• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.591-605
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• 2010

Recirculation of airmass in coastal region occurs because of the change from land to sea breeze and was shown to produce a contrary result on air quality. This study examines the numerical simulation to analyze the effect of recirculation flow in Gwangyang Bay, Korea. For this purpose two case studies are performed by the WRF-FLEXPART-CMAQ modeling system, each for a different Meso-Synoptic Index. Additionally this research make a comparative study of large domain (Domain L) and small domain (Domain S). The horizontal wind fields are simulated from WRF. Changes in the land-sea breeze have an effect on the particle dispersion modeling. The numerical simulation of air quality is carried out to investigate the recirculation of ozone. Ozone is transported to eastward under strong synoptic condition (Case_strong) because of westerly synoptic flow and this pattern can confirm in all domain. However ozone swept off by the land breeze and then transported to northward along sea breeze under conditions of clear sky and weak winds (Case_weak). In this case re-advected ozone isn't simulate in Domain S. The study found that recirculation of airmass must be concerned when numerical simulation of air quality is performed in coastal region, especially on a sunny day.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.321-336
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• 2016

Damages caused by torrential rain occur every year in Korea and summer time convection can cause strong thunderstorms to develop which bring dangerous weather such as torrential rain, gusts, and flash flooding. On 6 August 2013 a sudden torrential rain concentrated over the inland of Southern Korean Peninsula occurred. This was an event characterized as a mesoscale multicellular convection. The purpose of this study is to analyze the conditions of the multicellular convection and the synoptic and mesoscale nature of the system development. To this end, dynamical and thermodynamic analyses of surface and upper-level weather charts, satellite images, soundings, reanalysis data and WRF model simulations are performed. At the beginning stage there was a cool, dry air intrusion in the upper-level of the Korean Peninsula, and a warm humid air flow from the southwest in the lower-level creating atmospheric instability. This produced a single cell cumulonimbus cloud in the vicinity of Baengnyeongdo, and due to baroclinic instability, shear and cyclonic vorticity the cloud further developed into a multicellular convection. The cloud system moved southeast towards Seoul metropolitan area accompanied by lightning, heavy precipitation and strong wind gusts. In addition, atmospheric instability due to daytime insolation caused new convective cells to develop in the upstream part of the Sobaek Mountain which merged with existing multicellular convection creating a larger system. This case was unusual because the system was affected little by the upper-level jet stream which is typical in Korea. The development and propagation of the multicellular convection showed strong mesoscale characteristics and was not governed by large synoptic-scale dynamics. In particular, the system moved southeast crossing the Peninsula diagonally from northwest to southeast and did not follow the upper-level westerly pattern. The analysis result shows that the movement of the system can be determined by the vertical wind shear.

• Atmosphere
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.159-183
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• 2016

On 31 July 2014, there was a localized torrential rainfall ($58.5mm\;hr^{-1}$) caused by a strong convective cell with thunder showers over Daegwallyeong. In the surface synoptic chart, a typhoon was positioned in the East China Sea and the subtropical high was expanded to the Korean peninsula. A WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) numerical simulation with a resolution of 1 km was performed for a detailed analysis. The simulation result showed a similar pattern in a reflectivity distribution particularly over the Gangwon-do region, compared with the radar reflectivity. According to the results of the WRF simulation, the process and mechanism of the localized heavy rainfall over Daegwallyeong are as follows: (1) a convective instability over the middle part of the Korean peninsula was enhanced due to the low level advection of warm and humid air from the North Pacific high. (2) There was easterly flow from the coast to the mountainous regions around Daegwallyeong, which was generated by the differential heating of the insolation among Daegwallyeong and the Yeongdong coastal plain, and nearby coastal waters. (3) In addition, westerly flow from the western part of Daegwallyeong caused a strong convergence in this region, generating a strong upward motion combined by an orographic effect. (4) This brought about a new convective cell over Daegwallyeong. And this cell was more developed by the outflow from another thunderstorm cell to the south, and finally these two cells were merged to develop as a strong convective cell with thunder showers, leading to the record breaking maximum rainfall per hour ($58.5mm\;hr^{-1}$) in July.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 1983

Temperature inversions are investigated by using the oceanographic data (1965-1979) obtained in the Southern Sea of Korea. The temperature inversions in winter occur about six times more frequently than those in sumner. In the west region of the Southern Sea, the inversions are found at any depth in winter. In the east region of the Southern Sea, however, they usually appear in surface layer in winter. Such inversion phenomena in winter can be explained by surface cooling effects associated with a net heat loss at the sea surface and a southward advection of surface cold water due to north-westerly monsoon. In summer the inversion layers are usually formed below the thermocline in the west region of the Southern Sea, and in surface layer in the east region. The former results from the mixing between the Tsushima Warm Current and the Yellow Sea Bottom Cold Water, and the latter is generated by an offshore flow of cold water near coast due to southwesterly wind.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.89-114
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• 2008

Interrelationship between heavy rainfalls and related with low-level jets(LLJ) is analyzed by using fifty cases of heavy rainfall events occurred over the Korean peninsula from 1992 to 2001. Those cases are classified with four synoptical features. There are 32% chances that the low pressure exist in heavy rainfall over than 150 mm per day case by case. Secondly Changma front and front zone account for 28% of all cases. The ratio of marine tropical boundary type and trough type record 22% and 18% respectively. The moist and warm south-westerly winds associated with low-level jets have been induced convective instability and baroclinic instability. Therefore, heavy rainfall due to the approach of a low pressure occurred at September and before Changma. During the period of Changma, this type has been happened heavy rainfall when low pressure and stationary front has vibrated south and north. Changma type has longer the duration time of precipitation than other types. Third type, located with marine Tropical boundary, have mainly rained in August and September. The last trough case locally downpoured in short time with developing cell. The occurrence low-level jets related to heavy rainfall has increased over 12.5 m/s wind speed. The result is that 43 heavy rainfalls out of 50 cases reach peak at the time of maximum precipitation intensity. Also, the variation of wet number and K-index corresponded with the variation of wind speed. It is found that the number of frequency of low-level jets with southwestward direction has been increased and these jets are mainly passed from the southwest toward to the northeast of the Korean peninsula in that time.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.6 s.105
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• pp.845-862
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• 2004

The aim of this study is to investigate distribution characteristics of incised meander cutoff in Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces of Central Korea. The density of meander cutoff is highest in the mountain rivers including Naerin and Dongdae flowing on Jeongseon-gun and Inje-gun of Gangwon Province. Most of meander cutoff process has been occurred repeatedly during the Quaternary period, especially concentrated in the period of climatic change between glacial and interglacial stages. In the aspect of the lithology, the density of cutoff is highest in sedimentary rock, but lowest in igneous rock. As for geological structure, its frequency is high at $11{\sim}20km$ westerly away from the Taebaek Mountains, at subsequent channel, lower part of resequent channel, and channels crossing the fault line. The relation between distance from the Taebaek Mountains and altitude is very obvious at the western side of the Taebaek Mountains. The values of altitude, height from riverbed, and stream order are highest at sedimentary rock and lowest at volcanic rock.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.22-31
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• 2004

Laboratory experiments were conducted in order to find effects of the intermediate principal stress of ${\sigma}_{2}$ on rock fractures and faults. Polyaxial tests were carried out under the most generalized compressive stress conditions, in which different magnitudes of the least and intermediate principal stresses ${\sigma}_{3}$ and ${\sigma}_{2}$ were maintained constant, and the maximum stress ${\sigma}_{1}$, was increased to failure. Two crystalline rocks (Westerly granite and KTB amphibolite) exhibited similar mechanical behavior, much of which is neglected in conventional triaxial compression tests in which ${\sigma}_{2}$ = ${\sigma}_{3}$. Compressive rock failure took the form of a main shear fracture, or fault, steeply dipping in ${\sigma}_{3}$ direction with its strike aligned with ${\sigma}_{2}$ direction. Rock strength rose significantly with the magnitude of ${\sigma}_{2}$, suggesting that the commonly used Mohr-type failure criteria, which ignore the ${\sigma}_{2}$ effect, predict only the lower limit of rock strength for a given ${\sigma}_{3}$ level. The true triaxial failure criterion for each of the crystalline rocks can be expressed as the octahedral shear stress at failure as a function of the mean normal stress acting on the fault plane. It is found that the onset of dilatancy increases considerably for higher ${\sigma}_{2}$. Thus, ${\sigma}_{2}$ extends the elastic range for a given ${\sigma}_{3}$ and, hence, retards the onset of the failure process. SEM inspection of the micromechanics leading to specimen failure showed a multitude of stress-induced microcracks localized on both sides of the through-going fault. Microcracks gradually align themselves with the ${\sigma}_{1}$-${\sigma}_{2}$ plane as the magnitude of ${\sigma}_{2}$ is raised.

• Atmosphere
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.445-459
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• 2021

This study uses a cloud-resolving storm simulator (CReSS) to understand the individual effect of determinant meteorological factors on snowfall characteristics in the Yeongdong region based on the rawinsonde soundings for two snowfall cases that occurred on 23 February (Episode 1) and 13 December (Episode 2) 2016; one has a single-layered cloud and the other has two-layered cloud structure. The observed cloud and precipitation (snow crystal) features were well represented by a CReSS model. The first ideal experiment with a decrease in low-level temperature for Episode 1 indicates that total precipitation amount was decreased by 19% (26~27% in graupel and 53~67% in snow) compared with the control experiment. In the ideal experiment that the upper-level wind direction was changed from westerly to easterly, although total precipitation was decreased for Episode 1, precipitation was intensified over the southwestern side (specifically in terrain experiment) of the sounding point (128.855°E, 37.805°N). In contrast, the precipitation for Episode 2 was increased by 2.3 times greater than the control experiment under terrain condition. The experimental results imply that the low-level temperature and upper-level dynamics could change the location and characteristics of precipitation in the Yeongdong region. However, the difference in precipitation between the single-layered experiment and control (two-layered) experiment for Episode 2 was negligible to attribute it to the effect of upper-level cloud. The current results could be used for the development of guidance of snowfall forecast in this region.

• Atmosphere
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.457-467
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• 2018

This study investigated the variability of spring (March-May) forest fire risk in Korea for the period 1991~2017 and analyzed its relationship with large-scale climate factors. The Forest Weather Index (FWI) representing the meteorological risk for forest fire occurrences calculated based on observational data and its relationship with large-scale climate factors were analyzed. We performed the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis on the spring FWI. The leading EOF mode of FWI accounting for about 70% of total variability was found to be highly correlated with total number of forest fire occurrences in Korea. The high FWI, forest fire occurrence risk, in Korea, is associated with warmer atmosphere temperature in midwest Eurasia-China-Korea peninsula, cyclonic circulation anomaly in northeastern China-Korea peninsula-northwest pacific, westerly wind anomaly in central China-Korea peninsula, and low humidity in Korea. These are further related with warmer sea surface temperature and enhanced outgoing longwave radiation over Western Pacific, which represents a typical condition for a La $Ni\tilde{n}a$ episode. This suggests that large-scale climate factors over East Asia and ENSO could have a significant influence on the occurrence of spring forest fires in Korea.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.159-168
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• 2019

Understanding the interaction between climate and the water cycle is critical especially in a drought sensitive region such as California. This study explored hydrologic changes in central and southern California in relation to the glacial-interglacial climate cycles over the last 30 thousand years. To do this, we reconstructed paleovegetation using plant wax carbon isotopic compositions (${\delta}^{13}C$) preserved in marine sediment cores retrieved from the central California continental shelf (ODP Site 1018) and Santa Barbara Basin (ODP Site 893A). The results were then compared to the existing sea surface temperature (SST) and pollen records from the same cores to understand terrestrial hydrology in relation to oceanographic processes. The Last Glacial was generally dry both in central and southern California, indicated by grassland expansion, confirming the previously suggested notion that the westerly storm track that supplies the majority of the precipitation in California may not have moved southward during the glacial period. Southern California was drier than central California during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This drying trend may have been associated with the weakening of the California Current and northerly winds leading to the early increase in SST in southern California and decline in both offshore and coastal upwelling. The climate was wetter during the Holocene in both regions compared to the glacial period and forest coverage increased accordingly. We attribute this wetter condition to the precipitation contribution increase from the tropics. Overall, we found a clear synchronicity between the terrestrial and marine environment which showed that the terrestrial vegetation composition in California is greatly affected by not only the global climate states but also regional oceanographic and atmospheric conditions that regulate the timing and amount of precipitation over California.