• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.264-277
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• 2021

This study analyzed the relationship between the total precipitable water vapor in the atmosphere and the moving speed of recent typhoons. This study used ground observation data of air temperature, precipitation, and wind speed from the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) as well as total rainfall data and Red-Green-Blue (RGB) composite images from the U.S. Meteorological and Satellite Research Institute and the KMA's Cheollian Satellite 2A (GEO-KOMPSAT-2A). Using the typhoon location and moving speed data provided by the KMA, we compared the moving speeds of typhoon Bavi, Maysak, and Haishen from 2020, typhoon Tapah from 2019, and typhoon Kong-rey from 2018 with the average typhoon speed by latitude. Tapah and Kong-rey moved at average speed with changing latitude, while Bavi and Maysak showed a significant decrease in moving speed between approximately 25°N and 30°N. This is because a water vapor band in the atmosphere in front of these two typhoons induced frontogenesis and prevented their movement. In other words, when the water vapor band generated by the low-level jet causes frontogenesis in front of the moving typhoon, the high pressure area located between the site of frontogenesis and the typhoon develops further, inducing as a blocking effect. Together with the tropical night phenomenon, this slows the typhoon. Bavi and Maysak were accompanied by copious atmospheric water vapor; consequently, a water vapor band along the low-level jet induced frontogenesis. Then, the downdraft of the high pressure between the frontogenesis and the typhoon caused the tropical night phenomenon. Finally, strong winds and heavy rains occurred in succession once the typhoon landed.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.577-587
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• 2021

Drought is generally considered to be a natural disaster caused by accumulated water shortages over a long period of time, taking months or years and slowly occurring. However, climate change has led to rapid changes in weather and environmental factors that directly affect agriculture, and extreme weather conditions have led to an increase in the frequency of rapidly developing droughts within weeks to months. This phenomenon is defined as 'Flash Drought', which is caused by an increase in surface temperature over a relatively short period of time and abnormally low and rapidly decreasing soil moisture. The detection and analysis of flash drought is essential because it has a significant impact on agriculture and natural ecosystems, and its impacts are associated with agricultural drought impacts. In South Korea, there is no clear definition of flash drought, so the purpose of this study is to identify and analyze its characteristics. In this study, flash drought detection condition was presented based on the satellite-derived drought index Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) from 2014 to 2018. ESI is used as an early warning indicator for rapidly-occurring flash drought a short period of time due to its similar relationship with reduced soil moisture content, lack of precipitation, increased evaporative demand due to low humidity, high temperature, and strong winds. The flash droughts were analyzed using hydrometeorological characteristics by comparing Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), soil moisture, maximum temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and precipitation. The correlation was analyzed based on the 8 weeks prior to the occurrence of the flash drought, and in most cases, a high correlation of 0.8(-0.8) or higher(lower) was expressed for ESI and SPI, soil moisture, and maximum temperature.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.113 no.2
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• pp.222-238
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• 2024

Coniferous species in subalpine ecosystems are known to be highly sensitive to climate change. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to monitor community and population dynamics. This study monitored 37 plots within the distribution area of Abies koreana on Mt. Jirisan for a period of eight years. We analyzed the importance value, density of living stems, mortality rate, recruitment rate, basal area, DBH (diameter of breast height) class distribution, and tree health status. Our results showed changes in the importance value based on the tree stratum, with A. koreana decreasing by 3.6% and Tripterygium regelii increasing by 2.5% in the tree layer. Between 2015 and 2023, there were 149 dead trees/ha (17.99% mortality rate) and 12 living trees/ha (1.02% recruitment rate) of A. koreana. The decrease in basal area was attributed to a decrease in the number of living trees. Tree mortality occurred in all DBH classes, with a particularly high decline in the <10 cm class (65 trees/ha reduced). In terms of changes in tree health status, the population of alive standing (AS) type trees, initially consisting of 539 trees/ha, has been transformed into alive standing (AS), alive lean (AL), and death standing (DS), accounting for 69.7%, 0.5%, and 13.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, DS-type trees have transitioned into dead broken (DB) and dead fallen (DF) types. This phenomenon is believed to be caused by strong winds in the subalpine region that pull up the rootlets from the soil. Further research on this finding is recommended.