The study was aimed to investigate the correlation between tidal effects and fog occurrence in Incheon and Mokpo, which are located in the middle and southern coasts of the West Sea of Korea, respectively. The investigation used meteorological data obtained from the automated synoptic observing systems and automatic weather stations and ocean data from tide stations from 2010 to 2019. Fog occurrence frequency was highest at high tide (Incheon, 41%; Mokpo, 45%). During fog event days at high tide, the dew-point depression was low (Incheon, 0.5 ℃; Mokpo, 0.4 ℃) and the relative humidity was high (Incheon, 97%; Mokpo, 9 8%). The w ind speed w as 2 . 4 m/s in I ncheon a nd 2 .0 m/s in M okpo, a nd t he m ain wind d irections w ere west-southwesterly from Incheon and southwesterly from Mokpo. In the fog case study, tidal flats were covered with water before and after the fog started. During the fog period, both stations experienced negative air-sea temperature differences, low dew-point depression, and high relative humidity were maintained, with weak winds forming from the tidal flats to the shore.

This study investigated the relationship between heat-related illnesses obtained from healthcare big data and daily maximum temperature observed in seven metropolitan cities in summer during 2013~2015. We found a statistically significant positive correlation (r = 0.4~0.6) between daily maximum temperature and number of the heat-related patients from Pearson's correlation analyses. A time lag effect was not observed. Relative Risk (RR) analysis using the Generalized Additive Model (GAM) showed that the RR of heat-related illness increased with increasing threshold temperature (maximum RR = 1.21). A comparison of the RRs of the seven cities, showed that the values were significantly different by geographical location of the city and had different variations for different threshold temperatures. The RRs for elderly people were clearly higher than those for the all-age group. Especially, a maximum value of 1.83 was calculated at the threshold temperature of 35℃ in Seoul. In addition, relatively higher RRs were found for inland cities (Seoul, Gwangju, Daegu, and Daejeon), which had a high frequency of heat waves. These results demonstrate the significant risk of heat-related illness associated with increasing daily maximum temperature and the difference in adaptation ability to heat wave for each city, which could help improve the heat wave advisory and warning system.

In this study, the impacts of local meteorology caused by tidal changes in the West Sea on ozone distributions in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) were analyzed using a meteorological model (WRF) and an air quality (CMAQ) model. This study was carried out during the day (1200–1800 LST) between August 3 and 9, 2016. The total area of tidal flats along with the tidal changes was calculated to be approximately 912 km2, based on data provided by the Environmental Geographic Information Service (EGIS) and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF). Modeling was carried out based on three experiments, and the land cover of the tidal flats for each experiment was designed using the coastal wetlands, water bodies (i.e., high tide), and the barren or sparsely vegetated areas (i.e., low tide). The land cover parameters of the coastal wetlands used in this study were improved in the herbaceous wetland of the WRF using updated albedo, roughness length, and soil heat capacity. The results showed that the land cover variation during high tide caused a decrease in temperature (maximum 4.5℃) and planetary boundary layer (PBL) height (maximum 1200 m), and an increase in humidity (maximum 25%) and wind speed (maximum 1.5 ms-1). These meteorological changes increased the ozone concentration (about 5.0 ppb) in the coastal areas including the tidal flats. The increase in the ozone concentration during high tide may be caused by a weak diffusion to the upper layer due to a decrease in the PBL height. The changes in the meteorological variables and ozone concentration during low tide were lesser than those occurring during high tide. This study suggests that the meteorological variations caused by tidal changes have a meaningful effect on the ozone concentration in the SMA.

Heat watch warning systems are operating in Korea and several other countries (China, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Germany, Australia, and Japan). The heat wave indices used in this system are the heat index, perceived temperature, the wet bulb globe temperature, and the daily maximum temperature. To improve the heat wave advisory and warning system, some suggestions have been made. The meteorological-health index (i.e., indirect index), has especially been proposed in previous studies. This information should be provided not only to vulnerable groups (seniors, infants, and children), but also to outdoor workers who may be particularly exposed to heat waves. In addition, to have sufficient preemptive response times, the need for an extension of the heat watch warning period was suggested. Finally, the subdivision of administrative units and risk stages was proposed.

Temporal and spatial variations in surface ozone concentrations in Busan were investigated by using observation data from urban air quality sites during 2001-2016. The annual ozone concentrations showed a significant increasing trend of +0.40 ppb yr-1 in this period, with a more rapid increase of +0.81 ppb yr-1 since 2010. For the monthly analysis, the increase in ozone concentration was the greatest in August (+0.68 ppb yr-1). These ozone trends were due mainly to rising temperature (+0.05℃ yr-1) and weak decreasing precipitation (－6.42 mm yr-1). However, the extreme weather events (heat wave, localized heavy rain, etc.) lead to an increase in short-term variability of ozone since 2010. The relatively low ozone concentrations in the downtown area were caused by high NOx emissions from mobile sources. The increases in ozone concentrations were observed at most of the air quality monitoring sites due to the reductions in anthropogenic emissions of NOx during 2001-2015. However, in the southern coastal area, lower rates of increase in ozone concentrations were observed by –0.10~0.25 ppb yr-1 due to the significant NOx emitted by ships in the Busan port and Busan new port.

Meteorological factors and air pollutants are associated with respiratory diseases, and appropriate use of weather and air quality information is helpful in the management of patients with such diseases. This study was performed to investigate both the utilization of weather and air quality information by, and the needs of, patients with respiratory diseases. Questionnaires were administered to 112 patients with respiratory diseases, 60.7% of whom were female. The rates of bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among patients were 67.0% and 10.7%, respectively. The majority of subjects (90%) responded that prevention was important for respiratory disease management and indicated that they used weather and air quality information either every day or occasionally. However, respondents underestimated the importance of weather and air quality information for disease management and were unaware of some types of weather information. The subjects agreed that respiratory diseases were sensitive to weather and air quality. The most important weather-related factors were diurnal temperature range, minimum temperature, relative humidity, and wind, while those for air quality were particulate matter and Asian dust. Information was gleaned mainly from television programs in patients aged 60 years and older and from smartphone applications for those below 60 years of age. The subjects desired additional information on the management and prevention of respiratory diseases. This study identified problems regarding the utility of weather and air quality information currently available for patients with respiratory diseases, who indicated that they desired disease-related information, including information in the form of action plans, rather than simple health- and air quality-related information. This study highlights the necessity for notification services that can be used to easily obtain information, specifically regarding disease management.

Both the propagation velocity and the direction of atmospheric waves are important factors for analyzing and forecasting meteo-tsunami. In this study, a total of 14 events of meteo-tsunami over 11 years (2006-2016) are selected through analyzing sea-level data observed from tidal stations along the west coast of the Korean peninsula. The propagation velocity and direction are calculated by tracing the atmospheric disturbance of each meteo-tsunami event predicted by the WRF model. Then, the Froude number is calculated using the propagation velocity of atmospheric waves and oceanic long waves from bathymetry data. To derive the critical condition for the occurrence of meteo-tsunami, supervised learning using a logistic regression algorithm is conducted. It is concluded that the threshold distance of meteo-tsunami occurrence, from a propagation direction, can be calculated by the amplitude of air-pressure tendency and the resonance factor, which are found using the Froude number. According to the critical condition, the distance increases logarithmically with the ratio of the amplitude of air-pressure tendency and the square of the resonance factor, and meteo-tsunami do not occur when the ratio is less than 5.11 hPa/10 min.

Provider-oriented weather information has been rapidly changing to become more customer-oriented and personalized. Given the increasing interest in wellness and health topics, the demand for health weather information, and biometeorology, also increased. However, research on changes in the human body according to weather conditions is still insufficient due to various constraints, and interdisciplinary research is also lacking. As part of an effort to change that, this study surveyed medical practitioners at an actual treatment site, using questionnaires, to investigate what kind of weather information they could utilize. Although there was a limit to the empirical awareness that medical staff had about weather information, most respondents noted that there is a correlation between disease and weather, with cardiovascular diseases (coronary artery disease (98.5%) and hypertension (95.9% ), skin diseases (atopic dermatitis (100%), sunburn (93.8%)) being the most common weather-sensitive ailments. Although there are subject-specific differences, most weather-sensitive diseases tend to be affected by temperature and humidity in general. Respiratory and skin diseases are affected by wind and solar radiation, respectively.

This study analyzes the PM10 characteristics (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 ㎛), concentration, and emissions in eight large South Korean cities (Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, Ulsan, Busan, Jeju). The annual median of PM10 concentration showed a decline of 0.02~1.97 ㎍/㎥ in the regions, except for Incheon, which recorded an annual 0.02 ㎍/㎥ increase. The monthly distribution levels were high in spring, winter, fall, and the summer, but were lower in summer for all regions except for Ulsan. These differences are thought to be due to the dust in spring and the cleaning effect of precipitation in summer. The variation in concentrations during the day (diurnal variation) showed that PM10 levels were very high during the rush hour and that this was most extreme in the cities (10.00 and 18.00-21.00). The total annual PM10 emissions analysis suggested that there had been a general decrease, except for Jeju. On-road mobile (OM) sources, which contributed a large proportion of the particulates in most regions, decreased, but fugitive dust (FD) sources increased in the remaining regions, except for Daegu. The correlation analysis between PM10 concentrations and emissions showed that FD could be used as a valid, positive predictor of PM10 emissions in Seoul (74.5% (p<0.05)), Dajeon (47.2% (p<0.05)), and Busan (59.1% (p<0.01)). Furthermore, industrial combustion (IC) was also a significant predictor in Incheon (61.7% (p<0.01)), and on-road mobile (OC) sources were a valid predictor in Daegu (24.8% (p<0.05)).

To prevent increasing instances of heat-related illnesses due to heat waves generated by climate change, a customized thermal environment index should be developed for outdoor workers. In this study, we conducted sensitivity analysis of the Masan harbor during a heat wave period (August 9th to 15th, 2013) using the MENEX model with metabolic rate and clothing-insulation data, in order to obtain realistic information about the thermal environment. This study shows that accurate input data are essential to gather information for thermophysiological indices (PST, DhR, and OhR). PST is sensitive to clothing insulation as a function of clothing. OhR is more sensitive to clothing insulation during the day and to the metabolic rate at night. From these results, it appears that when exposed to high-temperature thermal environments in summer, wearing highly insulated clothing and getting enough rest (to lower the metabolic rate) can aid in preventing heat-related illnesses. Moreover, in the case of high-intensity harbor work, quantification of allowed working time (OhR) during heat waves is significant for human health sciences.

Meteo-tsunamis are tsunamis that are typically caused by strong atmospheric instability (e.g., pressure jumps) in low pressure systems, but some meteo-tsunamis in winter can be caused by local atmospheric instability in high pressure systems (e.g., the Siberian High). In this study, we investigated a meteo-tsunami event related to a high pressure system that occurred during winter on the Yellow Sea in 2005. Sea level data from tidal stations were analyed with a high-pass filter, and we also performed synoptic weather analyses by using various synoptic weather data (e.g., surface weather charts) collected during the winter season(DJF) of 2005. A numerical weather model (WRF) was used to analyze the atmospheric instability on the day of the selected event (21 Dec. 2005). On the basis of the results, we suggest that the meteo-tsunami triggered by the high pressure system occurred because of dynamic atmospheric instability induced by the expansion and contraction of the Siberian High.

The effect of weather on disease was investigated based on results reported in academic papers. Weather-sensitive disease was selected by analyzing the frequency distributions of diseases and correlations between diseases and meteorological factors (e.g., temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind speed). Correlations between disease and meteorological factors were most frequently reported for myocardial infarction (MI) (28%) followed by chronic ischemic heart disease (CHR) (12%), stroke (STR) (10%), and angina pectoris (ANG) (5%). These four diseases had significant correlations with temperature (meaningful correlation for MI and negative correlations for CHR, STR, and ANG). Selecting MI, as a representative weather-sensitive disease, and summarizing the quantitative correlations with meteorological factors revealed that, daily hospital admissions for MI increased approximately 1.7%-2.2% with each 1℃ decrease in physiologically equivalent temperature. On the days when MI occurred in three or more patients larger daily temperature ranges (2.3℃ increase) were reported compared with the days when MI occurred in fewer than three patients. In addition, variations in pressure (10 mbar, 1016 mbar standard) and relative humidity (10%) contributed to an 11%-12% increase in deaths from MI and an approximately 10% increase in the incidence of MI, respectively.

Sensitivity analysis of the WRF model according to the impact of nudging (e.g., nudging techniques and application domains) was conducted during high nocturnal ozone episode to improve the prediction of the regional ozone concentration in the southeastern coastal area of the Korean peninsula. The analysis was performed by six simulation experiments: (1) without nudging (e.g., CNTL case), (2) with observation nudging (ONE case) to all domains (domain 1∼4), (3) with grid nudging (GNE case) to all domains, (4)∼(6) with grid nudging to domain 1, domain 1∼2 and domain 1∼3, respectively (GNE-1, GNE-2, GNE-3 case). The results for nudging techniques showed that the GNE case was in very good agreement with those observed during all analysis periods (e.g., daytime, nighttime, and total), as compared to the ONE case. In particular, the large effect of grid nudging on the near-surface meteorological factors (temperature, relative humidity, and wind fields) was predicted at the coastline and nearby sea during daytime. The results for application domains showed that the effects of nudging were distinguished between the meteorological factors and between the time periods. When applied grid nudging until subdomain, the improvement effects of temperature and relative humidity had differential tendencies. Temperature was increased for all time, but relative humidity was increased in daytime and was decreased in nighttime. Thus, GNE case showed better result than other cases.

A comparison of ozone simulations in the seoul metropolitan region (SMR) using the community multiscale air quality (CMAQ) model with SAPRC99 and CB05 chemical mechanisms (i.e. EXP-SP99 and EXP-CB05) has been conducted during four seasons of 2012. The model results showed that the differences in average ozone concentrations between the EXP-SP99 and EXP-CB05 were found to be large in summer, but very small in the other seasons. This can be attributed that the SAPRC99 tends to produce more ozone than the CB05 in urban area like the SMR with low VOC/NOx ratio under high ozone conditions. Through quantitative comparison between two mechanisms for the summer, it was found that the average ozone concentrations from the EXP-SP99 were about 3 ppb higher than those from the EXP-CB05 and agreed well with the observations. Horizontal differences in ozone concentrations between SAPRC99 and CB05 showed that significant differences were found in southern part of the SMR and over the sea near the coast in summer.

In order to improve the prediction of the regional air quality modeling in the Seoul metropolitan area, a sensitivity analysis using two PBL and microphysics (MP) options of the WRF model was performed during four seasons. The results from four sets of the simulation experiments (EXPs) showed that meteorological variables (especially wind field) were highly sensitive to the choice of PBL options (YSU or MYJ) and no significant differences were found depending on MP options (WDM6 or Morrison) regardless of specific time periods, i.e. day and night, during four seasons. Consequently, the EXPs being composed of YSU PBL option were identified to produce better results for meteorological elements (especially wind field) regardless of seasons. On the other hand, the accuracy of all simulations for summer and winter was somewhat lower than those for spring and autumn and the effect according to physics options was highly volatile by geographical characteristics of the observation site.

The seasonal variations of sea surface winds and significant wave heights were investigated using the data observed from the marine meteorological buoys (nine stations) and Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) in lighthouse (nine stations) around the Korean Peninsula during 2010~2012. In summer, the prevailing sea surface winds over the East/West Sea and the South Sea were northerly/southerly and easterly/westerly winds due to both of southeast monsoon and the shape of Korean Peninsula. On the other hand, the strong northerly winds has been observed at most stations near Korean marginal seas under northwest monsoon in winter. However, the sea surface winds at some stations (e.g. Galmaeyeo, Haesuseo in the West Sea) have different characteristics due to topographic effects such as island or coastal line. The significant wave heights are the highest in winter and the lowest in summer at most stations. In case of some lighthouse AWSs surrounded by islands (e.g. Haesuseo, Seosudo) or close to coast (e.g. Gangan, Jigwido), very low significant wave heights (below 0.5 m) with low correlations between sea surface wind speeds and significant wave heights were observed.

The characteristics of atmospheric dispersion of radioactive material (i.e. 137Cs) related to local wind patterns around the Kori nuclear power plant (KNPP) were studied using WRF/HYSPLIT model. The cluster analysis using observed winds from 28 weather stations during a year (2012) was performed in order to obtain representative local wind patterns. The cluster analysis identified eight local wind patterns (P1, P2, P3, P4-1, P4-2, P4-3, P4-4, P4-5) over the KNPP region. P1, P2 and P3 accounted for 14.5%, 27.0% and 14.5%, respectively. Both P1 and P2 are related to westerly/northwesterly synoptic flows in winter and P3 includes the Changma or typhoons days. The simulations of P1, P2 and P3 with high wind velocities and constant wind directions show that 137Cs emitted from the KNPP during 0900~1400 LST (Local Standard Time) are dispersed to the east sea, southeast sea and southwestern inland, respectively. On the other hands, 5 sub-category of P4 have various local wind distributions under weak synoptic forcing and accounted for less than 10% of all. While the simulated 137Cs for P4-2 is dispersed to southwest inland due to northeasterly flows, 137Cs dispersed northward for the other patterns. The simulated average 137Cs concentrations of each local wind pattern are 564.1~1076.3 Bqm-3. The highest average concentration appeared P4-4 due to dispersion in a narrow zone and weak wind environment. On the other hands, the lowest average concentration appeared P1 and P2 due to rapid dispersion to the sea. The simulated 137Cs concentrations and dispersion locations of each local wind pattern are different according to the local wind conditions.

In this study, the regional climate (WRF) and air quality (CMAQ) models were used to simulate the effects of future urban growth on surface ozone concentrations in the Seoul metropolitan region (SMR). These analyses were performed based on changes in ozone concentrations during ozone seasons (May–June) for the year 2050 (future) relative to 2012 (present) by urban growth. The results were compared with the impacts of RCP scenarios on ozone concentrations in the SMR. The fractions of urban in the SMR (25.8 %) for the 2050 were much higher than those (13.9 %) for the 2012 and the future emissions (e.g., CO, NO, NO2, SO2, VOC) were increased from 121 % (NO) to 161.3 % (NO2) depending on emission material. The mean and daily maximum 1-h ozone in the SMR increased about 3 - 7 ppb by the effect the RCP scenarios. However, the effect of urban growth reduced the mean ozone by 3 ppb in the SMR and increased the daily maximum 1-h ozone by 2 - 5 ppb over the northeastern SMR and around the coastline. In particular, the ozone pollution days exceeding the 1-h regulatory standard (100 ppb) were far more affected by urban growth than mean values. As a result, the average number of days exceeding the 1-h regulatory standard increased up to 10 times.

A meteo-tsunami occurred along the coastline of South Korea on 31 March 2007, with an estimated maximum amplitude of 240 cm in Yeonggwang (YG). In this study, we investigated the synoptic weather systems around the Yellow sea including the Bohai Bay and Shandong Peninsula using a weather research and forecast model and weather charts of the surface pressure level, upper pressure level and auxiliary analysis. We found that 4-lows passed through the Yellow sea from the Shandung Peninsula to Korea during 5 days. Moreover, the passage of the cold front and the locally heavy rain with a sudden pressure change may make the resonance response in the near-shore and ocean with a regular time-lag. The sea-level pressure disturbance and absolute vorticity in 500 hPa projected over the Yellow sea was propagated with a similar velocity to the coastline of South Korea at the time that meteo-tsunami occurred.

Now a days, frequency of abnormally high temperatures like heat wave by global warming and climate change is increasing constantly and the number of patient with heat related illness are jumping rapidly. In this study, we chose the case day for the heat wave in Busan area(Busan and Yangsan), 2013 which it was the most hottest year during 21th century. And then, we analysed the weather condition using automatic synoptic observing system(ASOS) data. Also, four indices, heat index(HI), wet bulb globe temperature(WBGT), Man-ENvironment heat EXchange model(MENEX)’s results like Physiological subjective temperature(PST), Physiological strain(PhS), were calculated to evaluate the thermal comfort and stress quantitatively. However, thermal comfort was different as the each station and thermal comfort index during same time. Busan’s thermal indices (HI: hot, WBGT: sweltering, PST: very hot, PhS: very hot) indicated relatively higher than Yansan’s (HI: very hot, WBGT: sweltering, PST: very hot, PhS: sweltering). It shows that Busan near coast is relatively more comfortable than Yangsan located in inland.