Atmosphere (대기)

Korean Meteorological Society (한국기상학회)
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Influence of Atmospheric Rivers on Regional Precipitation in South Korea

대기의 강이 한반도 지역별 강수에 미치는 영향

  • Kwon, Yeeun (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Park, Chanil (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Back, Seung-Yoon (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Son, Seok-Woo (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University) ;
  • Kim, Jinwon (Climate Change Research Team, National Institute of Meteorological Sciences) ;
  • Cha, Eun Jeong (Meso-scale Meteorological Phenomenon Research Team, National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, Korean Meteorological Administration)
  • 권예은 (서울대학교 자연과학대학 지구환경과학부) ;
  • 박찬일 (서울대학교 자연과학대학 지구환경과학부) ;
  • 백승윤 (서울대학교 자연과학대학 지구환경과학부) ;
  • 손석우 (서울대학교 자연과학대학 지구환경과학부) ;
  • 김진원 (국립기상과학원 기후변화예측연구팀) ;
  • 차은정 (국립기상과학원 예보연구부)
  • Received : 2022.03.29
  • Accepted : 2022.05.26
  • Published : 2022.06.30
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Abstract

This study investigates the influence of atmospheric river (AR) on precipitation over South Korea with a focus on regional characteristics. The 42-year-long catalog of ARs, which is obtained by applying the automatic AR detection algorithm to ERA5 reanalysis data and the insitu precipitation data recorded at 56 weather stations across the country are used to quantify their relationship. Approximately 51% of the climatological annual precipitation is associated with AR. The AR-related precipitation is most pronounced in summer by approximately 58%, while only limited fraction of precipitation (26%) is AR-related in winter. The heavy precipitation (> 30 mm day-1) is more prone to AR activity (59%) than weak precipitation (5~30 mm day-1; 33%) in all seasons. By grouping weather stations into the four sub-regions based on orography, it is found that the contribution of AR precipitation to the total is largest in the southern coast (57%) and smallest in the eastern coast (36%). Similar regional variations in AR precipitation fractions also occur in weak precipitation events. The regional contrast between the northern and southern stations is related to the seasonal variation of AR-frequency. In addition, the regional contrast between the western and eastern stations is partly modulated by the orographic forcing. The fractional contribution of AR to heavy precipitation exceeds 50% in all seasons, but this is true only in summer along the eastern coast. This result indicates that ARs play a critical role in heavy precipitation in South Korea, thus routine monitoring of ARs is needed for improving operational hydrometeorological forecasting.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 논문의 개선을 위해 좋은 의견을 제시해 주신 두 분의 심사위원께 감사를 드립니다. 이 연구는 기상청 국립기상과학원 「수도권 위험기상 입체관측 및 예보활용 기술 개발」(KMA2018-00125)의 지원으로 수행되었습니다.

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