• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.24-24
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• 2019

This study investigates variations in the Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) and its impact on South Korean precipitation in late summer during the period between 1958 and 2017. Composite analysis reveals that precipitation occurrence is directly linked to the displacement of the WPSH western ridge, a single, large-scale feature of the atmosphere in the Pacific Ocean. When WPSH ridging is located northwest (NW) of its climatological mean position, excessive precipitation is expected in late summer due to enhanced moisture transport. On the other hand, a precipitation deficit is frequently observed when the western ridge is located in the southeast (SE). Different phases of the WPSH are associated with lagged patterns of Pacific and Atlantic atmospheric and oceanic variability, introducing the potential to predict variability in the WPSH western ridge and its climate over northern East Asia by one month. Based on the identified SST patterns, a simple statistical model is developed and improvement in the ability to predict is confirmed through a cross-validation framework. Finally, the potential for further improvements in WPSH-based predictions is addressed.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.102-106
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• 2013

The intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon has a negative correlation with that of the western North Pacific summer monsoon. Based on the relationship, we suggest the potential predictability of Northeast Asian summer precipitation by using the relationship. The western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) properly represents the intensity of the western North Pacific summer monsoon. It also dominates climate anomalies in the western North Pacific-East Asian region in summertime. The estimates of the Northeast Asian summer rainfall anomalies using WNPSH variability have a greater benefit than those using the western North Pacific monsoon index.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.88-94
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• 2014

The seasonal predictability of the intensity of the Northeast Asian summer monsoon is low while that of the western North subtropical high variability is, when state-of-the-art general circulation models are used, relatively high. The western North Pacific subtropical high dominates the climate anomalies in the western North Pacific-East Asian region. This study discusses the predictability of the western North Pacific subtropical High variability in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System (NCEP CFS). The interannual variability of the Northeast Asian summer monsoon is highly correlated with one of the western North Pacific subtropical Highs. Based on this relationship, we suggest a seasonal prediction model using NCEP CFS and canonical correlation analysis for Northeast Asian summer precipitation anomalies and assess the predictability of the prediction model. This methodology provides significant skill in the seasonal prediction of the Northeast Asian summer rainfall anomalies.

• Atmosphere
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.279-286
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• 2008

In the tropical western Pacific (especially, west of 135oE, including South China Sea and the Philippines), during boreal summer, it was found that a strong correlation exists between the tropical cyclone activity and the drought conditions in Korea. During the summer drought, firstly, there were strong ascending flows over the tropical western Pacific with more tropical cyclone genesis, and to compensate for this, descending flows develop in the mid-latitudes, thereby causing drought; in other words, a secondary circulation is formed between the tropical western Pacific and mid-latitudes of East Asia. Secondly, the developments of both the subtropical western Pacific high and the Manchurian low are suppressed. As a result, both the land-sea pressure gradient and the southerly flow from low-latitudes to Korean area are also weakened, which reduces approaches of tropical cyclones to this area despite the high frequency of their geneses.

• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.483-488
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• 2012

The monsoon front lies on East Asian region, but it gradually propagates to the north during the boreal summer. The equivalent potential temperature (EPT) reveals the thermodynamical features of air masses and monsoon front. Therefore, this study considered the thermodynamical EPT and dynamical wind fields to clarify the peculiarity of East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) variations in June and July, respectively. Western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) and Okhotsk sea high (OSH) both play the crucial role to interannual variations of EASM frontal activity and amount of rainfall. The OSH is important in June, but the WNPSH is key factor in July. Furthermore, the OSH (June) is affected by North Atlantic tripolar sea surface temperature (SST) pattern and WNPSH (July) is influenced by North Indian Ocean SST warming.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.687-696
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• 2016

The western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) in boreal summer has interannual and interdecadal variability, which affects East Asian summer monsoon variability. In particular, it is well known that the intensity of WNPSH is reversely related to that of summer monsoon in North East Asia in association with Pacific Japan (PJ)-like pattern. Many coupled climate models weakly simulate this large-scale teleconnection pattern and also exhibit the diverse variability of WNPSH. This study discusses the inter-model differences of WNPSH simulated by different climate models, which participate in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). In comparing with reanalysis observation, the 29 CMIP5 models could be assorted into two difference groups in terms of interannual variability of WNPSH. This study also discusses the dynamical or thermodynamics factors for the differences of two groups of the CMIP5 climate models. As results, the regressed precipitation in well-simulating group onto the Nino3.4 index ($5^{\circ}N-5^{\circ}S$, $170^{\circ}W-120^{\circ}W$) is stronger than that in poorly-simulating group. We suggest that this difference of two groups of the CMIP5 climate models would have an effect on simulating the interannual variability of WNPSH.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.369-379
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• 2002

The characteristics of the East Asian summer monsoon circulation associated with the cool and wet summer of 1993 and the warm and dry summer of 1994 are investigated by analyzing the atmospheric circulations features in the upper and lower troposphere and by examining the global SST and associated tropical convective precipitation fields. The negative geopotential height anomalies at 500 hPa and 200 hPa in 1993 over East Asia, the central North Pacific, and the western United States were replaced by positive ones in 1994. In addition, the 200 hPa zonal wind anomaly averaged over the East Asian summer monsoon region is negatively correlated with the Korean summer temperature anomaly. The subtropical jet stream in 1993 was displaced into the central part of Korea well south of its normal position. The western Pacific subtropical high was shifted southward, and the East Asian summer rainfall and temperature was above-normal and below-normal, respectively due to the southwestward extension of a cold and dry polar airmass from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Est Sea. In contrast, the subtropical jet stream in 1994 was displaced well north of its normal position. The abrupt northward shift of the western Pacific subtropical high was accompanied with the rapid northward movement of the rain band of the East Asian summer monsoon rainfall. The anomaly patterns of the East Asia summer rainfall and temperature were opposite to those of 1993. Large sea surface temperature anomalies of opposite signs existed in the tropical Pacific with a mature El $Ni{\~{n}o$ in 1993 and a weak La $Ni{\~{n}a$ condition in 1994. The role of the anomalous convective precipitation in the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean related with the variations in the low-level cross-equatorial flow along the northwestern periphery of the Australian high and the Mascarene high is probably to influence a large-scale atmospheric circulation over the East Asia during both the years.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.453-460
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• 2011

By performing a statistical change-point analysis of activities of the tropical cyclones (TCs) that have affected Korea (K-TCs), it was found that there was a significant change between 1983 and 1984. During the period of 1984-2004 (P2), more TCs migrated toward the west, recurved in the southwest, and affected Korea, compared to the period of 1965-1983 (P1). These changes for P2 were related to the southwestward expansion of the subtropical western North Pacific high (SWNPH) and simultaneously elongation of its elliptical shape toward Korea. Because of these changes, the central pressure and lifetime of K-TC during P2 were deeper and longer, respectively, than figures for P1. This stronger K-TC intensity for P2 was related to the more southwestward genesis due to the southwestward expansion of the SWNPH. The weaker vertical wind shear environment during P2 was more favorable for K-TC to maintain a strong intensity in the mid-latitudes of East Asia.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.345-356
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• 2017

It is important to understand the variability of tropospheric ozone since it is both a major pollutant affecting human health and a greenhouse gas influencing global climate. We analyze the characteristics of East Asia tropospheric ozone simulated in a chemistry-climate model. We use a global chemical transport model, driven by the prescribed meteorological fields from an air-sea coupled climate model simulation. Compared with observed data, the ozone simulation shows differences in distribution and concentration levels; in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula, a large error occurred in summer. Our analysis reveals that this bias is mainly due to the difference in atmospheric circulation, as the anomalous southerly winds lead to the decrease in tropospheric ozone in this region. In addition, observational data have shown that the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) reduces tropospheric ozone across the southern China/Korean Peninsula/Japan region. In the model, the ozone changes associated with WNPSH are shifted westward relative to the observations. Our findings suggest that the variations in WNPSH should be considered in predicting tropospheric ozone concentrations.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.185-195
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• 2023

The prolonged and heavy East Asian summer precipitation in 2020 may have been caused by an enhanced Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), which requires evaluation using forecast models. We examined the performance of GloSea6, an operational forecast model, in predicting the East Asian summer precipitation during July 2020, and investigated the role of MJO in the extreme rainfall event. Two experiments, CON and EXP, were conducted using different convection schemes, 6A and 5A, respectively to simulate various aspects of MJO. The EXP runs yielded stronger forecasts of East Asian precipitation for July 2020 than the CON runs, probably due to the prominent MJO realization in the former experiment. The stronger MJO created stronger moist southerly winds associated with the western North Pacific subtropical high, which led to increased precipitation. The strengthening of the MJO was found to improve the prediction accuracy of East Asian summer precipitation. However, it is important to note that this study does not discuss the impact of changes in the convection scheme on the modulation of MJO. Further research is needed to understand other factors that could strengthen the MJO and improve the forecast.