• 대기
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.375-387
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• 2015

A Selected Multi-model CONsensus (SMCON) technique was developed and verified for the tropical cyclone track forecast in the western North Pacific. The SMCON forecasts were produced by averaging numerical model forecasts showing low 70% latest 6 h prediction errors among 21 models. In the homogeneous comparison for 54 tropical cyclones in 2013 and 2014, the SMCON improvement rate was higher than the other forecasts such as the Non-Selected Multi-model CONsensus (NSMCON) and other numerical models (i.e., GDAPS, GEPS, GFS, HWRF, ECMWF, ECMWF_H, ECMWF_EPS, JGSM, TEPS). However, the SMCON showed lower or similar improvement rate than a few forecasts including ECMWF_EPS forecasts at 96 h in 2013 and at 72 h in 2014 and the TEPS forecast at 120 h in 2013. Mean track errors of the SMCON for two year were smaller than the NSMCON and these differences were 0.4, 1.2, 5.9, 12.9, 8.2 km at 24-, 48-, 72-, 96-, 120-h respectively. The SMCON error distributions showed smaller central tendency than the NSMCON's except 72-, 96-h forecasts in 2013. Similarly, the density for smaller track errors of the SMCON was higher than the NSMCON's except at 72-, 96-h forecast in 2013 in the kernel density estimation analysis. In addition, the NSMCON has lager range of errors above the third quantile and larger standard deviation than the SMCON's at 72-, 96-h forecasts in 2013. Also, the SMCON showed smaller bias than ECMWF_H for the cross track bias. Thus, we concluded that the SMCON could provide more reliable information on the tropical cyclone track forecast by reflecting the real-time performance of the numerical models.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• 제40권3호
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• pp.99-114
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• 2018

In the present study, we assess the GloSea5 (Global Seasonal Forecasting System version 5) near-surface ocean current forecasts using globally observed surface drifter dataset. Annual mean surface current fields at 0-day forecast lead time are quite consistent with drifter-derived velocity fields, and low values of root mean square (RMS) errors distributes in global oceans, except for regions of high variability, such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, Kuroshio, and Gulf Stream. Moreover a comparison with the global high-resolution forecasting system, HYCOM (Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model), signifies that GloSea5 performs well in terms of short-range surface-current forecasts. Predictions from 0-day to 4-week lead time are also validated for the global ocean and regions covering the main ocean basins. In general, the Indian Ocean and tropical regions yield relatively high RMS errors against all forecast lead times, whilst the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans show low values. RMS errors against forecast lead time ranging from 0-day to 4-week reveal the largest increase rate between 0-day and 1-week lead time in all regions. Correlation against forecast lead time also reveals similar results. In addition, a strong westward bias of about $0.2m\;s^{-1}$ is found along the Equator in the western Pacific on the initial forecast day, and it extends toward the Equator of the eastern Pacific as the lead time increases.

• 대기
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.391-402
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• 2014

This study investigated the performances of precipitable water vapor (PWV) retrieval from the sets of ground global positioning system (GPS) signals, each of which had different length of observing-session duration, for the purpose of obtaining as short session duration as possible that is required at the least for appropriate retrieval of the PWV for meteorological usage. The shorter duration is highly desirable to make the most use of the GPS instrument on board the mobile observation vehicle making measurements place by place. First, using Bernese 5.0 software the PWV retrieval was conducted with the data sets of GPS signals archived continuously in 30 seconds interval during 2-month period of January and February, 2012 at Bukgangneung site. Each of the PWVs produced independently using different session durations was compared to that of radio-sonde launched at the same GPS location, a Bukgangneung site. Second, the same procedure was done using the data sets obtained from the mobile observation vehicle that was operating at Boseong area in Jeonnam province during Changma observation campaign in 2013, and the results were compared to that at Bukgangneung site. The results showed that as the observing-session duration increased the retrieval errors decreased with the dramatic change happening between 3 and 4 hours of the duration. On average, the root mean square error (RMSE) of the retrieved PWV was around 1 mm for the durations of greater than 4 hours. The results at both the Bukgangneung (fixed site) and Boseong (mobile vehicle) seemed to be fairly comparable with each other. From this study it is believed that at least 4 hours of observing-session duration is needed for the retrieval of PWV from the ground GPS for meteorological usage using Bernese 5.0 software.

• 대기
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.67-83
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• 2015

Predicting the location and intensity of precipitation still remains a main issue in numerical weather prediction (NWP). Resolution is a very important component of precipitation forecasts in NWP. Compared with a lower resolution model, a higher resolution model can predict small scale (i.e., storm scale) precipitation and depict convection structures more precisely. In addition, an ensemble technique can be used to improve the precipitation forecast because it can estimate uncertainties associated with forecasts. Therefore, NWP using both a higher resolution model and ensemble technique is expected to represent inherent uncertainties of convective scale motion better and lead to improved forecasts. In this study, the limited area ensemble prediction system for the convective-scale (i.e., high resolution) operational Unified Model (UM) in Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) was developed and evaluated for the ensemble forecasts during August 2012. The model domain covers the limited area over the Korean Peninsula. The high resolution limited area ensemble prediction system developed showed good skill in predicting precipitation, wind, and temperature at the surface as well as meteorological variables at 500 and 850 hPa. To investigate which combination of horizontal resolution and ensemble member is most skillful, the system was run with three different horizontal resolutions (1.5, 2, and 3 km) and ensemble members (8, 12, and 16), and the forecasts from the experiments were evaluated. To assess the quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) skill of the system, the precipitation forecasts for two heavy rainfall cases during the study period were analyzed using the Fractions Skill Score (FSS) and Probability Matching (PM) method. The PM method was effective in representing the intensity of precipitation and the FSS was effective in verifying the precipitation forecast for the high resolution limited area ensemble prediction system in KMA.

• 대기
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.233-243
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• 2012

The Barnes scheme is used in Digital Forecast System (DFS) of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) for real-time analysis. This scheme is an objective analysis scheme with a distance-dependent weighted average. It has been widely used for mesoscale analyses in limited geographic areas. The isotropic Gaussian weight function with a constant effective radius might not be suitable for certain conditions. In particular, the analysis error can be increased for stations located near mountains. The terrain of South Korea is covered with mountains and wide plains that are between successive mountain ranges. Thus, it is needed to consider the terrain effect with the information of elevations for each station. In order to improve the accuracy of the temperature objective analysis, we modified the weight function which is dependent on a distance and elevation in the Barnes scheme. We compared the results from the Barnes scheme used in the DFS (referred to CTL) with the new scheme (referred to EXP) during a year of 2009 in this study. The analysis error of the temperature field was verified by the root-mean-square-error (RMSE), mean error (ME), and Priestley skill score (PSS) at the DFS observation stations which is not used in objective analysis. The verification result shows that the RMSE and ME values are 1.68 and -0.41 in CTL and 1.42 and -0.16 in EXP, respectively. In aspect of spatial verification, we found that the RSME and ME values of EXP decreased in the vicinity of Jirisan (Mt. Jiri) and Taebaek Mountains. This indicates that the new scheme performed better in temperature verification during the year 2009 than the previous scheme.

• 대기
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.187-200
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• 2018

The heavy snowfall phenomenon with thunder and lightning occurred in Yeongdong coastal region on 20 January 2017. Amount of snow on that day was a maximum of 47 cm and was concentrated in a short time (2 hours) at the Yeongdong coastal area. The mechanism of thundersnow was investigated to describe in detail using observational data and numerical simulation (Weather Research and Forecast, WRF) applied lightning option. The results show that a convective cloud occurred at the Yeongdong coastal area. The east wind flow was generated and the pressure gradient force was maximized by the rapidly developed cyclone. The cold and dry air in the upper atmosphere has descended (so called tropopause folding) atmospheric lower layer at precipitation peak time (1200 LST). In addition, latent heat in the lower atmosphere layer and warm sea surface temperature caused thermal instability. The convective cloud caused by the strong thermal instability was developed up to 6 km at that time. And the backdoor cold front was determined by the change characteristics of meteorological elements and shear line in the east sea. Instability indexes such as Total totals Index (TT) and Lightning Potential Index (LPI) are also confirmed as one of good predictability indicates for the explosive precipitation of convective rainfall.

• 대기
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.217-231
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• 2024

The Korea Integrated Model (KIM)-based real-time volcanic ash dispersion prediction system, which employs the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, has been developed to quantitatively predict volcanic ash dispersion in East Asia and the Northwest Pacific airspace. This system, known as KIM-HYSPLIT, automatically generates forecasts for the vertical and horizontal spread of volcanic ash up to 72 hours. These forecasts are initiated upon the receipt of a Volcanic Ash Advisory (VAA) from the Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory Center by the server at the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). This system equips KMA forecasters with diverse volcanic ash prediction information, complemented by the Unified Model (UM)-based HYSPLIT (UM-HYSPLIT) system. Extensive experiments have been conducted using KIM-HYSPLIT across 128 different volcanic scenarios, along with qualitative comparisons with UM-HYSPLIT. The results indicate that the ash direction predictions from KIM-HYSPLIT are consistent with those from UM-HYSPLIT. However, there are slight differences in the horizontal extent and movement speed of the volcanic ash. Additionally, quantitative verifications of the KIM-HYSPLIT forecasts have been performed, including threat score evaluations, based on recent eruption cases. On average, the KIMHYSPLIT forecasts for 6 and 12 hours show better quantitative alignment with the VAA forecasts compared to UM-HYSPLIT. Nevertheless, both models tend to predict a broader horizontal spread of the ash cloud than indicated in the VAA forecasts, particularly noticeable in the 6-hour forecast period.

• 대기
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.177-185
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• 2024

As increasing global interest in renewable energy due to the ongoing climate crisis, there is a growing need for efficient technologies to manage such resources. This study focuses on the predictive skill of daily solar power generation using weather observation and forecast data. Meteorological data from the Korea Meteorological Administration and solar power generation data from the Korea Power Exchange were utilized for the period from January 2017 to May 2023, considering both inland (Daejeon) and coastal (Busan) regions. Temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and precipitation were selected as relevant meteorological variables for solar power prediction. All data was preprocessed by removing their systematic components to use only their residuals and the residual of solar data were further processed with weighted adjustments for homoscedasticity. Four models, MLR (Multiple Linear Regression), RF (Random Forest), DNN (Deep Neural Network), and RNN (Recurrent Neural Network), were employed for solar power prediction and their performances were evaluated based on predicted values utilizing observed meteorological data (used as a reference), 1-day-ahead forecast data (referred to as fore1), and 2-day-ahead forecast data (fore2). DNN-based prediction model exhibits superior performance in both regions, with RNN performing the least effectively. However, MLR and RF demonstrate competitive performance comparable to DNN. The disparities in the performance of the four different models are less pronounced than anticipated, underscoring the pivotal role of fitting models using residuals. This emphasizes that the utilized preprocessing approach, specifically leveraging residuals, is poised to play a crucial role in the future of solar power generation forecasting.

• 대기
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.307-322
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• 2022

A drone has recently got attention as an instrument for weather observation in lower atmosphere because it can produce the high spatiotemporal resolution weather data even though the weather phenomenon is inaccessible. Sea fog is a weather phenomenon occurred in lower atmosphere, and has observational limitations because it occurs on the sea. Therefore, goal of this study is to analyze the vertical structures about inflow, development and dispersion of sea fog using the high-resolution weather data with the meteorological sensor-equipped drone. This study observed sea fogs in the west coast of the Korean peninsula from March to October 2021 and investigated one sea fog inflowed into the coast on June 8th 2021. θ_e - q_v diagrams (θ_e: equivalent potential temperature, q_v: water vapor ratio) and vertical wind structures were analyzed. At inflow of sea fog, moist adiabatically stable layer was formed in 0-300 m and prevailing wind was switched from south-southwesterly to west-southwesterly under 120 m. Both changes are favorable for sea fog on the location. θ_e and q_v plummeted in a layer 0-183 m. The inflowed sea fog developed from 183 m to 327 m by mixing with ambient atmosphere on top of sea fog. Also, strong mechanical turbulence near ground drove a vertical mixing under stable layer. At dispersion of sea fog, as θ_e on ground gradually increased, air condition was changed to neutral. Evaporation occurred on both bottom and top in sea fog. These results induced dissipation of sea fog.

• 대기
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.1-12
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• 2010

Temporal distributions and characteristics of PWV (Precipitable Water Vapor) and LWP (Liquid Water Path) are investigated by using the microwave radiometric profiler at Haenam NCIO from 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2008. Temporal variations of PWV are closely connected with the thermal response of water vapor in atmosphere. The variations of LWP are characterized by the rainfall variation being basically attributable to the heavy rain-bearing clouds. The frequency distributions of PWV and LWP according to the four sky conditions ('clear', 'lightly cloudy', 'cloudy', and 'deeply cloudy') by total cloud amount at Wando Observatory corresponds with a change of slope in cumulative distribution function for PWV and LWP. There results implies that the classification of sky condition can be applied by using the distribution of PWV and LWP from microwave radiometric profiler.