• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.24 no.E2
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• pp.74-82
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• 2008

We have examined seasonal and annual means of clear-sky solar noon and daily erythemal ultraviolet-B irradiances measured in Anmyeon. The intensity of the EUV-B irradiance is mainly dependent on solar zenith angle (SZA) and total ozone amounts on clear day conditions. The daily maximum occurs near solar noon time and the highest monthly accumulated EUV-B is seen in July in Anmyeon. The maximum daily variation occurs in June and July due to precipitation and clouds. The 7-year trend of EUV-B irradiance shows that it is slightly increasing. Additionally, we could confirm that aerosol effects such as Asian Dust decreases the EUV-B irradiance reaching the ground surface by 35% to 60%. For more than 45% of the summer days, EUV-B irradiacne was high enough that the UV index registered higher than category Extremely High. This information will be very important for evaluation of the UV index for prevention of both skin cancer and ecosystem damages as well as to understand UV climatology over the Korean Peninsula.

• Atmosphere
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.323-337
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• 2015

This study explores the 6-month lead prediction skill of several climate indices that influence on East Asian climate in the GloSea5 hindcast experiment. Such indices include Nino3.4, Indian Ocean Diploe (IOD), Arctic Oscillation (AO), various summer and winter Asian monsoon indices. The model's prediction skill of these indices is evaluated by computing the anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC) and mean squared skill score (MSSS) for ensemble mean values over the period of 1996~2009. In general, climate indices that have low seasonal variability are predicted well. For example, in terms of ACC, Nino3.4 index is predicted well at least 6 months in advance. The IOD index is also well predicted in late summer and autumn. This contrasts with the prediction skill of AO index which shows essentially no skill beyond a few months except in February and August. Both summer and winter Asian monsoon indices are also poorly predicted. An exception is the Western North Pacific Monsoon (WNPM) index that exhibits a prediction skill up to 4- to 6-month lead time. However, when MSSS is considered, most climate indices, except Nino3.4 index, show a negligible prediction skill, indicating that conditional bias is significant in the model. These results are only weakly sensitive to the number of ensemble members.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1133-1145
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• 2019

Successful launch requires state-of-the-art launch vehicle technology and constant test operations, However, the meteorological threat to the launch vehicle flight trajectory is also an important factor for launch success. Atmospheric stability above the Naro Space Center at the this time is very important, especially because the initial flight operation can determine the success of the launch. Moreover, during the flight of launch vehicle with rapid pressure and thrust into the atmosphere, convection activity in the atmosphere may create environmental conditions that cause severe weather threats such as thunderstorms. Hence, studies of atmospheric instability characteristics over the Naro Space Center are a necessary part of successful launch missions. Therefore, the main aims of this study were to (1) verify the atmospheric stability index and convection activity characteristics over the Naro Space Center using radiosonde data observed from 2007 to 2018 by the Naro Space Center, (2) analyze changes in the atmospheric stability index according to monthly and seasonal changes, and (3) assess how the calculated atmospheric stability index is related to actual thunderstorm occurrence using statistical analysis. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the atmospheric characteristics above the Naro Space Center through the distribution chart of the atmospheric stability index during summer, when convection activity is highest. Finally, we assessed the relationship between lightning occurrence and unstable atmospheric conditions, through predictability analysis performed using the lightning observation data of the Korea Meteorological Administration.

• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.439-450
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• 2019

Present weather plays an important role not only for atmospheric sciences but also for public welfare and road safety. While the widely used state-of-the-art visibility and present weather sensor yields present weather, a single type of measurement is far from perfect to replace long history of human-eye based observation. Truly automatic present weather observation enables us to increase spatial resolution by an order of magnitude with existing facilities in Korea. 8 years of human-eyed present weather records in 19 sites over Korea are compared with visibility sensors and auxiliary measurements, such as humidity of AWS. As clear condition agrees with high probability, next best categories follow fog, rain, snow, mist, haze and drizzle in comparison with human-eyed observation. Fog, mist and haze are often confused due to nature of machine sensing visibility. Such ambiguous weather conditions are improved with empirically induced criteria in combination with visibility and humidity. Differences between instrument manufacturers are also found indicating nonstandard present weather decision. Analysis shows manufacturer dependent present weather differences are induced by manufacturer's own algorithms, not by visibility measurement. Accuracies of present weather for haze, mist, and fog are all improved by 61.5%, 44.9%, and 26.9% respectively. The result shows that automatic present weather sensing is feasible for operational purpose with minimal human interactions if appropriate algorithm is applied. Further study is ongoing for impact of different sensing types between manufacturers for both visibility and present weather data.

• Atmosphere
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.195-207
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• 2020

This study aims to introduce the structure of the impact-based heat health warning system on 165 counties in South Korea developed by the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences. This system was developed using the daily maximum perceived temperature (PTmax), which is a human physiology-based thermal comfort index, and the Local ENSemble prediction system for the probability forecasts. Also, A risk matrix proposed by the World Meteorological Organization was employed for the impact-based forecasts of this system. The threshold value of the risk matrix was separately set depending on regions. In this system, the risk level was issued as four levels (GREEN, YELLOW, ORANGE, RED) for first, second, and third forecast lead-day (LD1, LD2, and LD3). The daily risk level issued by the system was evaluated using emergency heat-related patients obtained at six cities, including Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Gwangju, Daegu, and Busan, for LD1 to LD3. The high-risks level occurred more consistently in the shorter lead time (LD3 → LD1) and the performance (r_s) was increased from 0.42 (LD3) to 0.45 (LD1) in all cities. Especially, it showed good performance (r_s = 0.51) in July and August, when heat stress is highest in South Korea. From an impact-based forecasting perspective, PTmax is one of the most suitable temperature indicators for issuing the health risk warnings by heat in South Korea.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.61-72
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• 2015

In this study, we have investigated monthly changes in temperature extremes in South Korea for the past (1921~2010) and the future (2011~2100). We used seven stations' (Gangneung, Seoul, Incheon, Daegu, Jeonju, Busan, Mokpo) data from KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) for the past. For the future we used the closest grid point values to observations from the RCP8.5 scenario of 1 km resolution. The Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI)'s climate extreme indices were employed to quantify the characteristics of temperature extremes change. Temperature extreme indices in summer have increased while those in winter have decreased in the past. The extreme indices are expected to change more rapidly in the future than in the past. The number of frost days (FD) is projected to decrease in the future, and the occurrence period will be shortened by two months at the end of the $21^{st}$ century (2071~2100) compared to the present (1981~2010). The number of hot days (HD) is projected to increase in the future, and the occurrence period is projected to lengthen by two months at the end of the $21^{st}$ century compared to the present. The annual highest temperature and its fluctuation is expected to increase. Accordingly, the heat damage is also expected to increase. The result of this study can be used as an information on damage prevention measures due to temperature extreme events.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.432-447
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• 2016

The increased frequency of drought and flood due to climate change was a global problem. In particular, drought was recognized as a serious environmental, ecological, social, and economic disaster. Therefore, it is necessary to study the measures to prevent it. In this study, we will estimate the meteorological drought index in the Han River Basin and analyze the impact of climate change on drought. The change of the meteorological drought occurrence due to climate change in the Han River separated by the common drought and severe drought was analyzed using the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) scenarios provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The years 1973 - 2010 were selected for analysis in the current period. Using the scenario, we separated the future period (Target I: 2011 - 2039, Target II: 2040 - 2069, Target III : 2070 - 2099). The number of occurrences of less than -1.0 and -1.5 standard precipitation index were analyzed by SPI 3, 6, 12. Looking at the results, trends in rainfall in the Han River was expected to increase from the current figures, the occurrence of drought is predicted to decline in the future. However, the number of drought occurrence was analyzed to increase toward long-term drought. The number of severe drought occurrences was usually larger than the common drought estimated. Additional studies may be considered in addition to the agricultural drought, hydrological drought, socio-economic drought. This will be done by using efficient water management. The results can be used as a basis for future drought analysis of the Han River.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.301-308
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• 2018

This study aimed to obtain basic climate information for effective moisture control in wood in Korea. Two independent climate indexes, namely drying index (DI) and wetting index (WI), were determined using hourly weather data for 82 locations recorded from 2009 to 2017. These data were collected from the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Hourly data had not been measured prior to 2009. DI and WI revealed that all regions were cold and wet except Baengnyeongdo, which was classified as a cold and dry region. DI and WI were normalized assuming that wetting and drying were equally important phenomena. Then, the normalized indexes were combined into moisture index (MI) to rank the moisture loading of the regions. The MIs showed that Seogwipo had the greatest moisture loading in Korea, followed by Seongsan, Namhae, and Geoje. The MIs suggested that Korea exhibited severe moisture loading. Further studies are required to investigate the relation between MI and moisture content on wood surfaces from a wood maintenance point of view.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.29-40
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• 2003

This study was performed to research the relation between airmass thunderstorm and stability index with 12 years meteorological data(1990~2001) at Busan. Also We used the analysed stability indices from University of Wyoming to consider airmass thunderstorm. The frequency of thunderstorm occurrence during 12 years was 156 days(annual mean 13days). The airmass thunderstorm frequency was 14 days, most of those occurrence were summertime(59%). And occurrence hour of airmass thunderstorm was distributed from 1300LST to 2100LST broadly. The highest forecast index for airmass thunderstorm at Busan was K index, the lowest forecast index was SWEAT index. The forecasting of thunderstorms is based primary on the concepts of conditional instability, convective instability, and forced lifting of air near the surface. Instability is a critical factor in severe weather development. Severe weather stability indices can be a useful tool when applied correctly to a given convective weather situation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.105-115
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• 2019

For 159 administrative areas, SPI(Standardized Precipitation Index), ARDI(Agricultural Reservoir Drought Index) and ARDIs(Agricultural Reservoir Drought Index Simulated) were developed and applied to analyze the characteristics of agricultural drought index and agricultural droughts. In order to identify hydrometeorological characteristics of agricultural droughts, SPI, ARDI and ARDIs were calculated nationwide, and the applicability was compared and examined. SPI and ARDI showed significant differences in time and depth of drought in both spatial and temporal. ARDI and ARDIs showed similar tendency of change, and ARDIs were considered to be more representative of agricultural drought characteristics. The results of this study suggest that agricultural drought is a problem to be solved in the medium and long term rather than short term due to various forms of development, complexity of development, and difficulty in forecasting. Therefore, it is concluded that a preliminary and systematic approach is needed in consideration of meteorological, hydrological and hydrometeorological characteristics rather than a fragmentary approach, and that an agricultural drought index is needed to quantitatively evaluate agricultural drought.