• Atmosphere
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.159-171
• /
• 2014

This study investigated the temporal and spatial characteristics of summertime (June-August) precipitation over Korean peninsula, using Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA)is Automated Synoptic Observing System (ASOS) data for the period of 1973-2010 and Automatic Weather System (AWS) data for the period of 1998-2010.The authors looked through climatological features of the summertime precipitation, then examined the degree of locality of the precipitation, and probable precipitation amount and its return period of 100 years (i.e., an extreme precipitation event). The amount of monthly total precipitation showed increasing trends for all the summer months during the investigated 38-year period. In particular, the increasing trends were more significant for the months of July and August. The increasing trend of July was seen to be more attributable to the increase of precipitation intensity than that of frequency, while the increasing trend of August was seen to be played more importantly by the increase of the precipitation frequency. The e-folding distance, which is calculated using the correlation of the precipitation at the reference station with those at all other stations, revealed that it is August that has the highest locality of hourly precipitation, indicating higher potential of localized heavy rainfall in August compared to other summer months. More localized precipitation was observed over the western parts of the Korean peninsula where terrain is relatively smooth. Using the 38-years long series of maximum daily and hourly precipitation as input for FARD2006 (Frequency Analysis of Rainfall Data Program 2006), it was revealed that precipitation events with either 360 mm $day^{-1}$ or 80 mm $h^{-1}$ can occur with the return period of 100 years over the Korean Peninsula.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.327-341
• /
• 2018

Extreme temperatures and precipitations are expected to be more frequently occurring due to the ongoing global warming over the Korean Peninsula. However, few studies have analyzed the synoptic weather patterns associated with extreme events in a warming world. Here, the atmospheric patterns related to future extreme events are first analyzed using the HadGEM3-RA regional climate model. Simulations showed that the variability of temperature and precipitation will increase in the future (2051-2100) compared to the present (1981-2005), accompanying the more frequent occurrence of extreme events. Warm advection from East China and lower latitudes, a stagnant anticyclone, and local foehn wind are responsible for the extreme temperature (daily T>$38^{\circ}C$) episodes in Korea. The extreme precipitation cases (>$500mm\;day^{-1}$) were mainly caused by mid-latitude cyclones approaching the Korean Peninsula, along with the enhanced Changma front by supplying water vapor into the East China Sea. These future synoptic-scale features are similar to those of present extreme events. Therefore, our results suggest that, in order to accurately understand future extreme events, we should consider not only the effects of anthropogenic greenhouse gases or aerosol increases, but also small-scale topographic conditions and the internal variations of climate systems.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.171-184
• /
• 2010

Accurate simulation of the meteorological field is very important to assess the wind resources. Some researchers showed that sea surface temperature (SST) plays a leading role on the local meterological simulation. New Generation Sea Surface Temperature (NGSST), Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Analysis (OSTIA), and Real-Time Global Sea Surface Temperature (RTG SST) have different spatial distribution near the coast and OSTIA shows the best accuracy compared with buoy data in the southeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. Those SST products are used to initialize the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model for November 13-23 2008. The simulation of OSTIA shows better result in comparison with NGSST and RTG SST. NGSST shows a large difference with OSTIA in horizontal and vertical wind fields during the weak synoptic condition, but wind power density shows a large difference during strong synoptic condition. RTG SST shows the similar patterns but smaller the magnitude and the extent.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.235-246
• /
• 2006

Remote sensing techniques using satellites or the scanning weather radars depend mostly on the presence of clouds or precipitation, and leave the extensive regions of clear air unobserved. But wind profilers provide the most direct measurements of mesoscale vertical air motion in the troposphere, even in the context of heavy precipitation. In this paper, the precipitation events during the Changma period was classified into 4 precipitation types - stratiform, mixed stratiform/ convective, deep convective, and shallow convective. The parameters for the classification of analysis are the vertical structure of reflectivity, Doppler velocity, and spectral width measured with the wind profiler at Haenam for a three-year period (2003-2005). In addition, the synoptic fields and total amount of precipitation were analyzed using the Global Final Analyses (FNL) data and the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) data. During the Changma period, the results show that the stratiform type was dominant under the moist-neutral atmosphere in 2003, whereas the deep convective type was under the moist unstable condition in 2004. The stratiform type was no less popular than the deep convective type among four seasons because the moist neutral layer was formed by the convergence between the upper-level jet and the low-level jet, and by the moisture transport along the western rim of the North Pacific subtropical anticyclone.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.441-455
• /
• 1999

Meteorological characteristics of three high-ozone episodes in the Greater Seoul Area, selected on the basis of morning-average wind direction and speed for the 1990~1997 period, were investigated. Three high-ozone episodes thus selected were seven days of July 3~9, 1992, nine days of July 21~29, 1994, and three days of August 22~24, 1994. Along with surface meteorological data from the Seoul Weather Station, surface and 850-hPa wind fields over the Northest Asia around the Korean Peninsula were used for the analysis. In the July 1992 episode, westerly winds were most frequent as a result of the influence of a high-pressure system in the west behind the trough. In contrast, in the July 1994 episode, easterly winds were most frequent due to the effect of a typhoon moving north from the south of Japan. Despite different prevailing wind directions in the two episodes, the peak ozone concentration of each episode always occurred when a sea-land breeze developed in association with weak synoptic forcing. The August 1994 episode, selected as being representative of calm conditions, was another typical example in which peak ozone concentration rose to 322 ppb under the well-developed sea-land breeze. All three high-ozone episodes were terminated by precipitation, and subsequent rises in ozone concentrations were also suppressed by a series of precipitation afterwards. In particular, two heavy rainfalls were the main reason why the August 1994 episode, with the highest and second-highest ozone concentrations during the 1990~1997 period, lasted for only a few days.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.245-264
• /
• 2013

Heavy rain over the Gangwon region has distinct characteristics in the temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall, most of which are concentrated on a very short period of time and either part of Yeongdong and Yeongseo regions. According to its regional distribution, heavy rain events over the Gangwon region may be classified into Yeongdong and Yeongseo heavy rain in which rainfalls of more than 110 mm $(6 hrs)^{-1}$ (heavy rain warning) have been observed in at least one of the weather stations over only Yeongdong or Yeongseo region, but over the other region the rainfalls are less than 70 mm $(6 hrs)^{-1}$ (heavy rain advisory). To differentiate between Yeongdong and Yeongseo heavy rain, 9 cases for Yeongdong heavy rain and 8 cases for Yeongseo heavy rain are examined on their synoptic and mesoscale environments using some meteorological parameters and ingredients. In addition, 8 cases are examined in which heavy rain warning or advisory are issued in both Yeongdong and Yeongseo regions. The cases for each heavy rain type have shown largely similar features in some meteorological parameters and ingredients. Based on an ingredient analysis, there are three common and basic ingredients for the three heavy rain types: instability, moisture, and lift. However, it is found that the distinct and important process producing strong upward vertical motions may discriminate among three heavy rain types very well. Yeongdong heavy rain is characterized by strong orographic lifting, Yeongseo heavy rain by high instability (high CAPE), and heavy rain over both regions by strong synoptic-scale ascent (strong 850 hPa Q-Vector convergence, diagnostics for ascent). These ingredients and diagnostics for the ingredients can be used to forecasting the potential for regional heavy rain. And also by knowing which of ingredients is important for each heavy rain type, forecasters can concentrate on only a few ingredients from numerous diagnostic and prognostic products for forecasting heavy rain events.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.325-336
• /
• 2018

The physical infrastructure of the power systems, including the high-voltage transmission towers and lines as well as the poles and wires for power distribution at a lower voltage level, is critical for the resilience of the community since the failures or nonfunctioning of these structures could introduce large area power outages under the extreme weather events. In the current engineering practices, single circuit lattice steel towers linked by transmission lines are widely used to form power transmission systems. After years of service and continues interactions with natural and built environment, progressive damages accumulate at various structural details and could gradually change the structural performance. This study is to evaluate the typical existing transmission tower-line system subjected to synoptic winds (atmospheric boundary layer winds). Effects from the possible corrosion penetration on the structural members of the transmission towers and the aerodynamic damping force on the conductors are evaluated. However, corrosion in connections is not included. Meanwhile, corrosion on the structural members is assumed to be evenly distributed. Wind loads are calculated based on the codes used for synoptic winds and the wind tunnel experiments were carried out to obtain the drag coefficients for different panels of the transmission towers as well as for the transmission lines. Sensitivity analysis is carried out based upon the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) to evaluate the structural capacity of the transmission tower-line system for different corrosion and loading conditions. Meanwhile, extreme value analysis is also performed to further estimate the short-term extreme response of the transmission tower-line system.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.33 no.8
• /
• pp.591-604
• /
• 2024

To investigate the frequency and trajectories of volcanic ash from Mt. Baekdu reaching the Korean Peninsula, a forward trajectory analysis was conducted using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. Through a cluster analysis of air parcel trajectories, we identified the main pathways of the volcanic ash from Mt. Baekdu entering the Korean Peninsula and analyzed the synoptic meteorological conditions on those days. The frequency of volcanic ash reaching the Korean Peninsula was 82 times at an altitude of 1000 m and 70 times at 2000 m, with an increasing trend from 2016 to 2022. This increase is attributed to the weakening of westerly winds and the strengthening of north-south winds due to global warming. Five and three trajectory clusters were classified at 1000 m and 2000 m, respectively. At a starting altitude of 1000 m, most air parcels originating from Mt. Baekdu entered the Korean Peninsula under weather conditions (C2, C3) where the pressure gradient from the northwest to the southeast was small, resulting in weak northerly winds. C2 and C3 showed shorter trajectories, which occurred in all seasons, except summer. At a starting altitude of 2000 m, air parcels mostly passed over the Korean Peninsula in a synoptic pattern similar to that at 1000 m in altitude; however, the air parcels had simpler paths and less frequent inflow. C2, at a starting altitude of 2000 m, originates from Mount Baekdu, crosses the center of the Korean Peninsula, and continues to the central region. At a starting altitude of 1000 m, volcanic ash can enter the Korean Peninsula when there is no strong low-pressure system to the southeast of the Korean Peninsula, whereas at 2000 m, volcanic ash can enter the Korean Peninsula when the Siberian high-pressure system is weak.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.407-412
• /
• 2011

Even though KMA(Korea Meteorological Administration) has been doing WE-FAX service in past 40 years, most of korean ship's officers use Japan/USA WE-FAX instead of KMA WE-FAX during passage in the NW Pacific. In this regards, the authors carry out the research on the improvement of KMA WE-FAX service, examining the officers's opinions to KMA WE-FAX service along with comparing Korea, Japan & USA synoptic weather charts. As a result, it is suggested that (1) Have KMA WE-FAX service known to the officers in the course of education and training, (2) Persuade ocean-going ships to participate VOS to provide more accurate weather charts. (3) Provide additional weather charts such as Wave analysis, Surface forecast and put useful weather informations on weather charts to enhance navigational safety.

• Atmosphere
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.85-95
• /
• 2016

In this study, we investigated the variabilities of wind speed of 850 hPa and precipitable water over the East Asia region using the NCEP Final Analysis data from December 2001 to November 2011. A large variance of wind speed was observed in northern and eastern China during the winter period. During summer, the regions of the East China Sea, the South Sea of Japan and the East Sea show large variances in the wind speed caused by an extended North Pacific High and typhoon activities. The large variances in the wind speed in the regions are shown to be correlated with the inter-annual variability of precipitable water over the inland region of windward side of the Korean Peninsula. Based on the investigation, sensitivity tests to the domain size were performed using the WRF model version 3.6 for heavy precipitation events over the Korean Peninsula for 26 and 27 July 2011. Numerical experiments of different domain sizes were set up with 5 km horizontal and 50 levels vertical resolutions for the control and the first experimental run, and 9 km horizontal for the second experimental run. We found that the major rainfalls correspond to shortwave troughs with baroclinic structure over Northeast China and extended North Pacific High. The correlation analysis between the observation and experiments for 1-h precipitation indicated that the second experiment with the largest domain had the best performance with the correlation coefficient of 0.79 due to the synoptic-scale systems such as short-wave troughs and North Pacific High.