• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.345-359
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• 2016

This study analyze the synoptic meteorological cause of rainfall, rainfall intensity, drop size distribution(DSD), fall velocity and oblateness measured by the 2D-Video distrometer(2DVD) by comparing two cases which are heavy rainfall event case and a case that is not classified as heavy rainfall but having more than $30mm\;h^{-1}$ rainrate in July, 2014 at Gimhae region. As a results; Over the high pressure edge area where strong upward motion exists, the convective rain type occurred and near the changma front, convective and frontal rainfall combined rain type occurred. Therefore, rainrate varies based on the synoptic meteorological condition. The most rain drop distribution appeared in the raindrops with diameters between 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm and large particles appeared for the convective rain type since strong upward motion provide favorable conditions for the drops to grow by colliding and merging so the drop size distribution varies based on the location or rainfall types. The rainfall phases is mainly rain and as the diameter of the raindrop increase the fall velocity increase and oblateness decrease. The equation proposed based on the 2DVD tends to underestimated both fall velocity and oblateness compared with observation. Since these varies based on the rainfall characteristics of the observation location, standard equation for fall velocity and oblateness fit for Gimhae area can be developed by continuous observation and data collection hereafter.

• Atmosphere
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2020

This study analyzed and compared development mechanisms leading to heat waves of 2016 and 2018 in Korea. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis Interim (ERA Interim) dataset and Automated Surface Observing System data are used for synoptic scale analysis. The synoptic conditions are investigated using geopotential height, temperature, equivalent potential temperature, thickness, potential vorticity, omega, outgoing longwave radiation, and blocking index, etc. Heat waves in South Korea occur in relation to Western North Pacific Subtropical High (WNPSH) pressure system which moves northwestward to East Asia during summer season. Especially in 2018, WNPSH intensified due to strong large-scale circulation associated with convective activities in the Philippine Sea, and moved farther north to Korea when compared to 2016. In addition, the Tibetan high near the tropopause settled over Northern China on top of WNPSH creating a very strong anticyclonic structure in the upper-level over the Korean Peninsula. Unlike 2018, WNPSH was weaker and centered over the East China Sea in 2016. Analysis of blocking indices show wide blocking phenomena over the North Pacific and the Eurasian continent during heat wave event in both years. The strong upper-level ridge which was positioned zonally near 60°N, made the WNPSH over the South Korea stagnant in both years. Analysis of heat wave intensity (HWI) and duration (HWD) show that HWI and HWD in 2018 was both strong leading to extreme high temperatures. In 2016 however, HWI was relatively weak compared to HWD. The longevity of HWD is attributed to atmosphere blocking in the surrounding Eurasian continent.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.321-336
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• 2016

Damages caused by torrential rain occur every year in Korea and summer time convection can cause strong thunderstorms to develop which bring dangerous weather such as torrential rain, gusts, and flash flooding. On 6 August 2013 a sudden torrential rain concentrated over the inland of Southern Korean Peninsula occurred. This was an event characterized as a mesoscale multicellular convection. The purpose of this study is to analyze the conditions of the multicellular convection and the synoptic and mesoscale nature of the system development. To this end, dynamical and thermodynamic analyses of surface and upper-level weather charts, satellite images, soundings, reanalysis data and WRF model simulations are performed. At the beginning stage there was a cool, dry air intrusion in the upper-level of the Korean Peninsula, and a warm humid air flow from the southwest in the lower-level creating atmospheric instability. This produced a single cell cumulonimbus cloud in the vicinity of Baengnyeongdo, and due to baroclinic instability, shear and cyclonic vorticity the cloud further developed into a multicellular convection. The cloud system moved southeast towards Seoul metropolitan area accompanied by lightning, heavy precipitation and strong wind gusts. In addition, atmospheric instability due to daytime insolation caused new convective cells to develop in the upstream part of the Sobaek Mountain which merged with existing multicellular convection creating a larger system. This case was unusual because the system was affected little by the upper-level jet stream which is typical in Korea. The development and propagation of the multicellular convection showed strong mesoscale characteristics and was not governed by large synoptic-scale dynamics. In particular, the system moved southeast crossing the Peninsula diagonally from northwest to southeast and did not follow the upper-level westerly pattern. The analysis result shows that the movement of the system can be determined by the vertical wind shear.

• Atmosphere
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.187-204
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• 2013

This study analyzed the synoptic distribution and vertical structure about four cases of precipitation occurrences using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and upper level data of winter intensive observation to be performed by National Institute of Meteorological Research at Bukgangneung, Incheon, Boseong during 63days from 4 JAN to 6 MAR in 2012, and Observing System Experiment (OSE) using 3DVAR-WRF system was conducted to examine the precipitation predictability of upper level data at western and southern coastal regions. The synoptic characteristics of selected precipitation occurrences were investigated as causes for 1) rainfall events with effect of moisture convergence owing to low pressure passing through south sea on 19 JAN, 2) snowfall events due to moisture inflowing from yellow sea with propagation of Siberian high pressure after low pressure passage over middle northern region on 31 JAN, 3) rainfall event with effect of weak pressure trough in west low and east high pressure system on 25 FEB, 4) rainfall event due to moisture inflow according to low pressures over Bohai bay and south eastern sea on 5 MAR. However, it is identified that vertical structure of atmosphere had different characteristics with heavy rainfall system in summer. Firstly, depth of convection was narrow due to absence of moisture convergence and strong ascending air current in middle layer. Secondly, warm air advection by veering wind with height only existed in low layer. Thirdly, unstable layer was limited in the narrow depth due to low surface temperature although it formed, and also values of instability indices were not high. Fourthly, total water vapor amounts containing into atmosphere was small due to low temperature distribution so that precipitable water vapor could be little amounts. As result of OSE conducting with upper level data of Incheon and Boseong station, 12 hours accumulated precipitation distributions of control experiment and experiments with additional upper level data were similar with ones of observation data at 610 stations. Although Equitable Threat Scores (ETS) were different according to cases and thresholds, it was verified positive influence of upper level data for precipitation predictability as resulting with high improvement rates of 33.3% in experiment with upper level data of Incheon (INC_EXP), 85.7% in experiment with upper level data of Boseong (BOS_EXP), and 142.9% in experiment with upper level data of both Incheon and Boseong (INC_BOS_EXP) about accumulated precipitation more than 5 mm / 12 hours on 31 January 2012.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.697-711
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• 2004

Severe haze, mist, and fog phenomena occurred in the central part of Korea during 15~25 May 2003 resulted in poor visibility and air quality. When these phenomena occurred, Korean peninsula was under the effects of anticyclone. The atmosphere was stable, and wind speed was so weak. Under this meteorological conditions, air quality was worse and worse. The characteristics of aerosol in Seoul, Incheon, and Gosan (Jeju) during this period are investigated from the $PM_{10}$. TSP concentrations and aerosol number concentrations. Concentrations of $PM_{10}$ and TSP measured at KMA increased upto 176 and 230 J.${\mu}g/m^3$ on 22 May 2003, respectively. Aerosol number concentrations of size range from 0.82 to 6.06 ${\mu}m$ increased in Seoul on 17, 19, and 21~24 May 2003, and the concentrations of $NO_2$ and $SO_2$had maximum value of 0.165 ppm at Gwanak Mt. and 0.036 ppm at Guro-dong on 23 May 2003, respectively. Result from analysis on heavy metal elements showed high concentrations of Zn, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Cd during 20~24 May 2003. This event is examined by comprehensive analyses of synoptic weather conditions, satellite images, concentrations of suspended particles and air pollutants, and heavy metal elements.

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

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.277-288
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• 2016

Polar lows are intense mesoscale cyclones that mainly occur over the sea in polar regions. Owing to their small spatial scale of a diameter less than 1000 km, simulating polar lows is a challenging task. At King Sejong station in West Antartica, polar lows are often observed. Despite the recent significant climatic changes observed over West Antarctica, adequate validation of regional simulations of extreme weather events such as polar lows are rare for this region. To address this gap, simulation results from a recent version of the Polar Weather Research and Forecasting model (Polar WRF) covering Antartic Peninsula at a high horizontal resolution of 3 km are validated against near-surface meteorological observations. We selected a case of high wind speed event on 7 January 2013 recorded at Automatic Meteorological Observation Station (AMOS) in King Sejong station, Antarctica. It is revealed by in situ observations, numerical weather prediction, and reanalysis fields that the synoptic and mesoscale environment of the strong wind event was due to the passage of a strong mesoscale polar low of center pressure 950 hPa. Verifying model results from 3 km grid resolution simulation against AMOS observation showed that high skill in simulating wind speed and surface pressure with a bias of $-1.1m\;s^{-1}$ and -1.2 hPa, respectively. Our evaluation suggests that the Polar WRF can be used as a useful dynamic downscaling tool for the simulation of Antartic weather systems and the near-surface meteorological instruments installed in King Sejong station can provide invaluable data for polar low studies over West Antartica.

• Atmosphere
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.207-221
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• 2022

In Jeju, on January 23, 2016, a cold surge accompanied by heavy snowfall with the most significant amount of 12 cm was the highest record in 32 years. During this period, the temperature of 850 hPa in January was the lowest in 2016. Notably, in 2016, the average surface temperature of January on the Polar cap was the highest since 1991, and 500 hPa geopotential height also showed the highest value. With this condition, the polar vortex in the northern hemisphere meandered and expanded into the subtropics regionally, covering the Korean Peninsula with very high potential vorticity up to 7 Potential Vorticity Unit. As a result, the strong cold advection, mostly driven by a northerly wind, around the Korean Peninsula occurred at over 2𝜎. Previous studies have not addressed this extreme synoptic condition linked to polar vortex expansion due to the unprecedented Arctic warming. We suggest that the occurrence of a strong Ural blocking event after the abrupt warming of the Barents/Karas seas is a major cause of unusually strong cold advection. With a specified mesoscale model simulation with SST (Sea Surface Temperature), we also show that the warmer SST condition near the Korean Peninsula contributed to the heavy snowfall event on Jeju Island.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.119-134
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• 2023

The synoptic, thermodynamic, and dynamic characteristics of a snowfall event that occurred in the Yeongdong region on March 1-2, 2021, were investigated. Surface weather charts, ERA5 reanalysis data, rawinsonde data, GK-2A satellite data, and WISSDOM data were used for analysis. The snow depth, exceeding 10 cm, was observed at four weather stations during the analysis period. The maximum snow depth (37.4 cm) occurred at Bukgangneung. According to the analysis of the weather charts, old and dry air was trapped within relatively warm, humid air in the upper atmosphere over the East Sea and adjacent Yeongdong region. This caused unstable atmospheric conditions that led to developing convective clouds and snowfall over Bukgangneung. In particular, based on the thermodynamic and kinematic vertical analysis, we suggest that strong winds attributable to the vertical gradient of potential temperature in the low layer and the development of convective instability due to cold advection played a significant role in the occurrence of snowfall in the Yeongdong region. These results were confirmed from the vertical analysis of the rawinsonde data.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.413-423
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• 2023

Wind turbines are usually steel hollow structures that can be vulnerable to dramatic failures due to high-intensity wind (HIW) events, which are classified as a category of localized windstorms that includes tornadoes and downbursts. Analyzing Wind Turbines (WT) under tornadoes is a challenging-to-achieve task because tornadoes are much more complicated wind fields compared with the synoptic boundary layer wind fields, considering that the tornado's 3-D velocity components vary largely in space. As a result, the supporting tower of the wind turbine and the blades will experience different velocities depending on the location of the event. Wind farms also extend over a large area so that the probability of a localized windstorm event impacting one or more towers is relatively high. Therefore, the built-in-house numerical code "HIW-WT" has been developed to predict the straining actions on the blades considering the variability of the tornado's location and the blades' pitch angle. The developed HIWWT numerical model incorporates different wind fields that were generated from developed CFD models. The developed numerical model was applied on an actual wind turbine under three different tornadoes that have different tornadic structure. It is found that F2 tornado wind fields present significant hazard for the wind turbine blades and have to be taken into account if the hazardous impact of this type of unexpected load is to be avoided.