A new deep red colored standard rose (Rosa hybrida Hort.) cultivar, `Best Red' was developed at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extention Services (JARES). Seedling and line selection were conducted in 2003 and its characteristics were examined three times from 2004 to 2006. 'Best Red' which was obtained by cross between 'Vital' and 'Cardinal'. It shows a red group color (RHS No. 46C), medium fragrance, and standard flower with good harmony between ray floret and flower center. The upper stem is moderate curved. The average yield during 2004-2006 was 111 stems/m2. Its vase life was 10 days. This cultivar was registered as a commercial cultivar in 2007. It is suitable for greenhouses in all regions in Korea and will be released to farmers in 2009.

A new pale pink colored standard rose (Rosa hybrida Hort.) cultivar, 'Fine Pink' was developed at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extention Services (JARES). Seedling and line selection were conducted in 2003 and its characteristics were examined three times from 2004 to 2006. 'Fine Pink' was obtained by crosse between 'Nobless' and 'Yvessaaintlaurent'. It shows a red group color (RHS No. 56C), very weak fragrance, and standard flower with good harmony between ray floret and flower center. It has a characteristic of straight stem. The average yield during 2004-2006 was 113 stems/m2. It has 10 days vase life and resistance to powdery mildew. This cultivar was registered as a commercial cultivar in 2007. It is suitable for greenhouse in all regions in Korea and will be released to farmers in 2009.

A new light pink colored standard rose (Rosa hybrida Hort.) cultivar, 'Top Pink' was developed by the cross between 'Nobless' and 'Belami' at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extention Services (JARES) through seedling and line selection in 2003, and characteristic evaluation during 2004-2006. 'Top Pink' shows a Red group color (RHS No. 49A), strong fragrance, and standard flower with good harmony between ray florlet and flower center, and straight stem. The yield was 131 stems/m2 averaged over three years (2004-2007). It showed 10 days vase life and was resistant to powdery mildew. This cultivar was registered as a commercial cultivar in 2007. It can be cultured in greenhouses in Korea and will be released to farmers in 2009.

A new dark pink colored standard rose (Rosa hybrida Hort.) cultivar, 'Global Pink' was developed by the cross between 'Nobless' and `Belami' at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extention Services (JARES) through seedling and line selection in 2003 and characteristic evaluations during 2004~2006. 'Global Pink' showed Red purple group color (RHS No. 65B), very weak fragrance, and standard flower with good harmony between ray florlet and flower center. Its yield was 134 stems/m2 averaged over three years (2004-2007). It showed 10 days vase life and was resistant to powdery mildew. This cultivar was registered as a commercial cultivar in 2007. It can be cultured in greenhouses in Korea and will be released to the farmers in 2009.

The characteristics of meteorological conditions relevant to Asian dust (AD) outbreaks and their occurrence frequencies were analyzed in four source regions (R1 to R4) during spring months (March to May) of 1998-2002. Moreover, the concentration variations of AD (e.g., PM10) observed in Korea were investigated during the study period. In the relationship between AD outbreaks and three meteorological parameters (i.e., air temperature, wind speed, and aridity), the largest AD outbreaks in April (～250 observations) mostly occurred in R2 when air temperature ranging from 10.0 to 15.0℃ and surface wind speed from 7 to 9 m s-1 were recorded. Moreover, the aridity (≥ 4) in April was significantly high in R2 with the maximum frequency of AD outbreaks (i.e., 206 observations). On the other hand, the number (percentage) of days belonging to AD events observed in five Korean cities were found to be 116 (44%), 121 (46%), and 26 days (10%) in March, April, and May, respectively. The mean PM10 concentrations were found to range from 150 to 220, 150 to 200, and 95 to 120 ㎍ m-3 in March, April, and May, respectively. Consequently, this implied that the AD events in Korea were found to be gradually frequent in early spring and to be affected from the large AD outbreaks observed in the source regions.