• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.1125-1135
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• 2022

Damages by heavy snow does not occur very often, but when it does, it causes damage to a wide area. To mitigate snow damage, it is necessary to know, in advance, the depth of snow that causes damage in each region. However, snow depths are measured at observatory locations, and it is difficult to understand the spatial distribution of snow depth that causes damage in a region. To understand the spatial distribution of snow depth, the point measurements are interpolated. However, estimating spatial distribution of snow depth is not easy when the number of measured snow depth is small and topographical characteristics such as altitude are not similar. To overcome this limit, satellite images such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can be analyzed using Differential Interferometric SAR (DInSAR) method. DInSAR uses two different SAR images measured at two different times, and is generally used to track minor changes in topography. In this study, the spatial distribution of snow depth was estimated by DInSAR analysis using dual polarimetric IW mode C-band SAR data of Sentinel-1B satellite operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). In addition, snow depth was estimated using geostationary satellite Chollian-2 (GK-2A) to compare with the snow depth from DInSAR method. As a result, the accuracy of snow cover estimation in terms with grids was about 0.92% for DInSAR and about 0.71% for GK-2A, indicating high applicability of DInSAR method. Although there were cases of overestimation of the snow depth, sufficient information was provided for estimating the spatial distribution of the snow depth. And this will be helpful in understanding regional damage-causing snow depth.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.33-40
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• 2007

This study is to grasp and analyse the temporal and spatial distribution of record-breaking heavy snowfall rarely occurred in the middle and southwest region of South Korea during March of 2004 and December of 2005 respectively. Snow cover area was extracted using the channels 1, 3 and 4 of NOAA AVHRR images and the snow depth distribution was spatially interpolated using snowfall data of meteorological stations. Using administration boundary and Digital Elevation Model from 1:5,000 NGIS digital map, the snowfall impact was assessed spatially and compared with the reports at that time. The damaged area by heavy snowfall over 15 cm snow depth could be identified successfully within the spatial extent of snowfall area extracted by NOAA AVHRR image.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.315-324
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• 2013

Spatial information of snow cover and depth distribution is a key component for snowmelt runoff modeling. Wide snow cover areas can be extracted from NOAA AVHRR or Terra MODIS satellite images. In this study eight sets of annual snow cover data (1997-2006) in two mountainous watersheds (A: Chungju-Dam and B: Soyanggang-Dam) were extracted using NOAA AVHRR images. The distribution of snow depth within the Snow Cover Area (SCA) was generated using snowfall data from ground meteorological observation stations. Snow depletion characteristics for the two watersheds were analyzed snow distribution time series data. The decreased pattern of SCA can be expressed as a logarithmic function; the determination coefficients were 0.62 and 0.68 for the A and B watersheds, respectively. The SCA decreased over 70% within 10 days from the time of maximum SCA.

• Water for future
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.62-68
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• 2023

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.92-101
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• 2020

To prevent and mitigate damage to farms due to heavy snowfall, snow weight information should be provided in addition to snow depth. This study reviews four formulae regarding snow density and weight used in extant studies and applies them in Suwon area to estimate snow weight in Korea. We investigated the observed snow depth of 94 meteorological stations and automatic weather stations (AWS) data over the past 30 years (1988-2017). Based on the spatial distribution of snow depth by area in Korea, much of the fresh snow cover, due to heavy snowfall, occurred in Jeollabuk-do and Gangwon-do. Record snowfalls occurred in Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gangwon-do. However, the most recent heavy snowfall in winter occurred in Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Jeollanam-do. This implies that even if the snow depth is high, there is no significant damage unless the snow weight is high. The estimation of snow weight in Suwon area yielded different results based on the calculation method of snow density. In general, high snow depth is associated with heavy snow weight. However, maximum snow weight and maximum snow depth do not necessarily occur on the same day. The result of this study can be utilized to estimate the snow weight at other locations in Korea and to carry out snow weight prediction based on a numerical model. Snow weight information is expected to aid in establishing standards for greenhouse design and to reduce the economic losses incurred by farms.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.9
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• pp.543-551
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• 2023

Snow is an essential climate factor that affects the climate system and surface energy balance, and it also has a crucial role in water balance by providing solid water stored during the winter for spring runoff and groundwater recharge. In this study, statistical analysis of Local Data Assimilation and Prediction System (LDAPS), Modern.-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), and ERA5-Land snow depth data were used to evaluate the applicability in South Korea. The statistical analysis between the Automated Synoptic Observing System (ASOS) ground observation data provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the reanalysis data showed that LDAPS and ERA5-Land were highly correlated with a correlation coefficient of more than 0.69, but LDAPS showed a large error with an RMSE of 0.79 m. In the case of MERRA-2, the correlation coefficient was lower at 0.17 because the constant value was estimated continuously for some periods, which did not adequately simulate the increase and decrease trend between data. The statistical analysis of LDAPS and ASOS showed high and low performance in the nearby Gangwon Province, where the average snowfall is relatively high, and in the southern region, where the average snowfall is low, respectively. Finally, the error variance between the four independent snow depth data used in this study was calculated through triple collocation (TC), and a merged snow depth data was produced through weighting factors. The reanalyzed data showed the highest error variance in the order of LDAPS, MERRA-2, and ERA5-Land, and LDAPS was given a lower weighting factor due to its higher error variance. In addition, the spatial distribution of ERA5-Land snow depth data showed less variability, so the TC-merged snow depth data showed a similar spatial distribution to MERRA-2, which has a low spatial resolution. Considering the correlation, error, and uncertainty of the data, the ERA5-Land data is suitable for snow-related analysis in South Korea. In addition, it is expected that LDAPS data, which is highly correlated with other data but tends to be overestimated, can be actively utilized for high-resolution representation of regional and climatic diversity if appropriate corrections are performed.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.110-113
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• 2006

This study is to grasp and analyse the temporal and spatial distribution of record-breaking heavy snowfall rarely occurred in the middle and southwest region of South Korea during March of 2004 and December of 2005 respectively. Snow cover area was extracted using the channels 1, 3 and 4 of NOAA AVHRR images and the snow depth distribution was spatially interpolated using snowfall data of meteorological stations. Using administration boundary and Digital Elevation Model from 1:5,000 NGIS digital map, the snowfall impact was assessed spatially and compared with the reports at that time.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.25-36
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• 2020

An increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters have been observed due to climate change. To better prepare for these, the MOIS (ministry of the interior and safety) announced a comprehensive plan for minimizing damages associated with natural disasters, including drought and heavy snowfall. The spatial-temporal pattern of snowfall is greatly influenced by temperature and geographical features. Heavy snowfalls are often observed in Gangwon-do, surrounded by mountains, whereas less snowfall is dominant in the southern part of the country due to relatively high temperatures. Thus, snow depth data often contains zeros that can lead to difficulties in the selection of probability distribution and estimation of the parameters. A generalized mixture distribution approach to a maximum snow depth series over the southern part of Korea (i.e., Changwon, Tongyeoung, Jinju weather stations) are located is proposed to better estimate a threshold (𝛿) classifying discrete and continuous distribution parts. The model parameters, including the threshold in the mixture model, are effectively estimated within a Bayesian modeling framework, and the uncertainty associated with the parameters is also provided. Comparing to the Daegwallyeong weather station, It was found that the proposed model is more effective for the regions in which less snow depth is observed.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 1999

This study examined the spatial distribution of precipitation in Donghae-Shi. The daily, monthly precipitaion on the 2 stations, 3 AWS(Automatic Weather Station) were analyzed by altitudinal distribution, the air pressure type and days of daily precipitation. The results of the study are as follows. 1 Hour greatest precipitation is 62.4mm(1994. 10. 12), Daily greatest precipitation, 200mm(1994. 10. 12), Monthly greatest precipitation, 355.5mm(1994. 10), Maximum depth of snow fall, 35.5cm(1994. 1. 29) in Donghae-Shi, 1993∼1997. Altitudinal distribution of precipitation in Summer tends to have more precipitation at higher altitude, in Winter, high mountains and coast have more precipitation than other sites do. The heavy rainfall in Donghae-Shi is mainly formed by a Typhoon, next is Jangma front. The number of consecutive days of daily precipitation $\geq$20mm is 81days, 44days of those appeared in Summer season. The synoptic environment causes the difference in observed the heavy snowfall amount between high mountains and coast.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2022.05a
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• pp.443-443
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• 2022

적설은 자주는 아니지만 가끔 비교적 넓은 범위에 피해를 발생시킨다. 적설에 의한 피해를 예방하기 위해서는 피해를 유발하는 적설심을 미리 파악해 둘 필요가 있다. 하지만 관측하고 있는 적설심은 특정 관측지점으로 한정되어 피해를 유발하는 한계적설심을 파악하는데 어려움이 있다. 이를 극복하기 위한 일반적인 방법은 관측지점의 적설을 보간하여 공간적으로 확대하는 것이다. 하지만 이것은 매우 적은 자료를 가지고 넓은 영역을 통계적으로 추정해야하는 한계로 인해 피해 유발 한계적설심의 구명에 더 혼란을 주기도 한다. 이를 보완하기 위해서는 넓은 영역을 관측하는 위성영상을 활용할 수 있으며, 그 중에서도 합성개구레이더(Synthetic Aperture Radar; SAR)를 이용한 InSAR(Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) 기법은 이를 위해 적절한 방법일 수 있다. 영상의 간섭계는 두 개의 다른 시기에 측정된 합성개구레이더 영상의 위상차를 이용한 것으로 일반적으로 다른 조건들이 일치할 때 지형의 변화를 추적할 때 사용되곤 한다. 그런데 만약 두 시기 사이에 특별한 지형적인 변화를 일으키는 요인이 없고 단지 적설만이 존재한다면 두 영상의 위상차는 적설의 효과로 볼 수 있을 것이다. 적설이 전파의 전달경로를 다르게 만들어 위상차를 발생시키는 것으로 가정할 수 있다. 이때 발생하는 위상차는 적설심과 적설의 굴절률에 의해 다를 수 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 적설 전후에 수집된 인공위성 합성개구레이더 자료의 위상차를 분석한 간섭영상을 이용해 적설심의 공간분포를 추정하여 비교해 보고자 한다. 이를 위해 적설에 대한 투과가 가능한 C밴드 레이더를 사용하는 Sentinel-1의 영상을 사용하였다. 적설심의 공간분포는 실제 피해발생지역의 적설심을 보다 정확하게 추정하는데 기여할 수 있으며, 이것은 실제 피해유발적설심을 파악하는데 도움이 될 것이다.