• Atmosphere
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.383-392
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• 2018

This study investigates synoptic characteristics of cold surges over South Korea during winter season (December-February). A total of 63 cold events are selected by quantile regression analysis using daily mean temperature observations from 11 KMA stations for 38 years (1979/80-2016/17). Large-scale pressure pattern during the cold surges is well characterized by high over Siberia and low over Aleutian regions, which elucidates cold advection over the Korean peninsula. However, the large-scale pattern cannot successfully explain the observed sudden decrease of temperature during the cold surges. Composite analyses reveal that a synoptic-scale cyclone developing over the northern Japan is a key feature that significantly contribute to the enhancement of cold advection by increasing pressure gradient over the Korean peninsula. Enhanced sensible and latent heat fluxes are observed over the southern ocean of Korea and Japan during the cold surges due to temperature and humidity differences between the near surface and the lower atmosphere over the ocean. The evaporated water vapor transported toward the center of the surface cyclone and condenses in the lower-to-middle troposphere. The released energy likely promotes the development of the surface cyclone by inducing positive PV near the surface of the heating region.

• 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.

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 1988

A simple model is presented which may explain the distributions of cold surface water near Ulsan. The model considers the problem as an advection-diffusion process with cold source confined within narrow coastal areas. The natural warming due to vertical process (interaction either with the atmosphere above or with the subsurface water below) also plays an important role. A simple numerical computation reproduces the observations quite well. The localization of cold surface water occurs at the point where the local warm current separates from the coast.

• 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.

• 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.

• Atmosphere
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.211-219
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• 2010

The interannual variability of the tropical Indian Ocean SST is investigated by analyzing the ocean assimilation data. It is significant that since 1970, ENSO events frequently followed the Indian Ocean Dipole event. The SST tendency due to the dynamical SST advections over the tropical Indian Ocean sufficiently overwhelms that due to other thermodynamic process during the fall and winter of ENSO. Especially, the strong cooling due to the anomalous vertical advection by the mean upwelling and the warming due to the horizontal advection are attributed to the cold SST during the fall and the warm SST during the winter, respectively. The significant warming between winter and spring over the southwestern Indian Ocean turns out to be due to the vertical advection of the mean subsurface temperature by the anomalous upwelling during the winter and the vertical advection of the anomalous subsurface temperature by the mean upwelling from winter to spring. We speculate that when the Indian Ocean Dipole events concurred with the ENSO, the surface wind is so strong enough as to generate the change in the SST dynamically and overwhelm the SST changes associated with other effects.

• Atmosphere
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.207-221
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• 2022

In Jeju, on January 23, 2016, a cold surge accompanied by heavy snowfall with the most significant amount of 12 cm was the highest record in 32 years. During this period, the temperature of 850 hPa in January was the lowest in 2016. Notably, in 2016, the average surface temperature of January on the Polar cap was the highest since 1991, and 500 hPa geopotential height also showed the highest value. With this condition, the polar vortex in the northern hemisphere meandered and expanded into the subtropics regionally, covering the Korean Peninsula with very high potential vorticity up to 7 Potential Vorticity Unit. As a result, the strong cold advection, mostly driven by a northerly wind, around the Korean Peninsula occurred at over 2𝜎. Previous studies have not addressed this extreme synoptic condition linked to polar vortex expansion due to the unprecedented Arctic warming. We suggest that the occurrence of a strong Ural blocking event after the abrupt warming of the Barents/Karas seas is a major cause of unusually strong cold advection. With a specified mesoscale model simulation with SST (Sea Surface Temperature), we also show that the warmer SST condition near the Korean Peninsula contributed to the heavy snowfall event on Jeju Island.

• 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 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.