Eun-Byul Kim

A Study on the Influence of Extreme Heat on Daily Mortality

In Korea, the global warming leads to more frequent high temperature region. increasing the need for research into physical damage caused by high temperature. We therefore analyzed the differences of mortality, caused by extreme heat, among gender and age. We also examined the trend of mortality from high temperature-sensitive diseases. Women are more affected by exposure to high temperature than are men; People over 65 years old have higher mortality rate (1.5 times) than under 65. As for high temperature-related diseases, cerebrovascular disease was the number one cause of death, and chronic lower respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease followed.

A Study on Development of the Extreme Heat Standard in Korea

Lately extreme weather event is occurring because of the global warming. Especially disaster due to the extreme heat are increasing but the definition and the standard of the extreme heat is obscure until now. So this study established the extreme heat standard by using the number of daily deaths. As a result, considering the climate of the megalopolis using daily maximum heat index and daily maximum temperature was the best for the standard of the extreme heat. And it showed that extreme heat lasted for 2 days affects the death toll the most. The regional incidence of the extreme heat is highest at August and July, September and June is following.

Study on the Establishment of Threshold Criteria for Heat Health Watch Warning System in Korea; Part I : Establishment of Criteria and Verification

This study investigates the standard, duration period and excess mortality of extreme heat using the stand- ardized daily mortality data from 1991 to 2004, establishing a standard threshold Criteria for Heat Health Watch Warning System in Korea. It ultimately aims to provide the guidance in building up Heat Health Watch Warning System for Korea by suggesting the standard to quantify thermal stress from heat. The standard thresh- old Criteria for Heat Health Watch Warning System for Seoul metropolitan city takes into account both daily maximum temperature and daily maximum heat index(HI) and consists of four phases; caution, extreme caution, danger, and extreme danger. Extreme caution phase and danger phase are used as the advisory and warning of extreme heat, respectively. Since the nationwide distribution of the frequency of extreme heat day and the excess mortality rate shows little difference across regions, the standard threshold Criteria for Heat Health Watch Warning System for Seoul metropolitan city can be used for other regions.

Analysis of the Perception of Extreme Heat Watch Warning and Usefulness of Special Weather Reports ; Focus on the Perception of University Students

This paper aims to analyze the perception of university students for the extreme heat watch warning and suggest the usefulness of special weather reports. For this, we have made up a descriptive questionnaires including the perception, mass media, usefulness and satisfaction of special weather report. Using the SPSS 17.0 program, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and Scheffe test were used to analyze the collected data. The result are as follows; The perception of extreme heat watch warning was some low as 59.1 percentile, we think it needs education and public relations about the extreme heat watch warning. The usefulness of special weather report was 66.6 percentile and of girl students of university that was educated about health care was higher than one of boy students of university, it needs continuous education of these students in order to upgrade satisfaction of special report and mitigate the hazard of extreme heat according to climate change. The main media to get the meteorological information of university undergraduate students were TV and Internet, it needed education and development of new contents. From these findings, suggestions are presented to help improve the extreme heat watch warning.

A Study on the Occurrence Characteristics of Tropical Night Day and Extreme Heat Day in the Metropolitan City, Korea

To identify the characteristics of extreme heat events and tropical nights in major cities, the correlations between automated synoptic observing station (ASOS), automatic weather station (AWS), and temperature in seven metropolitan areas were analyzed. Temperatures at ASOS were found to be useful sources of the reference temperature of each area. To set the standard for identifying dates of extreme heat events in relation to regional topography and the natural environment, the monthly and yearly frequency of extreme heat in each region was examined, based on the standards for extreme heat day (EHD), tropical night day (TND), and extreme heat and tropical night day (ETD). All three cases identified 1994 as the year with the most frequent heat waves. The frequency was low according to all three cases in 1993, 2003 and 2009. Meanwhile, the yearly rate of increase was the highest in 1994, followed by 2010 and 2004, indicating that the frequency of extreme heat changed significantly between 1993 and 1994, 2003 and 2004, and 2009 and 2010. Therefore all three indexes can be used as a standard for high temperature events. According to monthly frequency data for EHD, TND, and ETD, July and August accounted for 80% or more of the extreme heat of the entire year.

Analysis of Utilization and Perception of Special Weather Reports for Climate Change Adaptation: Focus on Dryness Advisory and Warning

This study aims to find the perception and utilization of the citizen about the dryness watch warning (DWW) among special weather reports. For this we have made up a descriptive questionnaire including the perception, utilization of special weather reports. Using the SPSS 17.0 program, descriptive s...

Analysis on the PM 10 Transportation Route in Gimhae Region Using the HYSPLIT Model

Abstract This study was conducted to investigate the correlations between the PM 10 concentration trend and meteorological elements in the Gimhae region and analyze the transportation routes of air pollutants through back-trajectory analysis. Among the air quality measuring stations in the Gimhae regions, the PM 10 concentration of the Sambangdong station was higher than that of the Dongsangdong station. Also, an examination of the relationships between PM 10 concentration and meteorological elements showed that the greater the number of yellow dust occurrence days was and the lower the temperature and precipitation were, the higher the PM 10 concentration appeared. Furthermore, a cluster analysis through the HYSPLIT model showed that there were 4 clusters of trajectories that flowed into the Gimhae region and most of them originated in China. The meteorological characteristics of the four clusters were analyzed and they were similar to those of the air masses that influence South Korea. These analyses found that meteorological conditions affect the PM

A Case Study of WRF Simulation for Surface Maximum Wind Speed Estimation When the Typhoon Attack : Typhoons RUSA and MAEMI

This study calculated wind speed at the height of 10 m using a disaster prediction model(Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model, FPHLM) that was developed and used in the United States. Using its distributions, a usable information of surface wind was produced for the purpose of disaster prevention when the typhoon attack. The advanced research version of the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) was used in this study, and two domains focusing on South Korea were determined through two-way nesting. A horizontal time series and vertical profile analysis were carried out to examine whether the model provided a resonable simulation, and the meteorological factors, including potential temperature, generally showed the similar distribution with observational data. We determined through comparison of observations that data taken at 700 hPa and used as input data to calculate wind speed at the height of 10 m for the actual terrain was suitable for the simulation. Using these results, the wind speed at the height of 10 m for the actual terrain was calculated and its distributions were shown. Thus, a stronger wind occurred in coastal areas compared to inland areas showing that coastal areas are more vulnerable to strong winds.

Survey Research Analysis for Enhancing the Utilization Level of Marine Meteorological Information

Abstract A survey of professionals employed in marine related fields was conducted on subjects related to marine meteorological forecasts and special reports. The outcome of the survey indicated that the respondents were overall satisfied with the determination of the zones related to marine meteorological forecasts and special reports and with the number of forecast factors, but in regards to the questions about specific adjustment methods, it was found that the respondents perceived a need for adjustment. In addition, although there was a high consensus among the respondents that the criteria for watch and warning in the marine special reports were suitable, they voiced the opinion that it will be necessary to implement changes in the current criteria for watch and warning in order to further improve the compatibility of the criteria. The survey found that there was a high level of utilization for the marine meteorological information provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA), and that respondents mostly acquired this information via internet and TV. On the other hand, however, the satisfaction level regarding the accuracy of the marine meteorological information was low in comparison to the utilization level. The survey regarding areas for improvement in the forecasts and special reports also indicated that the need for ‘improvement in the accuracy of forecasts’ was cited most frequently.

Classification of Wind Sector for Assessment of Wind Resource and Establishment of a Wind Map in South Korea

We classified wind sectors according to the wind features in South Korea. In order to get the information of wind speed and wind direction, we used and improved on the atmospheric numerical model. We made use of detailed topographical data such as terrain height data of an interval of 3 seconds and landuse data produced at ministry of environment, Republic of Korea. The result of simulated wind field was improved. We carried out the cluster analysis to classify the wind sectors using the K-means clustering. South Korea was classified as 8 wind sectors to the annual wind field.