• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to select and predict optimal heatwave indices for describing and predicting heat-related illnesses. Regression analysis was conducted using Heat-related illness surveillance system data for a number of heat-related illnesses and meteorological data from the Korea Meteorological Administration's Automatic Weather Station (AWS) for the period from 2021 to 2023. Daily average temperature, daily maximum temperature, daily average Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), and daily maximum WBGT values were calculated and analyzed. The results indicated that among the four indicators, the daily maximum WBGT showed the highest suitability with an R² value of 0.81 and RMSE of 0.98, with a threshold of 29.94 Celsius. During the entire analysis period, there were a total of 91 days exceeding this threshold, resulting in 339 cases of heat-related illnesses. Predictions of heat-related illness cases from 2021 to 2023 using the regression equation for daily maximum WBGT showed an accuracy with less than 10 cases of error annually, demonstrating a high level of precision. Through continuous research and refinement of data and analysis methods, it is anticipated that this approach could contribute to predicting and mitigating the impact of heatwaves.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.35-49
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• 2014

In order to understand the impacts of surface characteristics and the distance from the urban heat island center to suburban areas on the mean night time air temperature, we analyzed GIS and AWS observational data. Spatial distributions of mean night time air temperature during the summer and winter periods of 2004-2011(six years) were utilized. Results show that the temperature gradients were different by distance and direction. We found high correlation between mean night-time air temperature and artificial land cover area within 1km and 200m radii during both summer(R=0.84) and winter(R=0.78) seasons. Regression models either from 1km and 200m land surface data explained the distribution of night-time temperature equally well if the input data had sufficient resolution with detailed attribute including building area and height.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.20-25
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• 2020

Spatial simulation of crop growth often requires application of management conditions to each cell. In particular, it is of great importance to determine the temperature conditions during the nursery period for rice seedlings, which would affect heading date projections. The objective of this study was to determine the value of TMPSB, which is the parameter of ORYZA2000 model to represent temperature increase under a plastic tunnel during the rice seedling periods. Candidate values of TMPSB including 0℃, 2℃, 5℃, 7℃ and 9℃ were used to simulate rice growth and yield. Planting dates were set from mid-April to mid-June. The simulations were performed at four sites including Cheorwon, Suwon, Seosan, and Gwangju where climate conditions at rice fields common in Korea can be represented. It was found that the TMPSB values of 0℃ and 2℃ resulted in a large variation of heading date due to low temperature occurred in mid-April. When the TMPSB value was >7℃, the variation of heading date was relatively small. Still, the TMPSB value of 5℃ resulted in the least variation of heading date for all the planting dates. Our results suggested that the TMPSB value of 5℃ would help reasonable assessment of climate change impact on rice production when high resolution gridded weather data are used as inputs to ORYZA2000 model over South Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.283-290
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• 2005

Objectives : The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between the summertime (June to August) heat index, which quantifies the bioclimatic apparent temperature in sultry weather, and the daily disease-related mortality in Seoul for the period from 1991 to 2000. Methods : The daily maximum (or minimum) summertime heat indices, which show synergetic apparent temperatures, were calculated from the six hourly temperatures and real time humidity data for Seoul from 1991 to 2000. The disease-related daily mortality was extracted with respect to types of disease, age and sex, etc. and compared with the time series of the daily heat indices. Results : The summertime mortality in 1994 exceeded the normal by 626 persons. Specifically, blood circulation-related and cancer-related mortalities increased in 1994 by 29.7% (224 persons) and 15.4% (107 persons), respectively, compared with those in 1993. Elderly persons, those above 65 years, were shown to be highly susceptible to strong heat waves, whereas the other age and sex-based groups showed no significant difference in mortality. In particular, a heat wave episode on the 22nd of July 2004 ($>45^{\circ}C$ daily heat index) resulted in double the normal number of mortalities after a lag time of 3 days. Specifically, blood circulation-related mortalities, such as cerebral infraction, were predominant causes. Overall, a critical mortality threshold was reached when the heat index exceeded approximately $37^{\circ}C$, which corresponds to human body temperature. A linear regression model based on the heat indices above $37^{\circ}C$, with a 3 day lag time, accounted for 63% of the abnormally increased mortality (${\geq}+2$ standard deviations). Conclusions : This study revealed that elderly persons, those over 65 years old, are more vulnerable to mortality due to abnormal heat waves in Seoul, Korea. When the daily maximum heat index exceeds approximately $37^{\circ}C$, blood circulation-related mortality significantly increases. A linear regression model, with respect to lag-time, showed that the heat index based on a human model is a more dependable indicator for the prediction of hot weather-related mortality than the ambient air temperature.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-33
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• 2016

Water vapor in the atmosphere is an important element that generates various meteorological phenomena and modifies a hydrological cycle. In general, the Yeongdong region has a lot of snow compared to the other regions in winter due to the complex topography and an adjacent East Sea. However, the phase change from water vapor to ice cloud and further snowfall has little been examined in detail. Therefore, in this study, we investigated phase change of liquid water in terms of a quantitative budget as well as time lag of water vapor conversion to snowfall in the ESSAY (Experiment on Snow Storms At Yeongdong) campaign that had been carried out from 2012 to 2015. First, we classified 3 distinctive synoptic patterns such as Low Crossing, Low Passing, and Stagnation. In general, the amount of water vapor of Low Crossing is highest, and Low Passing, Stagnation in order. The snowfall intensity of Stagnation is highest, whereas that of Low Crossing is the lowest, when a sharp increase in water vapor and accordingly a following increase in precipitation are shown with the remarkable time lag. Interestingly, the conversion rate of water vapor to snowfall seems to be higher (about 10%) in case of the Stagnation type in comparison with the other types at Bukgangneung, which appears to be attributable to significant cooling caused by cold surge in the lower atmosphere. Although the snowfall is generally preceded by an increase in water vapor, its amount converted into the snowfall is also controlled by the atmosphere condition such as temperature, super-saturation, etc. These results would be a fundamental resource for an improvement of snowfall forecast in the Yeongdong region and the successful experiment of weather modification in the near future.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.104-120
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• 2022

The Small Scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiment (SNIPE)'s scientific goal is to observe spatial and temporal variations of the micro-scale plasma structures on the topside ionosphere. The four 6U CubeSats (~10 kg) will be launched into a polar orbit at ~500 km. The distances of each satellite will be controlled from 10 km to more than ~1,000 km by the formation flying algorithm. The SNIPE mission is equipped with identical scientific instruments, Solid-State Telescopes(SST), Magnetometers(Mag), and Langmuir Probes(LP). All the payloads have a high temporal resolution (sampling rates of about 10 Hz). Iridium communication modules provide an opportunity to upload emergency commands to change operational modes when geomagnetic storms occur. SNIPE's observations of the dimensions, occurrence rates, amplitudes, and spatiotemporal evolution of polar cap patches, field-aligned currents (FAC), radiation belt microbursts, and equatorial and mid-latitude plasma blobs and bubbles will determine their significance to the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction and quantify their impact on space weather. The formation flying CubeSat constellation, the SNIPE mission, will be launched by Soyuz-2 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2023.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1059-1066
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• 2021

In Korea, the importance of marine activities is great, and automatic weather observation facilities are operating on land to investigate abnormal weather phenomena caused by industrialization; however, the number of facilities at sea is insufficient. Marine survey ships are operated to establish marine safety information, but there are many places where marine survey ships are difficult to access and operating costs are high. Therefore, a small, unmanned vessel capable of marine surveys must be developed. The sail has a significant impact on the sailing performance, so much research has been conducted. In this study, the camber effect, which is a design variable of the twin curvy sail known to have higher aerodynamic performance than existing airfoil shapes, was investigated. Flow analysis results for five cases with different camber sizes show that the lift coefficient is highest when the camber size is 9%. Curvy twin sails had the highest lift coefficient at an angle of attack of 23° because of the interaction of the port and starboard sails. The port sail had the highest lift coef icient at an angle of attack of 20°, and the starboard sail had the lowest lift coef icient at an angle of attack of 15°. In addition, the curvy twin sail had a higher lift coefficient than NACA 0018 at all angles of attack.

• Journal of the Korean Child Neurology Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.227-232
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• 2018

Purpose: Febrile seizure (FS) is the most common type of seizure in children between 6 months to 5 years of age. A family history of febrile seizures can increase the risk a child will have a FS. Yet, prevalence of FS regarding external environment has not been clearly proved. This study attempts to determine the association between prevalence of FS and weather. Methods: This study included medical records from the Korea National Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Data were collected from 29,240 children, born after 2004, diagnosed with FS who were admitted to one of the hospitals in Seoul, Korea, between January 2009 and December 2013. During the corresponding time period, data from the Korea Meteorological Administration on daily monitoring of four meteorological factors (sea-level pressure, amount of precipitation, humidity and temperature) were collected. The relationships of FS prevalence and each meteorological factor will be designed using Poisson generalized additive model (GAM). Also, the contributory effect of viral infections on FS prevalence and weather will be discussed. Results: The amount of precipitation was divided into two groups for comparison: one with less than 5 mm and the other with equal to or more than 5 mm. As a result of Poisson GAM, higher prevalence of FS showed a correlation with smaller amount of precipitation. Smoothing function was used to classify the relationships between three variables (sea-level pressure, humidity, and temperature) and prevalence of FS. FS prevalence was correlated with lower sea-level pressure and lower humidity. FS prevalence was high in two temperature ranges (-7 to $-1^{\circ}C$ and $18-21^{\circ}C$). Conclusion: Low sea-level pressure, small amount of precipitation, and low relative air humidity may increase FS prevalence risk.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.567-587
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• 2018

A severe haze event occurred in October 2015 in Gwangju, Korea. In this study, the driving chemical species and the formation mechanisms of $PM_{2.5}$ pollution were investigated to better understand the haze event. Hourly concentrations of $PM_{2.5}$, organic and elemental carbon, water-soluble ions, and elemental constituents were measured at the air quality intensive monitoring station in Gwangju. The haze event occurred was attributed to a significant contribution (72.3%) of secondary inorganic species concentration to the $PM_{2.5}$, along with the contribution of organic aerosols that were strongly attributed to traffic emissions over the study site. MODIS images, weather charts, and air mass backward trajectories supported the significant impact of long-range transportation (LTP) of aerosol particles from northeastern China on haze formation over Gwangju in October 2015. The driving factor for the haze formation was stagnant atmospheric flows around the Korean peninsula, and high relative humidity (RH) promoted the haze formation at the site. Under the high RH conditions, $SO{_4}^{2-}$ and $NO_3{^-}$ were mainly produced through the heterogenous aqueous-phase reactions of $SO_2$ and $NO_2$, respectively. Moreover, hourly $O_3$ concentration during the study period was highly elevated, with hourly peaks ranging from 79 to 95ppb, suggesting that photochemical reaction was a possible formation process of secondary aerosols. Over the $PM_{2.5}$ pollution, behavior and formation of secondary ionic species varied with the difference in the impact of LTP. Prior to October 19 when the influence of LTP was low, increasing rate in $NO_3{^-}$ was greater than that in $NO_2$, but both $SO_2$ and $SO{_4}^{2-}$ had similar increasing rates. While, after October 20 when the impact of haze by LTP was significant, $SO{_4}^{2-}$ and $NO_3{^-}$ concentrations increased significantly more than their gaseous precursors, but with greater increasing rate of $NO_3{^-}$. These results suggest the enhanced secondary transformation of $SO_2$ and $NO_2$ during the haze event. Overall, the result from the study suggests that control of anthropogenic combustion sources including vehicle emissions is needed to reduce the high levels of nitrogen oxide and $NO_3{^-}$ and the high $PM_{2.5}$ pollution occurred over fall season in Gwangju.

• 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.