이 연구는 최근 37년(1977-2013) 동안 여름철 동중국해에 영향을 준 태풍빈도와 북서태평양 몬순지수와의 상관 을 분석하였다. 두 변수 사이에는 뚜렷한 양의 상관관계가 존재하였으며, 엘니뇨-남방진동 해를 제외하여도 높은 양의 상관관계는 변하지 않았다. 이러한 두 변수 사이에 양의 상관관계의 원인을 알아보기 위해 가장 높은 북서태평양 몬순 지수를 갖는 11개 해(양의 북서태평양 몬순지수 위상)와 가장 낮은 북서태평양 몬순지수를 갖는 11개 해(음의 북서태평 양 몬순지수 위상)를 선정하여 두 위상 사이에 평균 차를 분석하였다. 양의 북서태평양 몬순지수 위상에는 태풍들이 열대 및 아열대 서태평양의 동쪽해역으로부터 동중국해를 지나 한국 및 일본을 향해 북상하는 경향을 나타내었다. 음의 북서태평양 몬순지수 위상에는 태풍들이 남중국해를 지나 중국 남부지역을 향해 서진하는 패턴을 보였다. 따라서 동아 시아 중위도까지 먼 거리를 이동하면서 바다로부터 충분한 에너지를 얻을 수 있는 양의 북서태평양 몬순지수 위상에의 태풍강도가 더 강하였다. 또한 양의 북서태평양 몬순지수 위상에 태풍들이 더 많이 발생하는 특성을 보였다. 850 hPa과 500 hPa에서의 수평 대기순환에 대한 두 위상 사이에 차에서는 열대 및 아열대 서태평양에서 저기압 아노말리가, 동아 시아 중위도 지역에는 고기압 아노말리가 강화되었다. 이 두 기압계 아노말리로 인해 동중국해에서는 남동풍 아노말리 가 발달하였으며, 이 남동풍 아노말리가 태풍들을 동중국해로 향하게 하는 지향류 아노말리의 역할을 하였다. 또한 열 대 및 아열대 서태평양에서 발달한 저기압 아노말리로 인해 양의 북서태평양 몬순지수 위상에 태풍들이 좀 더 많이 발 생할 수 있었다.

이 연구는 한국-중국 북부 지역(35°-40°N, 110°-130°E)에서 영역평균 된 여름(6-8월) 강수량의 증가경향이 1990 년대 후반에 뚜렷하게 나타났음을 분석하였다. 따라서 한국-중국 북부지역에서 1998년 이후에 여름 강수량이 증가한 원 인을 알아보기 위해 1998-2012년 평균과 1981-1997년 평균 사이에 종관환경에 대한 차를 분석하였다. 850 hPa 유선 분석에서는 북태평양 지역과 호주 동쪽지역에서 거대한 고기압성 순환 아노말리가 강화되었다. 양반구에서 이러한 순환 아노말리에 의해 적도 중태평양으로부터 열대 서태평양에 편동풍 아노말리(무역풍 아노말리)가 강화되었다. 이는 라니 냐 해에 나타나는 순환 패턴의 아노말리였다. 200 hPa 유선에서는 남·북태평양 모두에서 거대한 저기압성 순환 아노말 리가 역시 강화되었다. 이러한 두 순환 아노말리에 의해 적도 중태평양 및 서태평양에서는 서풍의 아노말리가 강화되었 다. 이는 1990년대 후반 이후 한국-중국 북부 지역에서 여름 강수량의 증가가 라니냐 패턴과 연관되었으며, 이 결과는 결국 워커 순환의 강화로 이어졌다. 또한 최근 동아시아 지역에서는 적도 서태평양과 동아시아 중위도 지역에서 상승한 기류가 아열대 서태평양지역에서 하강하는 지역 해들리 순환이 강화되었다.

The time-series of Walker circulation index (WCI) in this study shows the strengthening of the Walker circulation in recent years. To further understand the large-scale features related to the WCI strengthening, a difference between the averaged meteorological variables in two time periods 1999-2013 and 1984-1998 is analyzed. The difference in 850 hPa stream flows between the two periods shows that the anomalous easterlies (anomalous trade wind) are dominant due to the strengthening of anomalous anticyclonic circulations at the subtropical Pacific of both hemispheres. The difference between the averaged zonal atmospheric circulations over 5oS-5oN in the two periods confirms that upward flows are strengthened at the tropical western Pacific and downward flows are strengthened at the tropical central and eastern Pacific in recent years. It matches the WCI strengthening in recent years. The time-series of tropical cyclone (TC) genesis frequency from July to September shows that a mean TC genesis frequency from 1999-2013 decreases compared to that of the time period 1984-1998. The monsoon trough in the period 1984-1998 was located in the further east direction and stronger than that in the period 1999-2013. TCs in the recent period that are generated in further west than TCs in the past period moved from the west. Thus, the TC intensity along the coasts in East Asia becomes weaker in recent period. The intensification of Walker circulation in recent years is related to the weaker TC intensity in East Asia through strengthened anomalous anticyclones at the subtropical western Pacific.

This study analyzes the characteristics of Western North Pacific (WNP) tropical cyclone (TC) activity and large-scale environments according to the Western Pacific (WP) teleconnection pattern in summer. In the positive WP phase, an anomalous cyclone and an anomalous anticyclone develop in the low and middle latitudes of the East Asia, respectively. As a result, southeasterlies are reinforced in the northeast area of the East Asia including Korea and Japan which facilitates the movement of TC to this area, whereas northwesterlies are reinforced in the southwest area of the East Asia including South China and Indochina Peninsula which blocks the movement of TC to this area. Due to the spatial distribution of this reinforced pressure system, TCs develop, move, and turn more to the northeast of WNP than those in the negative WP phase. Consequently, the characteristics of this TC activity in the positive WP phase are associated with the location of upper tropospheric jet further to the northeast. Meanwhile, TCs in the negative WP phase mainly move to the west from Philippines toward south China and Indochina Peninsula. Furthermore, due to the terrain effect caused by the high passage frequency of TCs in the mainland China, the intensity of TCs are weaker than those in the positive WP phase.

This study analyzes the correlation between Western Pacific (WP) teleconnection pattern index (WPI) in April during 1954-2008 and rainfall amounts in the same month. Based on the results, it is identified that there have been strong positive correlations between central China, Korea and the southwestern part of Japan in the East Asian region. Through differences between 10 positive WP years and 10 negative WP years selected from the April WPI excluding ENSO years, it is found that rainfall amounts increase in April of positive WP years due to the following characteristics. Increases in rainfall amounts are evident in the East Asian middle latitudinal region where the positive correlation between the two variables is the highest and this is because anomalous southwesterlies are strengthened in the East Asian middle latitudinal region due to the spatial pattern of a south-low-north-high anomalous pressure system centered on this region that is made by anomalous anticyclones centered on the southeastern side of the region and other anomalous anticyclones centered on the northeastern side of the region. In addition, anomalous westerlies (jet) are strengthen in the upper troposphere of the East Asian middle latitudinal region and as a result, anomalous upward flows are strengthened in this region and thus anomalous warm air temperatures are formed in the entire level of the troposphere in the region. In addition to atmospheric environments, anomalous warm sea surface temperatures are formed in the seas in the East Asian middle latitudinal region to help the rainfall amount increases in the East Asian middle latitudinal region.

This study analyzed the climate regime shift using statistical change-point analysis on the time-series tropical cyclone (TC) frequency that affected Japan in July to September. The result showed that there was a significant change in 1995 and since then, it showed a trend of rapidly decreasing frequency. To determine the reason for this, differences between 1995 to 2012 (9512) period and 1978 to 1994 (7894) period were analayzed. First, regarding TC genesis, TCs during the 9512 period showed a characteristic of genesis from the southeast quadrant of the tropical and subtropical western North Pacific and TCs during the 7894 period showed their genesis from the northwest quadrant. Regarding a TC track, TCs in the 7894 period had a strong trend of moving from the far east sea of the Philippines via the East China Sea to the mid-latitude region in East Asia while TCs in the 9512 period showed a trend of moving from the Philippines toward the southern part of China westward. Thus, TC intensity in the 7894 period, which can absorb sufficient energy from the sea as they moved a long distance over the sea, was stronger than that of 9512. Large-scale environments were analyzed to determine the cause of such difference in TC activity occurred between two periods. During the 9512 period, anomalous cold and dry anticyclones were developed strongly in the East Asia continent. As a result, Korea and Japan were affected by the anomalous northerlies thereby preventing TCs in this period from moving toward the mid-latitude region in East Asia. Instead, anomalous easterlies (anomalous trade wind) were developed in the tropical western Pacific so that a high passage frequency from the Philippine to the south China region along the anomalous steering flows was revealed. The characteristics of the anomalous cold and dry anticyclone developed in the East Asia continent were also confirmed by the analysis of air temperature, relative humidity and sensible heat net flux showing that most regions in East Asia had negative values.

This study analyzed a correlation between South China Sea summer (June to September) monsoon (SCSSM) and the ENSO for the last 32 years (1979 to 2010). There was a correlation that the higher (lower) the SST in the Niño-3.4 region was, the weaker (stronger) the SCSSM intensity was. To identify the reason for this correlation, a difference of means between 8 El Niño years and 8 La Niña years (June to September). The analysis on the difference between two groups with respect to the 850 hPa stream flows showed that there were anomalous huge cyclones in the subtropical Pacific in the both hemispheres so that cold and dry anomalous northerlies were strengthened in the South China Sea relatively while anomalous westerlies were strengthened from the Maritime Continent to the off the coast of Chile. The analysis on the difference between two groups with respect to the 200 hPa stream flows showed that the opposite anomalous pressure system pattern to that in the 850 hPa stream flows were shown. In the subtropical Pacific of the both hemispheres, anomalous anticyclones existed so that anomalous easterlies were strengthened from the Maritime Continent to the equatorial central Pacific. Considering the anomalous atmospheric circulations in the upper and lower layers of the troposphere, upward airflows from the equatorial central and eastern Pacific were downward in the South China Sea and the Maritime Continent, which was a structure of anomalous atmospheric circulations. This means that the Walker Circulation was weakened and it was a typical structure of atmospheric circulations revealed in El Niño years.

This study analyzed the change in tropical cyclone (TC) activity according to the fluctuation in July-to-September average North Pacific Oscillation index (NPOI) and its underlying large-scale environment during the last 37 years from 1977 to 2013. For this purpose, seven years with highest index NPOI value (positive NPOI phase) and another seven years with lowest NPOI index value (negative NPOI phase) among the 37 years were selected as sample after excluding the ENSO years. During the positive NPOI phase, TCs were created in the east of tropical and subtropical western North Pacific and moved to the west from the Philippines toward the southern region in China or toward far eastern sea of Japan. Meanwhile, during the negative NPOI phase, TCs tended to proceed to the north toward Korea or Japan passing East China Sea from the eastern sea of the Philippines. As a result, also in the TC recurvature, TCs in positive NPOI phase showed a tendency of recurving toward more eastern direction compared to TCs in negative NPOI phase. Hence, TC intensity was stronger in negative NPOI phase which allowed more time for obtaining energy from the ocean.

˜e onset, retreat, and precipitation of the Korean summer rainy season (Changma) signiÿcantly a˛ect human health and daily lives as well as domestic industry and economy. To increase revenue during Changma period, retail industry has tried to develop various weather marketing strategies on a regional basis. This study investigated the impact of Changma on the retail sales in Jeju. During Changma in Jeju in 2014, the temperature has dropped by 2.3°C, from 26.2°C to 23.9°C while the precipitation has significantly increased from 115.3mm to 441.5mm compared to last year. Due to these weather characteristics of Changma, large retailers in Seogwipo city have seen a high increase in sales of umbrellas, raincoats, and rain boots by 250-400 percent, but a decrease in sales of air conditioners by 15 percent. This results from more frequent rainfall and cool weather compared to the previous year. However, opposite results were found regarding traditional markets in Jeju. Depending on industrial structures in each region, the identical weather phenomenon have different impacts on the number of visitors to the markets. In other words, the impact of Changma on local retail sales is in˝uenced by multiple local factors including demographic composition and industrial structure in the regional economy.

This study is carried out in order to bridge the gap to understand the relationships between South Asian and East Asian monsoon systems by comparing the summer (June-September) precipitation of Nepal and South Korea. Summer monsoon precipitation data from Nepal and South Korea during 30 years (1981-2010) are used in this research to investigate the association. NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data are also used to see the nature of large scale phenomena. Statistical applications are used to analyze these data. The analyzed results show that summer monsoon precipitation is higher over Nepal (1513.98 ± 159.29 mm y-1) than that of South Korea (907.80 ± 204.71 mm y-1) and the wettest period in both the countries is July. However, the coefficient of variation shows that amplitude of interannual variation of summer monsoon over South Korea (22.55%) is larger in comparison to that of Nepal (10.52%). Summer monsoon precipitation of Nepal is found to be significantly correlated to that of South Korea with a correlation coefficient of 0.52 (99% confidence level). Large-scale circulations are studied to further investigate the relationship between the two countries. wind and specific humidity at 850 hPa show a strong westerly from Arabian Sea to BOB and from BOB, wind moves towards Nepal in a northwestward direction during the positive rainfall years. In case of East Asia, strong northward displacement of wind can be observed from Pacific to South Korea and strong anticyclone over the northwestern Pacific Ocean. However, during the negative rainfall years, in the South Asian region we can find weak westerly from the Arabian Sea to BOB, wind is blowing in a southerly direction from Nepal and Bangladesh to BOB.

We found that, in 1984, there was a climate regime shift in April mean precipitation in Gwangju of Jeollanam-do province, Korea using a statistical change-point analysis. During the period of post-1984(1985-2013), the April mean precipitation in the years post-1984 showed a distinct decrease, compared to the pre-1984 period(1954-1984). This regime shift was also observed in China and Japan, excluding southern China. One of the major causes for the decreasing April mean precipitation during the recent three decades was the increased snow depth in the mid-latitude regions of continental East Asia. The increased snow depth resulted in strengthened cold and dry anticyclone anomaly over continental East Asia and a relatively weakened subtropical anticyclone anomaly over the western North Pacific. The anomalous synoptic conditious supported a continuation of the typical winter pressure pattern of ‘high-West and low-East’ over East Asia in April. The intensified northerly winds from this zonal pressure pattern anomaly played a significant role in restricting the northern movement of the subtropical anticyclone and there by preventing the inflow of warm and humid air into Korea.