Examination on the Spatial Coverage Change and Future Projection of Climate Extreme Events during Summer and Winter in South Korea Using a Combined Climate Extreme Index
This paper has presented not only the spatial coverage change of climate extreme events in summer and winter seasons during the period of 2000-2017, but also their future projections in 2021-2100, South Korea through analysis of a Combined Climate Extreme Index (CCEI). The CCEI quantifies the spatial coverage of climate extreme events based on a set of five indicators. MK (Modified Korean)-PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model)v1.2 (1×1km) and RCP scenario data (1×1km) were applied to CCEI. Results indicated that in average, 21.7% of the areas in the summer and 23.6% in the winter experienced climate extremes from 2000 to 2017 regardless of types of climate extreme events in South Korea. The summer of 2003 and 2009 was relatively cool and humid, while the summer of 2014 and 2015 was cool and dry and the summer of 2016 was warm and dry. The extreme events with much above normal maximum and minimum temperature during the study period were detected but not much below normal maximum and minimum temperature after 2015. For RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios, there were statistically significant trends with spatial coverage expansion of climate extreme events in the future. It might be concluded that climate extreme events in the summer and winter seasons were affected simultaneously by two or more indicators than a single indicator in South Korea.