• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.463-477
• /
• 2003

This study identified the effects of global temperature rise on snowfall change over Korea selecting Seoul, Gangneung, Gunsan, and Daegu as study areas. The trend of snowfall change has generally decreased since 1950s over Korea, but has only increased in Gunsan since 1990s. The variation of snowfall days are similar to those of snowfall. The relationship between snowfall over Korea and the anomaly of global mean temperature in spring has a negative correlation. The change of Siberian High intensity also has a good relationship with snowfall in both Gunsan and Gangneung; the former is positively correlated while the latter is negatively correlated. This result might suggest that if the intensity of Siberian High would weakens due the ongoing global warming in the future, there would be a possibility that the amount snowfall could decrease in Gunsan but it could increase in Gangneung.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.39 no.6 s.105
• /
• pp.819-832
• /
• 2004

Daily rainfall data from 14 stations during 1941 to 2000 were analyzed in order to examine the characteristics of the variation of summer rainfall and the identify relationship between the variation of summer rainfall and the variation of SOI(Southern Oscillation Index) and NPI(North Pacific Index), global temperature. For further investigation, study period is divided into two 30 year intervals, 1941-1970 and 1971-2000. There are the trend of increase in August and decrease in September in the later period compared with the earlier one. It was Mid-west in August where there is the largest variation. It is related to the increase of the frequency of heavy rainfall. The second period of extreme rainfall by ten days is absent, or it change from early in September to late in August. According to the result, the dry spell in August disappears and Changma is continued to early in September. Gradually, there is change from negative (or positive) to positive (or negative) to the rainfall anomaly of the mid of August and the mid of September (or July). The correlation between the variation of rainfall and oceanic variation and global temperature is statistically significant.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.369-379
• /
• 2002

The characteristics of the East Asian summer monsoon circulation associated with the cool and wet summer of 1993 and the warm and dry summer of 1994 are investigated by analyzing the atmospheric circulations features in the upper and lower troposphere and by examining the global SST and associated tropical convective precipitation fields. The negative geopotential height anomalies at 500 hPa and 200 hPa in 1993 over East Asia, the central North Pacific, and the western United States were replaced by positive ones in 1994. In addition, the 200 hPa zonal wind anomaly averaged over the East Asian summer monsoon region is negatively correlated with the Korean summer temperature anomaly. The subtropical jet stream in 1993 was displaced into the central part of Korea well south of its normal position. The western Pacific subtropical high was shifted southward, and the East Asian summer rainfall and temperature was above-normal and below-normal, respectively due to the southwestward extension of a cold and dry polar airmass from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Est Sea. In contrast, the subtropical jet stream in 1994 was displaced well north of its normal position. The abrupt northward shift of the western Pacific subtropical high was accompanied with the rapid northward movement of the rain band of the East Asian summer monsoon rainfall. The anomaly patterns of the East Asia summer rainfall and temperature were opposite to those of 1993. Large sea surface temperature anomalies of opposite signs existed in the tropical Pacific with a mature El $Ni{\~{n}o$ in 1993 and a weak La $Ni{\~{n}a$ condition in 1994. The role of the anomalous convective precipitation in the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean related with the variations in the low-level cross-equatorial flow along the northwestern periphery of the Australian high and the Mascarene high is probably to influence a large-scale atmospheric circulation over the East Asia during both the years.