The characteristics of meteorological conditions and air pollution were investigated in a valley city (Yangsan) on bad visibility days (from 05:00 to 09:00 LST) of the cold half year (November 2008 to April 2009). This analysis was performed using the hourly observed data of meteorological variables (temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, and 2 m and 10 m temperature) and air pollutants (NO2, SO2, PM10, and O3). In addition, visibility data based on visual measurements and a visibility meter were used. The bad visibility days were classified into four types: fog, mist, haze, and the mixture (mist+haze). The results showed that the bad visibility days of the four types in the valley city were observed to be more frequently (about 50% of the total study period (99 days except for missing data)) than (27%) those near coastal metropolitan city (Busan). The misty days (39%) in the valley city were the most dominant followed by the hazy (37%), mixture (14%), and foggy days (10%). The visibility degradation on the misty days in Yangsan was closely related to the combined effect of high-level relative humidity due to the accumulation of water vapor from various sources (e.g. river, stream, and vegetation) and strong inversion due to the development of surface radiative cooling within the valley. On the hazy days, the visibility was mainly reduced by the increase in air pollutant (except for O3) concentrations from the dense emission sources under local conditions of weaker winds from the day before and stronger inversion than the misty days. The concentrations of NO2, PM10, and SO2 (up to +36 ppb, +25 ㎍/m3, and +7 ppb) on the hazy days were a factor of 1.4-2.3 higher than those (+25 ppb, +14 ㎍ /m3, and +3 ppb) on the misty days.

In this study, the use survey of domestic and international weather information on coastal regions and the demand survey (e.g. general and in-depth surveys) for customer needs with coastal industries were carried out to design customized coastal weather contents. The general demand survey showed that most of the customers working in the coastal industries were interested in a short-term forecast, such as a general weather outlook (approximately 29% of the total respondents) and typhoon information (19%), and they preferred to be given the forecast information from new media such as the internet web-pages (36%) and mobile utilities (23%) rather than old media such as TV (16%) and radio (11%). In addition, only 31% of the total respondents were found to be satisfied with the use of the current coastal weather service. This low percentage might mainly be a result of lack of information accuracy (about 64%) and diversity (28%). From in-depth survey with site visiting, the need of coastal weather contents, such as weather elements, data form, a tool of communication, and forecast interval, differed with the working stages in three coastal industries (e.g. shipbuilding, maritime trade, and passenger transport industries).

The impact of a considerable increase in traffic volume on the emission and concentrations of air pollutants was investigated at three beaches (Haeundae (HB), Gwanganri (GB), and Songjeong (SB)) in Busan during beach opening period (BOP) in 2011. During the BOP, passenger car was the major vehicle type, followed by taxi, and van. CO was the major contributor of total air pollutant emissions followed by NOx, VOC, and PM10. For the temporal variation of the emission of air pollutants during the BOP, it was generally the highest in the afternoon followed by the evening and morning, except for SB. For the spatial variation of their emission, it was the highest at GB followed by SB and HB. The emissions of air pollutants during the BOP were generally higher than those during the Non-BOP, except for HB. In contrast, the significant impact of the traffic volume increase on the concentrations of air pollutants at monitoring sites near the three beaches during the BOP were not found compared to the Non-BOP due to the significant distances between monitoring sites of air pollutants and monitoring sites of traffic volume at the beaches.

The emissions of several air pollutants (NOx, CO, VOCs, etc.) for the replacement of all diesel buses by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses were estimated in the Busan Metropolitan Area (BMA). These emissions were calculated from emission factors considering the different driving speeds with bus routes, distance traveled, and deterioration factors. For the purpose of this study, three categories of fuel type were selected: (1) the combination of diesel (65%) and CNG buses (35%) (DSL+CNG case), (2) all diesel buses (DSL case), and (3) all CNG buses (CNG case). The emissions of NOx and CO in the CNG case were estimated to be significant decreases (by about 50% and 98%, respectively) relative to the DSL case. Conversely, the emission of VOCs (980.7 ton/year) in the CNG case were a factor of 3.3 higher than that (299.8 ton/year) in the DSL case. In addition, the diurnal variations of emissions between two city buses (e.g. diesel and CNG) and all other vehicles were distinctly different because the two city buses operate at a regular time interval. Our overall results suggest the possibility that the pollutant emissions from the CNG buses can exert less influence on air quality in the target area than those from the diesel buses.

The seasonal variations of ozone (O3) concentrations were investigated with regard to the relationship between O3 and wind distributions at two different sites (Jung Ang (JA): a semi-closed topography and Seo Chang (SC): a closed topography) within a valley city (Yangsan) and their comparison between these sites (JA and SC) and two non-valley sites (Dae Jeo (DJ) and Sang Nam (SN)) located downwind from coastal cities (Busan and Ulsan). This analysis was performed using the data sets of hourly O3 concentrations, meteorological factors (especially, wind speed and direction), and those on high O3 days exceeding the 8-h standard (60 ppb) during 2008-2009. In summer and fall (especially in June and October), the monthly mean values of the daily maximum O3 concentrations and the number of high O3 days at JA (and SC) were relatively higher than those at DJ (and SN). The increase in daytime O3 concentrations at JA in June was likely to be primarily impacted by the transport of O3 and its precursors from the coastal emission sources in Busan along the dominant southwesterly winds (about 5 m/s) under the penetration of sea breeze condition, compared to other months and sites. Such a phenomenon at SC in October was likely to be mainly caused by the accumulation of O3 and its precursors due to the relatively weak winds under the localized stagnant weather condition rather than the contribution of regional transport from the emission sources in Busan and Ulsan.

The impact of urbanization on local meteorology (e.g., surface temperature, PBL height, wind speed, etc.) in the Greater Seoul Area (GSA) was quantitatively evaluated based on a numerical modeling approach during a 1-month period of 2001 (9 Sep. through 8 Oct. 2001). The analysis was carried out by two sets of simulation scenarios: (1) with the global land use and topographic data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1990s (i.e., LU-USGS case) and (2) with the land use data from the Environmental Geographic Information System (EGIS) along with the 3 sec elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) in 2000s (i.e., LU-EGIS case). The extension of urban areas in the GSA (especially, the southern parts of Seoul) accounted for 1.8% in the LU-USGS case and 6.2% in the LU-EGIS case. For the simulations, the surface temperature and PBL height due to urbanization in the LU-EGIS case was higher (the differences of up to 0.1 ℃ and 36 m, respectively) than those in the LU-USGS case, whereas the wind speed (up to 0.3 ms-1) in the former was lower than that in the latter at 1500 LST. The increase in surface temperature due to urbanization in the GSA (especially, the southern parts of Seoul) was led to the strong convergence of air masses, causing the early sea breeze and its rapid propagation to inland locations. In addition, the vertical mixing motion in the extended urban areas for the LU-EGIS case was predicted to be stronger than that for the LU-USGS case and vice versa for the original urban areas.

The estimation of a biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC, especially isoprene) and the influence of isoprene emissions on ozone concentrations in the Greater Busan Area (GBA) were carried out based on a numerical modeling approach during a high ozone episode. The BVOC emissions were estimated using a biogenic emission information system (BEIS v3.14) with vegetation data provided by the forest geographical information system (FGIS), land use data provided by the environmental geographical information system (EGIS), and meteorological data simulated by the MM5. Ozone simulation was performed by two sets of simulation scenarios: (1) without (CASE1) and (2) with isoprene emissions (CASE2). The isoprene emission (82 ton day -1 ) in the GBA was estimated to be the most dominant BVOC followed by methanol (56) and carbon monoxide (28). Largest impacts of isoprene emissions on the ozone concentrations (CASE2-CASE1) were predicted to be about 4 ppb in inland locations where a high isoprene was emitted and to be about 2 ppb in the downwind and/or convergence regions of wind due to both the photochemical reaction of ozone precursors (e.g., high isoprene emissions) and meteorological conditions (e.g., local transport).

The effects of high-resolution wind profiler (HWP) data on the wind distributions were evaluated in two different coastal areas during the study period (23-26 August, 2007), indicating weak-gradient flows. The analysis was performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a three-dimensional variational (3DVAR) data assimilation system. For the comparison purpose, two coastal regions were selected as: a southwestern coastal (SWC) region characterized by a complex shoreline and a eastern coastal (EC) region surrounding a simple coastline and high mountains. The influence of data assimilation using the HWP data on the wind distributions in the SWC region was moderately higher than that of the EC region. In comparison between the wind speed and direction in the two coastal areas, the application of the HWP data contributed to improvement of the wind direction distribution in the SWC region and the wind strength in the EC region, respectively. This study suggests that the application of the HWP data exerts a large impact on the change in wind distributions over the sea and thus can contribute to the solution to lack of satellite and buoy data with their observational uncertainty.

The relative contributions of physical and chemical processes to the production of ozone (O3) were evaluated based on an integrated process rate (IPR) analysis using the MM5/CMAQ in a downtown (i.e., Yangsan_U) and suburban area (i.e., Ungsang) on high ozone days during spring and summer in 2006 (28 April and 8 August 2006). The IPR includes a horizontal advection (HADV) and diffusion (HDIF), a vertical advection (ZADV) and diffusion (VDIF), a dry deposition (DDEP), and a chemistry (CHEM). The VDIF in Yangsan_U was found to be the most dominant contributor (29.5% in spring and 32.1% in summer) to high O3 concentrations, followed by the HADV and ZADV. In contrast, the contributions of the HADV (40.3% in spring and 32.3% in summer) in Ungsang were significantly higher than those of VDIF and ZADV. Moreover, O3 production due to the chemical effect in the two areas (especially in Ungsang) during summer was found to be moderately higher than that during spring.

The relationship between air temperatures and the fraction of urban areas (FUA) and their linear regression equation were estimated using land-use data provided by the water management information system (WAMIS) and air temperatures by the Korea Meteorology Administration (KMA) in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) during 1975 through 2000. The future FUA in the SMA (from 2000 to 2030) was also predicted by the urban growth model (i.e., SLEUTH) in conjunction with several dataset (e.g., urban, roads, etc.) in the WAMIS. The estimated future FUA was then used as input data for the linear regression equation to estimate an annual mean minimum air temperature in the future (e.g., 2025 and 2030). The FUA in the SMA in 2000 simulated by the SLEUTH showed good agreement with the observations (a high accuracy (73%) between them). The urban growth in the SMA was predicted to increase by 16% of the total areas in 2025 and by 24% in 2030. From the linear regression equation, the annual mean minimum air temperature in the SMA increased about 0.02℃/yr and it was expected to increase up to 8.3℃ in 2025 and 8.7℃ in 2030.

In this study, the environmental behavior of malodor pollutants (MPs:　H2S, CH3SH, DMS, and DMDS) was investigated around areas influenced by strong anthropogenic processes based on observations and modeling study (a CALPUFF dispersion model). The MP emission concentrations were measured from 8 industrial source regions (tire plants (S1-S3), waste water disposal plant (S4), and oil refinery (S5) in an urban center area and paper mill/incineration plant (S6) and livestock feedlots (S7-S8) in Ungsang area) in Yangsan city during a fall period in 2008 (21 October 2008). Overall, the most MPs emitted from the urban center area were found to affect the malodor pollution in their downwind areas during early morning (06:00 LST) and nighttime (18:00 and 21:00 LST), compared with those in the Ungsang area. For malodor intensity, the most MPs in the urban center area (especially S1 and S2) were found to be a significant contributor, whereas CH3SH and H2S in the Ungsnag area (especially S6) were the dominant contributor. The model study showed agreement in the spatial distributions of simulated MPs with those of the observations. The largest impact of MPs in the urban center area on the malodor pollution in its residential areas occurred at S1, S2, and S3 sites during nighttime, while that of MPs in the Ungsang area occurred at S6 and S8 sites. This may be caused mainly by the high MP emissions and in part by wind conditions (prevailing northeasterly winds with low wind speeds of 2-3 m/s).

The chemical and meteorological effects on the concentration variations of air pollutants (O3 and its precursors) were evaluated based on ground observation data in coastal and inland regions, Busan during springs and summers of 2005-2006. For the purpose of this study, study areas were classified into 5 categories: coastal area (CA), industrial area (IA), downtown area (DA), residential area (RA), and suburban area (SA). Two sites of Dongsam (DS) and Yeonsan (YS) were selected for the comparison purpose between the coastal and inland regions. O3 concentrations in CA and SA were observed to be highest during spring (e.g., 40 ppb), whereas those in DA and RA were relatively low during summer (e.g., 22～24 ppb). It was found that O3 concentrations in IA were not significantly high although high VOCs (especially toluene of about 40 ppb) and NOx (≥ 35 ppb) were observed. On the other hand, the concentration levels of O3 and PM10 at the DS site were significantly higher than those at the YS site, but NOx was slightly lower than that at the YS site. This might be caused by the photochemical activity and meteorological conditions (e.g., sea-land breeze and atmospheric stagnance). When maximum O3 (an index of photochemical activity) exceeds 100 ppb, the contribution of secondary PM10 ((PM10)SEC) to total observed PM10 concentrations was estimated up to 32% and 17% at the DS and YS sites, respectively. In addition, the diurnal variations of (PM10)SEC at the DS site were similar to those of O3 regardless of season, which suggests that they are mostly secondary PM10 produced from photochemical reactions.

The southeastern coastal area of the Korean peninsula has a complex terrain including an irregular coastline and moderately high mountains. This implies that mesoscale circulations such as mountain-valley breeze and land-sea breeze can play an important role in wind field and ocean forcing. In this study, to improve the accuracy of complex coastal wind field(surface wind and sea surface wind), we carried out the sensitivity experiments based on PBL schemes in PSU/NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5), which is being used in the operational system at Korea Meteorological Administration. Four widely used PBL parameterization schemes in sensitivity experiments were chosen: Medium-Range Forecast (MRF), High-resolution Blackadar, Eta, and Gayno-Seaman scheme. Thereafter, case(2004. 8. 26 - 8. 27) of weak-gradient flows was simulated, and the time series and the vertical profiles of the simulated wind speed and wind direction were compared with those of hourly surface observations (AWS, BUOY) and QuikSCAT data. In the simulated results, the strength of wind speed of all schemes was overestimated in complex coastal regions, while that of about four different schemes was underestimated in islands and over the sea. Sea surface wind using the Eta scheme showed the highest wind speed over the sea and its distribution was similar to the observational data. Horizontal distribution of the simulated wind direction was very similar to that of real observational data in case of all schemes. Simulated and observed vertical distribution of wind field was also similar under boundary layer(about 1 km), however the simulated wind speed was underestimated in upper layer.

This study presents the characteristics of nocturnal inversion layer and their effect on the concentration variations of surface air pollutants using tethersonde and automatic weather station (AWS, 2 layer tower) system in Ulsan during 2003. The method for the distinction of inversion intensity was decided based on the sum of nocturnal temperature gradient. As the results, there was a close correlation (correlation coefficient of 0.76) between the maximum inversion height obtained from tethersonde and the sum of nocturnal temperature gradient. The air pollutant concentration was also directly proportional to the inversion intensity. When the inversion intensity was strong in the nighttime, ozone (O3) concentration was lower, while nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration was higher. The carbon monoxide (CO) concentration was gradually higher according to the nocturnal inversion intensity, whereas sulfur dioxide (SO2) concentration was relatively constant. In addition, we found that there was no correlation between the inversion intensity and TSP concentration.