• Atmosphere
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.24-43
• /
• 2004

This paper describes the detailed characteristics of heavy rainfall events occurred in Chungcheong province on 15 and 16 April and from 6 to 8 August 2002 based on the analysis of raingauge rainfall rate and radar reflectivity from the METRI's X-band Weather Radar located in Cheongju. A synoptic analysis of the case is carried out, first, and then the analysis is devoted to seeing how the radar observes the case and how much information we obtain. The highly resolved radar reflectivity of horizontal and vertical resolutions of 1 km and 500 m, respectively shows a three-dimensional structure of the precipitating system, in a similar sequence with the ground rainfall rate. The radar echo classification algorithm for convective/stratiform cloud is applied. In the convectively-classified area, the radar reflectivity pattern shows a fair agreement with that of the surface rainfall rate. This kind of classification using radar reflectivity is considered to be useful for the precipitation forecasting. Another noteworthy aspect of the case includes the effect of topography on the precipitating system, following the analysis of the surface rainfall rate, topography, and precipitating system. The results from this case study offer a unique opportunity of the usefulness of weather radar for better understanding of structural and variable characteristics of flash flood-producing heavy rainfall events, in particular for their improved forecasting.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.193-205
• /
• 2014

The direct-runoff of South Korea's representative dams (Soyanggang, Chungju, Andong, Daecheong, and Seomjingang) and precipitation were analyzed mainly with the evenly distributed spring rainfall events across the country for the last five years. For precipitation, an increasing was presented during the period 2008-2011, but did not continue to increasing 2012. The average precipitation of the five dams displayed a similar trend. Except for Chungju and Andong Dams, the trend of runoff was similar to the one shown in the precipitation. Despite the precipitation of 2009 increased, the runoff volume decreased for Andong and Chungju Dams. In addition, Chungju Dam remarkably showed a bigger runoff volume compared to other dams. As for the Sumjingang Dam, the runoff volume was the smallest, and the difference is as great as over 15-fold when compared to other runoff values. After the result of analyzing the relation between a single runoff event and synoptic weather patterns, pattern 4 contributed to the greatest impact on this event and weather patterns. The total runoff volume of the five dams for spring rain event for the last five years that exhibited this characteristic was estimated at 5.68 billion tons($10^6m^3$). Lastly, the value of this estimation was assessed as approximately 273.1 billion KRW.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.256-271
• /
• 2016

The source and transport of the severe Asian dust event (ADE) recently observed in the Korean peninsula were analyzed based on observations (surface weather charts and satellite data) and modeling study (WRF-CMAQ modeling systems). The ADE occurred on 20-21 March 2010 in South Korea with very high $PM_{10}$ concentrations (up to approximately $3,000{\mu}g/m^3$ in Daegu and Jeju). The dominant meteorological conditions affecting the dust outbreak and transport processes were found to be associated with the two synoptic features: (1) strong airflows (i.e., westerlies) induced by a strong pressure gradient resulting from a dense isobar pattern (west-high and east-low) between Tuva Republic and Mongolia and (2) a rapid movement of the strong westerlies merged with airflows generated near Gobi Desert and Inner Mongolia. The merged strong westerlies with a low pressure played a pivotal role in the huge amount of AD and its transport height of 5-8 km. The time and location of dust emissions calculated in the source regions were similar to those observed in the weather charts and satellite image. The ADE simulation mostly showed agreement in the patterns and the concentration levels of modeled dust (including $PM_{10}$) with those of the observations.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.47-57
• /
• 2010

To understand day-to-day fluctuations in soil moisture content in Seoul, I simulated daily soil moisture content from 1908 to 2009 using long-term climatic precipitation and temperature data collected at the Surface Synoptic Meteorological Station in Seoul for the last 98 years with a hydrological simulation model, BROOK. The output data set from the BROOK model allowed me to examine day-to-day fluctuations and the severity and duration of droughts in the Seoul area. Although the soil moisture content is highly dependent on the occurrence of precipitation, the pattern of changes in daily soil moisture content was clearly quite different from that of precipitation. Generally, there were several phases in the dynamics of daily soil moisture content. The period from mid-May to late June can be categorized as the initial period of decreasing soil moisture content. With the initiation of the monsoon season in late June, soil moisture content sharply increases until mid-July. From the termination of the rainy season in mid-July, daily soil moisture content decreases again. Highly stochastic events of typhoons from late June to October bring large amount of rain to the Korean peninsula, culminating in late August, and increase the soil moisture content again from late August to early September. From early September until early October, another sharp decrease in soil moisture content was observed. The period from early October to mid-May of the next year can be categorized as a recharging period when soil moisture content shows an increasing trend. It is interesting to note that no statistically significant increase in mean annual soil moisture content in Seoul, Korea was observed over the last 98 years. By simulating daily soil moisture content, I was also able to reconstruct drought phenomena to understand the severity and duration of droughts in Seoul area. During the period from 1908 to 2009, droughts in the years 1913, 1979, 1939, and 2006 were categorized as 'severe' and those in 1988 and 1982 were categorized as 'extreme'. This information provides ecologists with further potential to interpret natural phenomenon, including tree growth and the decline of tree species in Korea.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.91-99
• /
• 2005

This study compares the summer monsoon circulations during a heavy rainfall period over the Korean peninsular from 11 to 18 July 2004, simulated by three widely used regional models; WRF, MM5, and RSM. An identical model setup is carried out for all the experiments, except for the physical option differences in the RSM. The three models with a nominal resolution of about 50 km over Korea are nested by NCEP-DOE reanalysis data. Another RSM experiment with the same cumulus parameterization scheme as in the WRF and MM5 is designed to investigate the importance of the representation of subgrid-scale parameterized convection in reproducing monsoonal circulations in East Asia. All thee models are found to be capable of reproducing the general distribution of monsoonal precipitation, extending northeastward from south China across the Korean peninsula, to northern Japan. The results from the WRF and MM5 are similar in terms of accumulated precipitation, but a slightly better performance in the WRF than in the MM5. The RSM improves the bias for precipitation as compared to those from the WRF and MM5, but the pattern correlation is degraded due to overestimation of precipitation in northern China. In the comparison of simulated synoptic scale features, the RSM is found to reproduce the large-scale features well compared to the results from the MM5 and WRF. On the other hand, the simulated precipitation from the RSM with the convection scheme used in the MM5 and WRF is closer to that from the WRF and MM5 simulations, indicating the significant dependency of simulated precipitation in East Asia on the cumulus parameterization scheme.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.142-158
• /
• 2012

This paper investigates the physical and chemical characteristics of long-range transport (LRT) process of air pollutants by employing the MM5-CMAQ and its comparison with local emission dominant (LED) case over northeast Asia. We first classified high air pollution days into LRT and LED cases based on the synoptic meteorological variables of vorticity and geostrophic wind speed/direction at a geopotential level of over 850hPa. LRT cases are further categorized into three types of transport patterns (LRT-I-III) according to the air mass pathways from source regions. LRT-I-III are originated from northern, central, and southern China, respectively, identified by back trajectory analysis. Three LRT-I-III groups have different and unique locations of high pressure and transport pathways. The chemical characteristics showed that the simulated spatial distributions varied in terms of locations of maximum concentrations and the temporal variation of surface concentrations. The primary air pollutants such as $NO_x$, $PM_{10}$ and $SO_2$ of all of three LRT cases are well transported into Korea peninsula with different concentration levels. Of LRT cases, LRT-II has the greatest effect on air quality of Korea peninsula, followed by LRT-I and LRT-III. In comparison with LRT, the LED case shows relatively higher air pollution concentrations in general, but showed a variety of different air quality levels following the emission strength pattern. These widely varying patterns are impling the case dependent multi-directional approach for the development of indicators of long-range transport process over northeast Asia.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.25-43
• /
• 2018

The effects of hydro-meteorological and surface variables on the frequency of Asian dust events (FAE) were investigated using ground station and satellite-based data. Present weather codes 7, 8, and 9 derived from surface synoptic observations (SYNOP)were used for counting FAE. Surface wind speed (SWS), air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), and precipitation were analyzed as hydro-meteorological variables for FAE. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), land surface temperature (LST), and snow cover fraction (SCF) were used to consider the effects of surface variables on FAE. The relationships between FAE and hydro-meteorological variables were analyzed using Z-score and empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. Although all variables expressed the change of FAE, the degrees of expression were different. SWS, LST, and Ta (indices applicable when Z-score was < 0) explained about 63.01, 58.00, and 56.17% of the FAE,respectively. For NDVI, precipitation, and RH, Asian dust events occurred with a frequency of about 55.38, 67.37, and 62.87% when the Z-scores were > 0. EOF analysis for the FAE showed the seasonal cycle, change pattern, and surface influences related to dryness condition for the FAE. The intensity of SWS was the main cause for change of FAE, but surface variables such as LST, SCF, and NDVI also were expressed because wet surface conditions suppress FAE. These results demonstrate that not only SWS and precipitation, but also surface variables, are important and useful precursors for monitoring Asian dust events.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.159-183
• /
• 2016

On 31 July 2014, there was a localized torrential rainfall ($58.5mm\;hr^{-1}$) caused by a strong convective cell with thunder showers over Daegwallyeong. In the surface synoptic chart, a typhoon was positioned in the East China Sea and the subtropical high was expanded to the Korean peninsula. A WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) numerical simulation with a resolution of 1 km was performed for a detailed analysis. The simulation result showed a similar pattern in a reflectivity distribution particularly over the Gangwon-do region, compared with the radar reflectivity. According to the results of the WRF simulation, the process and mechanism of the localized heavy rainfall over Daegwallyeong are as follows: (1) a convective instability over the middle part of the Korean peninsula was enhanced due to the low level advection of warm and humid air from the North Pacific high. (2) There was easterly flow from the coast to the mountainous regions around Daegwallyeong, which was generated by the differential heating of the insolation among Daegwallyeong and the Yeongdong coastal plain, and nearby coastal waters. (3) In addition, westerly flow from the western part of Daegwallyeong caused a strong convergence in this region, generating a strong upward motion combined by an orographic effect. (4) This brought about a new convective cell over Daegwallyeong. And this cell was more developed by the outflow from another thunderstorm cell to the south, and finally these two cells were merged to develop as a strong convective cell with thunder showers, leading to the record breaking maximum rainfall per hour ($58.5mm\;hr^{-1}$) in July.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.793-806
• /
• 2015

The purpose of this study is to find out the air flow patterns affecting the PM10 concentration in Busan and the potential sources within each trajectory pattern. The synoptic air flow trajectories are classified into four clusters by HYSPLIT model and the potential sources of PM10 are estimated by PSCF model for each cluster from 2008 to 2012. The potential source locations of PM10 are compared with the distribution of PM10 anthropogenic emissions in east Asia developed in 2006 for the NASA INTEX-B mission. The annual mean concentrations of PM10 in Busan decreased from $51ug/m^3$ in 2008 to $43ug/m^3$ in 2012. The monthly mean concentrations of PM10 were high during a spring season, March to May and low during a summer season, August and September. The cluster2 composed of the air trajectories from the eastern China to Busan through the west sea showed the highest frequency, 44 %. The cluster1 composed of the air trajectories from the inner Mongolia region to Busan through the northeast area of China showed the second high frequency, 26 %. The cluster3 and 4 were composed of the trajectories originated in the southeast sea and the east sea of Busan respectively and showed low frequencies. The concentrations of in each cluster were $47ug/m^3$ in cluster1, $56ug/m^3$ in cluster2, $42ug/m^3$ in cluster3 and $37ug/m^3$ in cluster4. From these results, it was proved that the cluster1 and 2 composed of the trajectories originated in the east and northeast area of China were the causes of high PM10 concentrations in Busan. The results of PSCF and CWT model showed that the potential sources of the high PM10 concentrations were the areas of the around Mongolia and the eastern China having high emissions of PM10 from Beijing, Hebei to Shanghai through Shandong, Jiangsu.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.177-184
• /
• 1998

The spatial rainfall distributions accompanied by the heavy rainfalls in the Korean peninsula were class-sified to 6 typical patterns and synoptic characteristics of each pattern were muined. 274 cases of heavy rainfall events occurred for 10 years from 1981 through 1990 were used for thls study In the 4 types of them, heavy rainfalls are not by the strongly developed but by the rapidly deepening low pressure systems. which have a wall defiried low and high level jets before arrival to the Korean peninsula. In another 2 types, heavy rainfall are due to speciauy developed surface low pressure system. Most of the heavy rain areas are associated with the location of the low level Jets and their direction and with the position of surface warm front. In the 4 types, the heavy rain areas extend In zonal direction. And the latitudinal locations of these areas are associated with the polar low center or strong main trough over 500 hPa level. The more northwestern part of the Asla the low locates the higher latitude in the Korean Peninsula the rainfall concentration occurs at. It is also known that the seasonal drifting of the lows have some relations to the procession of summer monsoon but its characteristics change year by year.