• Atmosphere
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.177-188
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• 2017

The development mechanisms of an unusual heavy snowfall event, which occurred in the coast of Jeju Island on 23 January 2016 were investigated through a thermodynamic approach. The formation of heavy snowfall was attributed to the enhanced thermal convection in two ways. First, the convection was enhanced by the air-sea temperature difference between the cold air advection in low-troposphere associated with the strengthening of the Siberian High and abnormal warm sea surface temperature, which is $1{\sim}2^{\circ}C$ higher than normal year over the Yellow Sea (YS). Second, the convective instability was increased by the vertical temperature gradient between the 7 days-sustained cold air advection in low-troposphere and the abrupt cold air intrusion in mid-troposphere induced by the southward shift of a cold cut-off vortex ($-45^{\circ}C$) at the formation stage. Compared to the twelve hours prior to the formation, the low-level moisture increased by 5% through the moisture supply from the YS, and the air-sea temperature difference increased from $18.5^{\circ}C$ to $28.5^{\circ}C$. Furthermore, the upward sensible (latent) heat flux increased 1.5 (1.2) times over the YS before the twelve hours prior to the formation. Thereafter, the sustained moisture supply and upward turbulent heat flux helped to maintain the snowstorm.

• Atmosphere
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.343-364
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• 2014

This study presents local and synoptic conditions associated with extreme heavy snowfall events in the Yeongdong region, as well as the temporal and spatial variability of these conditions. During the last 12 years (2001~2012), 3 extreme snowfall events occurred in the Yeongdong region, which recorded daily snowfall greater than 50 cm, respectively. In these events, one of the noticeable features is the occurrence of heavy hourly snowfall greater than 10 cm. It was reported from satellite analysis that these heavy snowfall may be closely related to mesoscale convective clouds. In this paper the 3 extreme events are examined on their synoptic environments associated with the developments of mesoscale convective system using numerical model output. These 3 events all occurred in strongly forced synoptic environments where 500 and 300 hPa troughs and 500 hPa thermal troughs were evident. From the analysis of diagnostic variables, it was found in all 3 events that absolute vorticity and cold air advection were dominant in the Yeongdong region and its surrounding sea at upper levels, especially at around 500 hPa (absolute vorticity: $20{\sim}60{\times}10^{-5}s^{-1}$, cold air advection: $-10{\sim}-20^{\circ}C$ $12hr^{-1}$). Moreover, the spatial distributions of cold advection showed mostly the shape of a narrow band along the eastern coast of Korea. These features of absolute vorticity and cold advection at 500 hPa were sustained for about 10 hours before the occurrence of maximum hourly snowfall.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.121-131
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• 2003

We have found that the east coast of Korea has had few sea fogs on January, February, November and December for the past 20 years by the analysis of monthly fog frequency and duration time. These phenomena appear to relate to the topographical characteristics of which the Taebaek Mountains descends toward the east to bar the radiation fog. On the other hand, the cause of occurring the spring and summer fog which has 90% of the whole frequency is divided into three cases. The first is the steam fog caused by the advection of the northeast cold air current on the East Sea due to the extension of Okhotsk High. The second is the advection fog caused by cooling and saturation of warm airmass advected on cold sea surface. And the last is the frontal fog caused by the supply of enough vapor due to the movement of low-pressure system and the advection of cold air behind a cold front. While, we simulate the sea fog for the period of the case studies by implementing fog prediction system(DUT-METRI) that makes it possible to forecast the fog in the vertical section of neighborhood of the East Sea and to predict the sea surface wind, relative humidity, ceiling height, visibility etc. Finally we verified this result by satellite image.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.657-670
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• 2015

Visibility and Automatic Weather System(AWS) data near Nakdong river were analyzed to characterize fog formation during 2012-2013. The temperature was lower than its nearby city - Daegu, whereas the humidity was higher than the city. 157 fog events were observed in total during the 2 year period. About 65% of the events occurred in fall (September, October, and November) followed by winter, summer, and spring. 94 early morning fog events of longer than 30 minutes occurred when south westerly wind speed was lower than 2 m/s. During these events, the water temperature was highest followed by soil surface and air temperatures due to the advection of cold and humid air from nearby hill. The observed fog events were categorized using a fog-type classification algorithm, which used surface cooling, wind speed threshold, rate of change of air temperature and dew point temperature. As a result, frontal fog observed 6 times, radiation 4, advection 13, and evaporation 66. The evaporation fog in the study area lasted longer than other reports. It is due to the interactions of cold air drainage flow and warm surface in addition to the evaporation from the water surface. In particular, more than 60% of the evaporation fog events were accompanied with cold air flows over the wet and warm surface. Therefore, it is needed for the identification of the inland fog mechanism to evaluate the impacts of nearby topography and land cover as well as water body.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.712-736
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• 2022

To understand the characteristics of low-level clouds (CLs), environmental variables are composited on each CL using individual surface observations and six-hourly upper-air meteorologies around the globe. Individual CLs has its own distinct environmental conditions. Over the eastern subtropical and western North Pacific Ocean in JJA, stratocumulus (CL5) has a colder sea surface temperature (SST), stronger and lower inversion, and more low-level cloud amount (LCA) than the climatology whereas cumulus (CL12) has the opposite characteristics. Over the eastern subtropical Pacific, CL5 and CL12 are influenced by cold and warm advection within the PBL, respectively but have similar cold advection over the western North Pacific. This indicates that the fundamental physical process distinguishing CL5 and CL12 is not the horizontal temperature advection but the interaction with the underlying sea surface, i.e., the deepening-decoupling of PBL and the positive feedback between shortwave radiation and SST. Over the western North Pacific during JJA, sky-obscuring fog (CL11), no low-level cloud (CL0), and fair weather stratus (CL6) are associated with anomalous warm advection, surface-based inversion, mean upward flow, and moist mid-troposphere with the strongest anomalies for CL11 followed by CL0. Over the western North Pacific during DJF, bad weather stratus (CL7) occurs in the warm front of the extratropical cyclone with anomalous upward flow while cumulonimbus (CL39) occurs on the rear side of the cold front with anomalous downward flow. Over the tropical oceans, CL7 has strong positive (negative) anomalies of temperature in the upper troposphere (PBL), relative humidity, and surface wind speed in association with the mesoscale convective system while CL12 has the opposite anomalies and CL39 is in between.

• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.10 no.S_1
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• pp.29-33
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• 2001

A numerical simulation was carried out to investigate the mechanism of snowfall around the Seoul region during a cold air-outbreak in the winter season. A particular case was selected for this study(Dec. 19, 1999). The inflow directions of the synoptic flow in the upper and lower levels were westerly and north-westerly, respectively. Plus, there was a deep trough and thermal ridge at a level of 500/700/850 hPa over the Bal-Hae region, in the northern part of the Korean peninsula. According to the model results, snowfall occurred around the Seoul region with the simultaneous existence of a strong static instability in the lower atmosphere, northerly or westerly dry air advection, and strong thermal advection toward the Seoul region. There was a strong convergence thereby indicating the existence of convective rolls in the clouds. The main energy source of convection over the Yellow sea was a sensible heat flux. The main moisture source was convection. Radiative cooling in the cloud layer intensified the static instability in the lower atmosphere.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 1977

For four calender years (1971-1974), daily observations of weather conditions (air temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, cloud amount, fog, precipitation etc.) at six stations in the north western Pacific Ocean are used to calculate mean monthly values and to check extra-conditions. At Petropavlosk and Miko'skoe, where indicate the characteristics of modified continental climate, the temperature and humidity are high in summer, and Iow in winter. At A Dak and She Mya, where indicate the characteristics of warm current type maritime climate, humidity is high in all season and annual range of air temperature is nearly negligible. At Simusir and Vasi!' eva, where indicate the characteristics of cold current type maritime climate, humidity is high in all season and annual range of air temperature is $15^{\circ}C.$ As dry cooling power is relatively high in winter, working condition on deck is bad. Most of fogs are advection fog in the area of cold current type climate in summer.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.302-312
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• 2006

This study has investigated the effect of Arctic Oscillation (AO) on cold surge through atmospheric circulation and heat source analysis for the past winters from 1979 to 2004. The number of occurrence of cold surge in the negative AO phase is about 14.3% larger than that in the positive AO phase. The number of occurrence of cold surge per a month in the negative (positive) AO phase is about 1.33 (1.05), respectively, indicating that the negative AO phase has about 26.6% larger occurrence than the positive AO phase. It means that the cold surge has occurred frequently in particular months with the negative AO phase. And it also shows that surface temperature in the negative AO phase is about $0.6^{\circ}C$ lower than in positive AO phase. As a result of the analysis for the difference of heat source according to the intensity of AO, it shows that surface air temperature around the Korean peninsula in the negative AO phase is more lower than in positive AO phase by the intensification of cold advection term. However, heat source term cancels out the cooling effect by cold advection term, indicating that it suppresses the decrease in surface air temperature. It results in a small difference of $0.6^{\circ}C$ in surface air temperature between the positive and negative AO phase in spite of the significance of atmospheric circulation change.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.645-661
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• 2013

The synoptic, thermodynamic, and dynamic characteristics of a heavy snowfall event that occurred in Seoul metropolitan area on 27 to 28 December 2010 was investigated. During this period there was a distinctive case that was identified as a polar low. We analyzed surface and upper level weather charts, snowfall amount, sea surface temperature, satellite imagery, sounding, and the National Center for Environmental Prediction global $1^{\circ}{\times}1^{\circ}$ reanalysis data. The polar low developed in an area where there was strong baroclinicity in the lower level aided by strong conditional instability due to 925 hPa warm air advection and 700 hPa cold air advection. The development mechanism of polar low is due, in part, to the tropopause folding, which advected stratospheric air increasing potential vorticity in mid-level and inducing cyclonic vorticity and convergence in low-level. Eventually clouds developed and there were snowfall total of 10 cm in Seoul metropolitan area and as much as 20 cm in southern parts of Korea. During the snowfall development, there was a $-45^{\circ}C$ cold core at 500 hPa and shortwave maintained $3-5^{\circ}$ separation with surface trough, which favored the development of polar low located in the warm sector and cyclonic advection area. The height of the dynamical tropopause lowered to 700 hPa during the peak development and increase in potential vorticity allowed strong vertical motion to occur. Overall, there was a close relationship between the development of snowfall and tropopause undulation. The heaviest snowfall occurred east of the tropopause folding where strong cyclonic vorticity, vertical motion, and moisture advection all coincided while the polar low was passing through the Korean peninsula.

• Atmosphere
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.389-405
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• 2015

In this study, the occurrence circumstances of 3 cases (12 Jan 2006, 11 Jan 2008, 22 Feb 2009) when the freezing rain was observed at more than two observatories in a day with more than three times each observatory, were investigated. Following the advanced study about the same cases, we have tried to find more delicate differences in using the Korea Local Analysis and Prediction System (KLAPS; 5 km reanalysis data) that has the smallest grid scale at current situation. As results, three common characteristics are found: (1) Just before the occurrence of the freezing rain, the wind direction was consistently continuous and the wind speed was constant or gradually increased for at least 3 hr more. (2) Surface air temperature (Relative humidity) was respectively $3.08^{\circ}C$ (28.76%), $0.47^{\circ}C$ (50.07%) and $-3.60^{\circ}C$ (71.07%) 3 hr ago to break out the freezing rain. It means the freezing rain occurs in a wide range of atmospheric environments. However, the closer it got to the occurrence time of the freezing rain, the closer the surface air temperature was to $0^{\circ}C$, and the bigger the humidity of the surface air was. (3) The liquid precipitation formed in the upper atmosphere, met a cold advection bellower than 950 hPa level and suspected to be changed to the super-cooled condition.