Synoptic-Scale Environment for Heavy Rainfall Over the Korean Peninsula During the Changma (late June through mid-July) and August

Abstract

This study examines the synoptic-scale environment for heavy rainfall over the Korean Peninsula (KP) during the Changma (late June through mid-July) and August using a 30-year dataset (1990–2019). The K-means clustering of geopotential height and equivalent potential temperature at 850 hPa has produced nine clusters of synoptic-scale environment, which are classified into 4 patterns. For the Changma, 1) the pattern 1 (C2, C4 and C6 clusters): a synoptic cyclone to the north, the western North Pacific Subtropical high (WNPSH) to the southeast of the KP, a significant trough to the southeast of the Tibetan plateau, and the strong southwesterly band from SW China to the KP, 2) the pattern 2 (C3 and C5) is similar to the pattern 1 except for the ridge over northeastern China, 3) the pattern 3 (C1 and C7) is similar to the pattern 2, except for the synoptic-scale trough over the South China Sea, and 4) the pattern 4 (C8 and C9) is not a typical Changma pattern. For August, 1) the pattern 1 (A3, A8 and A9) is similar to the Changma pattern 1, however, the Tibet trough and the southwesterly belt are relatively weak, 2) the pattern 2 (A7 and A2) shows heavy rainfall along the western edge of the WNPSH accompanied by relatively frequent tropical cyclones (TCs), 3) the pattern 3 (A5 and A6) shows heavy rainfall along the western edge of the WNPSH with a trough over the Yellow Sea, and 4) the pattern 4 (A4 and A1) shows heavy rainfall away from the WNPSH.

Sang-Hun Park

Professor

Uju Shin

Academic research professor

Se-Hyun Lee

Student in Ph.D. course

My research interests include various features in numerical modeling in an atmospheric dynamical sense.