• Atmosphere
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.451-466
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• 2010

This edition has continued since 2006 tropical cyclone season our effort to provide standard tropical cyclone summaries by the western North Pacific basin and detailed reviews of operationally or meteorologically significant tropical cyclones to document significant challenges and shortfalls in the tropical cyclone warning system to serve as a focal point for research and development efforts. The tropical cyclone season of 2009 in the western North Pacific basin is summarized and the main characteristics of general atmospheric circulation are described. Also, the official track and intensity forecasts of these cyclones are verified. The total number is less than 59-year (1951~2009) average frequency of 26.4. The 2009 western North Pacific season was an inactive one, in which 22 tropical storms generated. Of these, 13 TCs reached typhoon (TY) intensity, while the rest 9 TCs only reached severe tropical storm (STS) and tropical storm (TS) intensity - three STS and six TS storms. On average of 22 TCs in 2009, the Korea Meteorological Administration official track forecast error for 48 hours was 219 km. There was a big challenge for individual cyclones such as 0902 CHAN-HOM, 0909 ETAU, and 0920 LUPIT resulting in significant forecast error, with both intricate tracks and irregular moving speed. There was no tropical cyclone causing significant direct impact to the country. The tropical cyclone season in 2009 began in May with the formation of KUJIRA (0901). In September and October, ten TSs formed in the western North Pacific in response to enhanced convective activity. On the other hand, the TC activity was very weak from June to July. It is found that the unusual anti-cyclonic circulation in the lower level and weak convection near the Philippines are dominant during summertime. The convection and atmospheric circulation in the western North Pacific contributed unfavorable condition for TC activity in the 2009 summertime. Year 2009 has continued the below normal condition since mid 1990s which is apparent in the decadal variability in TC activity.

• Atmosphere
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.183-198
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to summarize the tropical cyclone (TC) activity of 2008 over the western North Pacific including the verification of the official track and intensity forecast errors of these TCs. The TC activity - frequency, Normalized Typhoon Activity (NTA), and life span - was lower than 58-year (1951-2008) average. 22 tropical cyclones of tropical storm (TS) intensity or higher formed in the western North Pacific and the South China Sea in 2008. The total number is less than 58-year average frequency of 26.4. Out of 22 tropical cyclones, 11 TCs reached typhoon (TY) intensity, while the rest 11 TCs only reached severe tropical storm (STS) and tropical storm (TS) intensity - six STS and five TS storms. One typhoon KALMAEGI (0807) among them affected the Korea peninsula. However, no significant impact - casualty or property damage - was reported. On average of 22 TCs in 2008, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) official track forecast error for 48 hours was 229 km. There was a big challenge for individual cyclones such as 0806 FENGSHEN and 0817 HIGOS presenting significant forecast error, with both intricate tracks and irregular moving speed. The tropical cyclone season in 2008 began in April with the formation of NEOGURI (0801). In May, four TCs formed in the western North Pacific in response to enhanced convective activity. On the other hand, the TC activity was very weak from June to August. It is found that the unusual anti-cyclonic circulation in the lower level and weak convection near the Philippines are dominant during summertime. The convection and atmospheric circulation in the western North Pacific contributed unfavorable condition for TC activity in the 2008 summertime. The 2008 TC activity has continued the below normal state since mid 1990s which is apparent the decadal variability in TC activity.

• Atmosphere
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.283-301
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• 2014

In 2010, only 14 tropical cyclones (TCs) were generated over the western North Pacific (WNP), which was the smallest since 1951. This study summarizes characteristics of TCs generated in 2010 over the WNP and investigates the causes of the record-breaking TC genesis. A long-term variation of TC activity in the WNP and verification of official track forecast in 2010 are also examined. Monthly tropical sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly data reveal that El Ni$\tilde{n}$o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event in 2010 was shifted from El Ni$\tilde{n}$o to La Ni$\tilde{n}$a in June and the La Ni$\tilde{n}$a event was strong and continued to the end of the year. We found that these tropical environments leaded to unfavorable conditions for TC formation at main TC development area prior to May and at tropics east of $140^{\circ}E$ during summer mostly due to low SST, weak convection, and strong vertical wind shear in those areas. The similar ENSO event (in shifting time and La Ni$\tilde{n}$a intensity) also occurred in 1998, which was the second smallest TC genesis year (16 TCs) since 1951. The common point of the two years suggests that the ENSO episode shifting from El Ni$\tilde{n}$o to strong La Ni$\tilde{n}$a in summer leads to extremely low TC genesis during La Ni$\tilde{n}$a although more samples are needed for confidence. In 2010, three TCs, DIANMU (1004), KOMPASU (1007) and MALOU (1009), influenced the Korean Peninsula (KP) in spite of low total TC genesis. These TCs were all generated at high latitude above $20^{\circ}N$ and arrived over the KP in short time. Among them, KOMPASU (1007) brought the most serious damage to the KP due to strong wind. For 14 TCs in 2010, mean official track forecast error of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) for 48 hours was 215 km, which was the highest among other foreign agencies although the errors are generally decreasing for last 10 years, suggesting that more efforts are needed to improve the forecast skill.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.76-84
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• 2013

An adequate downscaling of the official forecasts of Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) is a prerequisite to improving the value and utility of agrometeorological information in rural areas, where complex terrain and small farms constitute major features of the landscape. In this study, we suggest a simple correction scheme for scaling down the KMA temperature forecasts from mesoscale (5 km by 5 km) to the local scale (30 m by 30 m) across a rural catchment, especially under temperature inversion conditions. The study area is a rural catchment of $50km^2$ area with complex terrain and located on a southern slope of Mountain Jiri National Park. Temperature forecasts for 0600 LST on 62 days with temperature inversion were selected from the fall 2011-spring 2012 KMA data archive. A geospatial correction scheme which can simulate both cold air drainage and the so-called 'thermal belt' was used to derive the site-specific temperature deviation across the study area at a 30 m by 30 m resolution from the original 5 km by 5 km forecast grids. The observed temperature data at 12 validation sites within the study area showed a substantial reduction in forecast error: from ${\pm}2^{\circ}C$ to ${\pm}1^{\circ}C$ in the mean error range and from $1.9^{\circ}C$ to $1.6^{\circ}C$ in the root mean square error. Improvement was most remarkable at low lying locations showing frequent cold pooling events. Temperature prediction error was less than $2^{\circ}C$ for more than 80% of the observed inversion cases and less than $1^{\circ}C$ for half of the cases. Temperature forecasts corrected by this scheme may accelerate implementation of the freeze and frost early warning service for major fruits growing regions in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.133-140
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• 2002

Site-specific minimum temperature forecasts are critical in a short-term decision making procedure for preventive measures as well as a long-term strategy such as site selection in fruits industry. Nocturnal cold air pools frequently termed in mountainous areas under anticyclonic systems are very dangerous to the flowering buds in spring over Korea, but the spatial resolution to detect them exceeds the current weather forecast scale. To supplement the insufficient spatial resolution of official forecasts, we developed a GIS - assisted frost risk assesment scheme for using in mountainous areas. Daily minimum temperature data were obtained from 6 sites located in a 2.1 by 2.1 km area with complex topography near the southern edge of Sobaek mountains during radiative cooling nights in spring 2001. A digital elevation model with a 10 m spatial resolution was prepared for the entire study area and the cold air inflow was simulated for each grid cell by counting the number of surrounding cells coming into the processing cell. Primitive temperature surfaces were prepared for the corresponding dates by interpolating the Korea Meteorological Administration's automated observational data with the lapse rate correction. The cell temperature values corresponding to the 6 observation sites were extracted from the primitive temperature surface, and subtracted from the observed values to obtain the estimation error. The errors were regressed to the flow accumulation at the corresponding cells, delineating a statistically significant relationship. When we applied this relationship to the primitive temperature surfaces of frost nights during April 2002, there was a good agreement with the observations, showing a feasibility of site-specific frost warning system development in mountainous areas.