• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.28-43
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• 2023

Background: High-fidelity meteorological data is a prerequisite for the realistic simulation of atmospheric dispersion of radioactive materials near nuclear power plants (NPPs). However, many meteorological models frequently overestimate near-surface wind speeds, failing to represent local meteorological conditions near NPPs. This study presents a new high-resolution (approximately 1 km) meteorological downscaling method for modeling short-range (< 100 km) atmospheric dispersion of accidental NPP plumes. Materials and Methods: Six considerations from literature reviews have been suggested for a new dynamic downscaling method. The dynamic downscaling method is developed based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version 3.6.1, applying high-resolution land-use and topography data. In addition, a new subgrid-scale topographic drag parameterization has been implemented for a realistic representation of the atmospheric surface-layer momentum transfer. Finally, a year-long simulation for the Kori and Wolsong NPPs, located in southeastern coastal areas, has been made for 2016 and evaluated against operational surface meteorological measurements and the NPPs' on-site weather stations. Results and Discussion: The new dynamic downscaling method can represent multiscale atmospheric motions from the synoptic to the boundary-layer scales and produce three-dimensional local meteorological fields near the NPPs with a 1.2 km grid resolution. Comparing the year-long simulation against the measurements showed a salient improvement in simulating near-surface wind fields by reducing the root mean square error of approximately 1 m/s. Furthermore, the improved wind field simulation led to a better agreement in the Eulerian estimate of the local atmospheric dispersion. The new subgrid-scale topographic drag parameterization was essential for improved performance, suggesting the importance of the subgrid-scale momentum interactions in the atmospheric surface layer. Conclusion: A new dynamic downscaling method has been developed to produce high-resolution local meteorological fields around the Kori and Wolsong NPPs, which can be used in short-range atmospheric dispersion modeling near the NPPs.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.342-353
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• 2014

Data for model analysis derived from the finite volume (fv) GCM (Goddard Earth Observing System Ver. 4, GEOS-4) and the Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) have been utilized in a mesoscale model. These data are tested to provide initial conditions and lateral boundary forcings to the Purdue Mesoscale Model (PMM) for a case study of the Midwestern flood that took place from 21-23 May 1998. The simulated results with fvGCM and LDAS soil moisture and temperature data are compared with that of ECMWF reanalysis. The initial conditions of the land surface provided by fvGCM/LDAS show significant differences in both soil moisture and ground temperature when compared to ECMWF control run, which results in a much different atmospheric state in the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). The simulation result shows that significant changes to the forecasted weather system occur due to the surface initial conditions, especially for the precipitation and temperature over the land. In comparing precipitation, moisture budgets, and surface energy, not only do the intensity and the location of precipitation over the Midwestern U.S. coincide better when running fvGCM/LDAS, but also the temperature forecast agrees better when compared to ECMWF reanalysis data. However, the precipitation over the Rocky Mountains is too large due to the cumulus parameterization scheme used in the PMM. The RMS errors and biases of fvGCM/LDAS are smaller than the control run and show statistical significance supporting the conclusion that the use of LDAS improves the precipitation and temperature forecast in the case of the Midwestern flood. The same method can be applied to Korea and simulations will be carried out as more LDAS data becomes available.

• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.381-390
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• 2019

This study investigates the impacts of urban land-use fraction and temperature advection on the urban heat island intensity over the Seoul metropolitan area using the UM (Unified Model) with the MORUSES (Met Office Reading Urban Surface Exchange Scheme) during the heat wave over the region from 2 to 8, August 2016. Two simulations are performed with two different land-use type, the urban (urban simulation) and the urban surfaces replaced with grass (rural simulation), in order to calculate the urban heat island intensity defined as the 1.5-m temperature difference between the urban and the rural simulations. The land-use type for the urban simulation is obtained from Korea Ministry of Environment (2007) land-use data after it is converted into the types used in the UM. It is found that the urban heat island intensity over high urban-fraction regions in the metropolitan area is as large as 1℃ in daytime and 3.2℃ in nighttime, i.e., the effects of urban heat island is much larger for night than day. It is also found that the magnitude of urban heat island intensity increases linearly with urban land-use fraction. Spatially, the estimated the urban heat island intensities are systematically larger in the downwind regions of the metropolitan area than in the upwind area due to the effects of temperature advection. Results of this study indicate that urban surface fraction in the city area and temperature advection play a key role in determining the spatial distribution and magnitude of urban heat island intensity.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1015-1026
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• 2005

The southeastern coastal area of the Korean peninsula has a complex terrain including an irregular coastline and moderately high mountains. This implies that mesoscale circulations such as mountain-valley breeze and land-sea breeze can play an important role in wind field and ocean forcing. In this study, to improve the accuracy of complex coastal rind field(surface wind and sea surface wind), we carried out the sensitivity experiments based on PBL schemes in PSU/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5), which is being used in the operational system at Korea Meteorological Administration. Four widely used PBL parameterization schemes in sensitivity experiments were chosen: Medium-Range Forecast (MRF), High-resolution Blackadar, Eta, and Gayno-Seaman scheme. Thereafter, case(2004. 8. 26 - 8. 27) of weak-gradient flows was simulated, and the time series and the vertical profiles of the simulated wind speed and wind direction were compared with those of hourly surface observations (AWS, BUOY) and QuikSCAT data. In the simulated results, the strength of rind speed of all schemes was overestimated in complex coastal regions, while that of about four different schemes was underestimated in islands and over the sea. Sea surface wind using the Eta scheme showed the highest wind speed over the sea and its distribution was similar to the observational data. Horizontal distribution of the simulated wind direction was very similar to that of real observational data in case of all schemes. Simulated and observed vertical distribution of wind field was also similar under boundary layer(about 1 km), however the simulated wind speed was underestimated in upper layer.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.823-833
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• 2022

This study aims to improve the runoff modeling accuracy of a basin using Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) model by considering nonhomogeneous characteristics of a basin. By entering classified values according to the various types of land cover and soil to the parameters in HSPF-roughness coefficient (NSUR), infiltration (INFILT), and evapotranspiration (LZETP)- the heterogeneity of the Yongdam Dam basin was reflected in the model. The results were analyzed and compared with the one where the parameters were set as a single value throughout the basin. The flow rate and water quality simulation results showed improved results when classified parameters were used by land cover and soil type than when single values were used. The parameterization changed not only the flow rate, but also the composition ratio of each hydrologic components such as surface runoff, baseflow, and evapotranspiration, which shows the impact of the value set to a parameter on the entire hydrological process. This implies the importance of considering the heterogeneous characteristics of the land cover and soil of the basin when setting the parameters in a model.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.384-398
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• 2015

In this paper, the high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting/Noah-MultiParameterization (WRF/Noah-MP) modeling system is configured for the Cheongmicheon Farmland site in Korea (CFK), and its performance in land and atmospheric simulation is evaluated using the observed data at CFK during the 2014 special observation period (21 August-10 September). In order to explore the usefulness of turning on Noah-MP dynamic vegetation in midterm simulations of surface and atmospheric variables, two numerical experiments are conducted without dynamic vegetation and with dynamic vegetation (referred to as CTL and DVG experiments, respectively). The main results are as following. 1) CTL showed a tendency of overestimating daytime net shortwave radiation, thereby surface heat fluxes and Bowen ratio. The CTL experiment showed reasonable magnitudes and timing of air temperature at 2 m and 10 m; especially the small error in simulating minimum air temperature showed high potential for predicting frost and leaf wetness duration. The CTL experiment overestimated 10-m wind and precipitation, but the beginning and ending time of precipitation were well captured. 2) When the dynamic vegetation was turned on, the WRF/Noah-MP system showed more realistic values of leaf area index (LAI), net shortwave radiation, surface heat fluxes, Bowen ratio, air temperature, wind and precipitation. The DVG experiment, where LAI is a prognostic variable, produced larger LAI than CTL, and the larger LAI showed better agreement with the observed. The simulated Bowen ratio got closer to the observed ratio, indicating reasonable surface energy partition. The DVG experiment showed patterns similar to CTL, with differences for maximum air temperature. Both experiments showed faster rising of 10-m air temperature during the morning growth hours, presumably due to the rapid growth of daytime mixed layers in the Yonsei University (YSU) boundary layer scheme. The DVG experiment decreased errors in simulating 10-m wind and precipitation. 3) As horizontal resolution increases, the models did not show practical improvement in simulation performance for surface fluxes, air temperature, wind and precipitation, and required three-dimensional observation for more agricultural land spots as well as consistency in model topography and land cover data.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.83-100
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• 2020

This study evaluated the accuracy of soil moisture and evapotranspiration by calculating the hydrological parameters in Korean peninsula using Land Information System(LIS) developed by US NASA. We used Noah-MP surface model to calculate hydrological parameters, and used MERRA2(Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2) for hydrological forcing data. And, International Geosphere-Biosphere Program(IGBP) and University of Maryland(UMD) land cover maps were applied to compare the output accuracy, and Automated Synoptic Observing System(ASOS) of KMA was used as ground observation data. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the output data, the correlation coefficient(CC), BIAS, and efficiency factor (NSE, Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency) were analyzed with soil moisture and evapotranspiration by ASOS ground observation data. As a result, the correlation coefficient of soil moisture using IGBP was 0.56 on average, and evapotranspiration was about 0.71. On the other hand, soil moisture using UMD was 0.68 on average and evapotranspiration was about 0.72, and the correlation coefficient by UMD was evaluated as high accuracy compared to the results by using IGBP. The correlation coefficient of soil moisture was an average of 0.68 and evapotranspiration was an average of 0.72 when MERRA2 was used as hydrological forcing data. On the other hand, the soil moisture applied with ASOS was an average of 0.66, and evapotranspiration was an average of 0.72. It is judged that the ASOS point data was reanalyzed as 0.65°× 0.5°grids, which is the same spatial resolution with MERRA2, resulting in differences in accuracy depending on the region.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.69-78
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• 2011

Rice is one of the world's staple foods. Paddy rice fields have unique biophysical characteristics that the rice is grown on flooded soils unlike other crops. Information on the spatial distribution of paddy fields and the timing of irrigation are of importance to determine hydrological balance and efficiency of water resource management. In this paper, we detected the timing of irrigation and spatial distribution of paddy fields using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard the NASA EOS Aqua satellite. The timing of irrigation was detected by the combined use of MODIS-based vegetation index and Land Surface Water Index (LSWI). The detected timing of irrigation showed good agreement with field observations from two flux sites in Korea and Japan. Based on the irrigation detection, a land cover map of paddy fields was generated with subsidiary information on seasonal patterns of MODIS enhanced vegetation index (EVI). When the MODISbased paddy field map was compared with a land cover map from the Ministry of Environment, Korea, it overestimated the regions with large paddies but underestimated those with small and fragmented paddies. Potential reasons for such spatial discrepancies may be attributed to coarse pixel resolution (500 m) of MODIS images, uncertainty in parameterization of threshold values for discarding forest and water pixels, and the application of LSWI threshold value developed for paddy fields in China. Nevertheless, this study showed that an improved utilization of seasonal patterns of MODIS vegetation and water-related indices could be applied in water resource management and enhanced estimation of evapotranspiration from paddy fields.