the increase in quality of life for citizens and to the development of industry in urban areas. In this study, we estimate the economic benefit of the urban meteorological information service using contingent valuation method with survey data of the citizens who are expected to be the direct customers of this new information service. As a result, we conclude that the household is willing to pay 5,963 Korean won per year on average, during a period of five years, for receiving this meteorological information service, and this willingness-to-pay is varied by the socio-economic characteristics of head of the household.

• Atmosphere
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.57-70
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• 2003

The National Center for Intensive Observation of Severe Weathers (NCIO) as a part of METRI's principal project "Korea Enhanced Observing Period; KEOP" was established at Haenam Weather Observatory in order to effectively monitor and observe heavy rainfall in summer, which is essential for the identification of the structure and evolution mechanism of mesoscale severe weather system. The intensive field-based experiments in 2002 within southwestern Korea toward various meteorological phenomena ranging from heavy rainfall to snowfall were conducted in collaboration with KMA(Korea Meteorological Administration) and universities. In this study, preliminary analysis results using intensive observation data obtained from these experiments are presented together with the introduction of NCIO and its operational structure.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.92-96
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• 2004

Environmental factors such as soil moisture, land management, and weather conditions affecting Fusarium wilt of sweet potato were investigated in major sweet potato cultivation regions in Korea. Fusarium wilt occurred mainly in reclaimed terracing lands, which are flattened and located in hilly to mountainous areas at the base of the mountain, in early seasonal cultivation regions. Disease severity was lower in reclaimed fields with natural slope. The development of Fusarium wilt in the fields was highly correlated with precipitation during planting period (r=-0.96**). Fusarium wilt was more severe in fields with less than 20 cm of available soil depth than in fields with over 20 cm of available soil depth. Greenhouse studies were consistent with field studies that less soil moisture content caused severe Fusarium wilt of sweet potato. These results indicate that low rainfall and moisture of soil with low effective soil depth during planting period are important environmental factors influencing the development of Fusarium wilt.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.434-444
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• 2013

In order to evaluate drought risk at upland according to climate change scenario (RCP8.5), we have carried out the simulation using agricultural water balance estimation model, called AFKAE0.5, at 66 weather station sites in 2020, 2046, 2050, 2084, and 2090. Total Drought Risk Index between the first month (f) and last month (l) (TDRI(f/l)) and maximum continuous drought risk index (MCDRI(f/l)) were defined as the index for analyzing pattern and strength of drought simulated by the model. Based on distribution maps of MCDRI (1/12), drought strength was predicted to be most severe in 2084 for all regions. Some regions showed severe risk of drought meaning over 20 days of MCDRI (1/12) in the other years, while MCDRI (1/12) in other regions did not reach 5 days. Even though maximum value of TDRI (1/12) in 2090 was greater than in 2050, more severe drought risk in 2050 than in 2090 was predicted based on MCDRI (4/6). It implies that drought risk should be assessed for each crop with its own growing season.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.804-815
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• 2006

Meteorologists define a drought as a period of common dry weather. This may sound straightforward, but it is not so in reality. In this study, we attempted to identify meteorological drought conditions over South Korea. To evaluate the temporal and spatial variability of drought, we calculated two commonly used drought indices, the percent of normal precipitation (PNP) and the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) calculated from fifty-eight meteorological stations below the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA). The yearly precipitation has been growing gradually, and the amplitude between maximum and minimum also grow more explicitly from 1960's. According to the analysis of percentile anomaly of monthly precipitation, major drought duration was $1927{\sim}1929,\;1937{\sim}1939,\;1942{\sim}1944,\;1967{\sim}1968,\;1976{\sim}1977,\;1982{\sim}1983,\;1988,\;and\;1994{\sim}1995$. The severe drought occurred most frequently in Mokpo, Daegu, Jeonju, Busan, and Gangneung; it tended to occur more frequently in south sector than in mid sector of Korea and in south west sector than in south east sector. According to the analysis of seasonal distribution, extreme droughts occurred frequently in winter at Seoul, Gangneung, Jeonju, Daegu, and Busan. Severe droughts in summer were formed frequently at Seoul, Gangneung, and Mokpo, while that for spring at Jeonju, Daegu, and Busan. The results of PDSI distribution for the $1994{\sim}1995$ drought period were one of the most severe and widely spreaded droughts; it occurred most frequently in the south sector of South Korea. The comparison of time series between PDSI and Normal Percent showed that they exhibit a strong compatibility for the entire study period; it implies that both drought indices are useful method to indicate drought severity.

• Atmosphere
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.223-246
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• 2023

This paper summarized the research papers on weather extremes that occurred in the Republic of Korea, which were published in the domestic and foreign journals during 1963~2022. Weather extreme is defined as a weather phenomenon that causes serious casualty and property loss; here, it includes typhoon, heavy rain, drought, heat wave, cold surge, heavy snow, and strong gust. Based on the 2011~2020 statistics in Korea, above 80% of property loss due to all natural disasters were caused by typhoons and heavy rainfalls. However, the impact of the other weather extremes can be underestimated rather than we have actually experienced; the property loss caused by the other extremes is hard to be quantitatively counted. Particularly, as global warming becomes serious, the influence of drought and heat wave has been increasing. The damages caused by cold surges, heavy snow, and strong gust occurred over relatively local areas on short-term time scales compared to other weather hazards. In particularly, strong gust accompanied with drought may result in severe forest fires over mountainous regions. We hope that the present review paper may remind us of the importance of weather extremes that directly affect our lives.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.523-535
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• 2011

The precipitable water vapor (PW) was estimated using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) from several GNSS stations within the Korean Peninsula. Nearby radiosonde sites covering the GNSS stations were used for the comparison and validation of test results. GNSS data recorded under typical and severe weather conditions were used to generalize our approach. Based on the analysis, we have confirmed that the derived PW values from the GNSS observables were well agreed on the estimates from the radiosonde observables within 10 mm level. Assuming that the GNSS observables could be a good weather monitoring tool, we further tested the performance of the current WAAS tropospheric delay model, UNB3, in the Korean Peninsula. Especially, the wet zenith delays estimated from the GNSS observables and from UNB3 delay model were compared. Test results showed that the modelled approach for the troposphere (i.e., UNB3) did not perform well especially under the wet weather conditions in the Korean Peninsula. It was suggested that a new model or a near real-time model (e.g., based on regional model from GNSS or numerical weather model) would be highly desirable for the Korean WA-DGNSS to minimize the effects of the tropospheric delay and hence to achieve high precision vertical navigation solutions.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1-12
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• 2018

Heat waves during summer cause a qualitative degradation in urban environments and increases the number of patients who suffer from heat-related illnesses, and the urbanization deepens these problems. It is a prerequisite to analyze the current status accurately in order to assess the urban heat island phenomenon. Thus, this study aims to collect weather measurements information at the occurrence of a severe heat wave in Seoul, thereby allowing analysis of information, which will also consider the land use type. The weather measurement information used in the analysis had an advantage, as the gap between measured locations is considerably shorter than before due to the miniaturization of the automatic weather systems (AWS), which are connected through the communication network. Based on the above collected information, a temporal change in the data due to land use type was analyzed. As a result, the difference in temperature change in response to the land use type could be compared, as could the occurrence pattern of the tropical night phenomenon, and the effect on temperature reduction in green belt areas could be identified through the comparison of the intensity of heat island by time and land use. The methods and results derived in this study through the comparative analysis in terms of time and land use, weather information measurements, and mapping can be utilized as foundational data that can be referred to in urban planning to reduce the heat island phenomenon in the future.

• 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 Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.973-978
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• 2001

In clod weather regions, a strong seasonal wind brings sea salts to the land. In addition to it, recently, the spreading amount of de-icing salts has increased numerously for the purpose of removing snow and ice. Thus the salts environment around concrete structures becomes so severe that various damages of concrete due to applied salts will be brought up. It is briskly carried out study on effects of do-icing salts on concrete in America, Japan, European countries. However, there are not test method for the deterioration of concrete subjected to both freezing-thawing and chloride attack in Korea. In this study, we conduct on test for the compound deterioration subjected to both freezing-thawing and chloride attack, in order to investigate effects of de-icing salts on the deterioration of concrete.