Maeng-Ki Kim

Enhanced surface warming and accelerated snow melt in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau induced by absorbing aerosols

Numerical experiments with the NASA finite-volume general circulation model show that heating of the atmosphere by dust and black carbon can lead to widespread enhanced warming over the Tibetan Plateau?(TP) and accelerated snow melt in the western TP and Himalayas. During the boreal spring, a thick aerosol layer, composed mainly of dust transported from adjacent deserts and black carbon from local emissions, builds up over the Indo-Gangetic Plain, against the foothills of the Himalaya and the TP. The aerosol layer, which extends from the surface to high elevation (~5?km), heats the mid-troposphere by absorbing solar radiation. The heating produces an atmospheric dynamical feedback?the so-called elevated-heat-pump?(EHP) effect, which increases moisture, cloudiness, and deep convection over northern India, as well as enhancing the rate of snow melt in the Himalayas and TP. The accelerated melting of snow is mostly confined to the western TP, first slowly in early April and then rapidly from early to mid-May. The snow cover remains reduced from mid-May through early June. The accelerated snow melt is accompanied by similar phases of enhanced warming of the atmosphere?land system of the TP, with the atmospheric warming leading the surface warming by several days. Surface energy balance analysis shows that the short-wave and long-wave surface radiative fluxes strongly offset each other, and are largely regulated by the changes in cloudiness and moisture over the TP. The slow melting phase in April is initiated by an effective transfer of sensible heat from a warmer atmosphere to land. The rapid melting phase in May is due to an evaporation?snow?land feedback coupled to an increase in atmospheric moisture over the TP induced by the EHP effect.

Atmospheric Teleconnection over Eurasia Induced by Aerosol Radiative Forcing during Boreal Spring

Abstract The direct effects of aerosols on global and regional climate during boreal spring are investigated based on numerical simulations with the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office finite-volume general circulation model (fvGCM) with Microphyics of Clouds with the Relaxed–Arakawa Schubert Scheme (McRAS), using aerosol forcing functions derived from the Goddard Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport model (GOCART). The authors find that anomalous atmospheric heat sources induced by absorbing aerosols (dust and black carbon) excite a planetary-scale teleconnection pattern in sea level pressure, temperature, and geopotential height spanning North Africa through Eurasia to the North Pacific. Surface cooling due to direct effects of aerosols is found in the vicinity and downstream of the aerosol source regions, that is, South Asia, East Asia, and northern and western Africa. Significant atmospheric heating is found in regions with large loading of dust (over northern Africa and the Middle...

Amplification of ENSO effects on Indian summer monsoon by absorbing aerosols

In this study, we present observational evidence, based on satellite aerosol measurements and MERRA reanalysis data for the period 1979–2011, indicating that absorbing aerosols can have strong influence on seasonal-to-interannual variability of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall, including amplification of ENSO effects. We find a significant correlation between ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) and aerosol loading in April–May, with La Nina (El Nino) conditions favoring increased (decreased) aerosol accumulation over northern India, with maximum aerosol optical depth over the Arabian Sea and Northwestern India, indicative of strong concentration of dust aerosols transported from West Asia and Middle East deserts. Composite analyses based on a normalized aerosol index (NAI) show that high concentration of aerosol over northern India in April–May is associated with increased moisture transport, enhanced dynamically induced warming of the upper troposphere over the Tibetan Plateau, and enhanced rainfall over northern India and the Himalayan foothills during May–June, followed by a subsequent suppressed monsoon rainfall over all India, consistent with the elevated heat pump (EHP) hypothesis (Lau et al. in Clim Dyn 26:855–864, 2006. doi:10.1007/s00382-006-0114-z). Further analyses from sub-sampling of ENSO years, with normal (<1-σ), and abnormal (>1-σ) NAI over northern India respectively show that the EHP may lead to an amplification of the Indian summer monsoon response to ENSO forcing, particularly with respect to the increased rainfall over the Himalayan foothills, and the warming of the upper troposphere over the Tibetan Plateau. Our results suggest that absorbing aerosol, particular desert dusts can strongly modulate ENSO influence, and possibly play important roles as a feedback agent in climate change in Asian monsoon regions.

Spatial modeling of the highest daily maximum temperature in Korea via max-stable processes

This paper examines the annual highest daily maximum temperature (DMT) in Korea by using data from 56 weather stations and employing spatial extreme modeling. Our approach is based on max-stable processes (MSP) with Schlather’s characterization. We divide the country into four regions for a better model fit and identify the best model for each region. We show that regional MSP modeling is more suitable than MSP modeling for the entire region and the pointwise generalized extreme value distribution approach. The advantage of spatial extreme modeling is that more precise and robust return levels and some indices of the highest temperatures can be obtained for observation stations and for locations with no observed data, and so help to determine the effects and assessment of vulnerability as well as to downscale extreme events.

Possible mechanism of abrupt jump in winter surface air temperature in the late 1980s over the Northern Hemisphere

Abstract Possible cause of an abrupt warming in winter mean surface air temperature in the midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere in the late 1980s is investigated using observation and reanalysis data. To determine the timing of abrupt warming, we use a regime shift index based on detection of the largest significant differences between the mean values of two contiguous periods. Results show that the abrupt warming occurred in association with a regime shift after the 1980s in which the zonal mean sea level pressure (SLP) is significantly increased (decreased) at the latitude 25–35°N (60–70°N), in the form of north‐south dipole‐like SLP anomaly spanning the subtropics and high latitude. The dipole SLP anomaly can be attributed to a northward expansion of Hadley cell, a poleward broadening and intensification of the Ferrel cell, coupled with a collapse of polar cell. During the abrupt warming, strong anomalous southerly warm advection at the surface was induced by an enhanced and expanded Ferrel circulation, in association with a northward and downward shift of maximum center of northward eddy heat flux over the midlatitudes. An intensification of polar jet subsequent to regime shift may be instrumental in sustaining the warming up to more than 5 years.

Statistical multisite simulations of summertime precipitation over South Korea and its future change based on observational data

In this study, a weather generator for summer (May 19 – September 15) precipitation over South Korea is developed. Precipitation data for 33 years (1979–2011) observed at 57 stations of Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) are used to develop a new weather generator. Using the cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function (CSEOF) technique, the observed precipitation data is described as a linear combination of deterministic evolution patterns and corresponding stochastic amplitude (principal component) time series. An autoregressive-moving average (ARMA) model is used to generate one hundred sets of synthetic amplitude time series for the period of 1979–2061 (83 years) with similar statistical properties of the original amplitude time series. Based on these synthetic time series and the annually repeating evolution patterns, one hundred sets of synthetic summer precipitation were generated. Statistical characteristics of the synthetic datasets are examined in comparison with those of the KMA observational record for the period of the observational record. Characteristic changes of synthetic precipitations for a future period are also examined. The seasonal cycle in the synthetic precipitation is reproduced faithfully with typical bimodal peaks of summer precipitation. The spatial correlation patterns of the synthetic precipitation are fairly similar to that of the observational data. The frequency-intensity relationship of the synthetic precipitation also looks similar to that of the observational data. In the future period, precipitation amount increases except in the precipitation range of (0,10) mm day−1 with nearly no change in the frequency of no-rain days; frequency increase is particularly conspicuous in the range of (100,500) mm day−1.

Does El Niño-Southern Oscillation affect the precipitation in Korea on seasonal time scales?

A number of studies in the past two decades have attempted to find the relationship between the precipitation in Korea and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on various time scales. Comprehensive analyses of station precipitation data in Korea for the 61-year period, 1954-2014, in this study show that the effects of ENSO on the seasonal precipitation in Korea are practically negligible. The correlation between summer precipitation and ENSO is insignificant regardless of the intensity, type (e.g., eastern-Pacific or central-Pacific), and stage (e.g., developing, mature, or decaying) of ENSO. Somewhat meaningful correlation between ENSO and precipitation in Korea occurs only in the ENSO-developing fall. Because summer rainfall accounts for over half of the annual total and fall is a dry season in Korea, the overall effects of ENSO on precipitation in Korea are practically nonexistent.

Radiative effect of black carbon aerosol on seasonal variation in snow depth in the Northern-Hemisphere

In this research, we studied the effects of black carbon (BC) aerosol radiative forcing on seasonal variation in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) using numerical simulations with the NASA finite-volume General Circulation Model (fvGCM) forced with monthly varying three-dimensional aerosol distributions from the Goddard Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport Model (GOCART). The results show that atmospheric warming due to black carbon aerosols subsequently warm the atmosphere and land surfaces, especially those over Eurasia. As a result, the snow depth in Eurasia was greatly reduced in late winter and spring, and the reduction in snow cover decreased the surface albedo. Our surface energy balance analysis shows that the surface warming due to aerosol absorption causes early snow melting and further increases surface-atmosphere warming through snow/ice albedo feedback. Therefore, BC aerosol forcing may be an important factor affecting the snow/ice albedo in the NH.

Future Trend of Extreme Value Distributions of Wintertime Surface Air Temperatures over Korea and the Associated Physical Changes

Daily winter temperatures in Korea have been analyzed via CSEOF analysis. Then, each PC time series was detrended and was fitted to an AR (autoregressive) model. Based on the identified AR model, an artificial time series of arbitrary length can be generated by using an arbitrary white-noise time series. In this way, one hundred new sets of PC time series were generated over the period of 1973–2058. Then, the trend for each PC time series was added back to the artificial PC time series extending the trend until 2058. Ultimately, artificial daily winter temperatures in Korea have been constructed by using the artificial PC time series and the original loading vectors derived from the observational data. The 100 new data sets have been investigated in order to understand the winter temperature variability 50 years into the future. Regression analysis in CSEOF space shows that temperature increase in Korea is associated with increased 850-hPa air temperature over most of the Asian domain (97°-153°E × 22°-73°N) and increased 850-hPa geopotential height in the southern part of the domain. As a result, southerly and southeasterly wind anomalies develop carrying positive temperature anomalies northward and northwestward. Both the 200-hPa air temperature and geopotential height changes indicate that there will be fairly significant northward shift of the jet stream in future. The standard deviation of the 200-hPa potential vorticity increases implying that shortwave trough and henceforth baroclinic instability will increase in future. Finally, GEV (Generalized Extreme Value) distribution and GPD (Generalized Pareto distribution) distribution have been compared between the observational records and the future records of the same length. The extreme value distributions based on the synthetic datasets show that warm extreme events will be more extreme in future and cold extreme events, on the other hand, will be less extreme. This study provides an estimate of future temperatures based on the observational data and serves as an independent baseline solution for comparisons with numerical model solutions.

Impacts of Snow Darkening by Deposition of Light‐Absorbing Aerosols on Hydroclimate of Eurasia During Boreal Spring and Summer

In this study, we used the NASA GEOS-5 climate model to investigate the impact of snow darkening by deposition of light-absorbing aerosols on the hydroclimate of Eurasia during boreal spring and summer. Two sets of 10-member ensemble model integrations with prescribed sea surface temperature were carried out for 10 simulated years (2002–2011); one includes snow-darkening effects (SDE) by light-absorbing aerosols and one does not (NSDE). Differences between the two experiments in the hydroclimates over Eurasia were evaluated. Results show that SDE warming is most pronounced during the melting season due to strong snow-albedo feedback in the vicinity of the retreating seasonal snowline. SDE spurs a wet-first-dry-later modulation of the surface energy and water balances, characterized by an accelerated (days-to-weeks) snowmelt, accompanied by excessive runoff and a warming and wetting of the land (relative to NSDE) during the early melting season. The snowmelt is followed by a fast desiccation of the land during the late melting, and early warming season, and then a prolonged warmer and drier land, through the boreal summer. The prolonged warming is sustained by atmospheric conditions favorable for the development of atmospheric blocking, that is, higher middle-to-upper-tropospheric geopotential height, lower relative humidity, reduced cloudiness, and enhanced atmospheric subsidence. Overall, SDE by light-absorbing aerosols leads to a warmer and drier boreal summer hydroclimate, increasing the frequency of the top 5 and 1% extreme hot days (as defined by NSDE statistics) over western and northern Eurasia by approximately threefold and tenfold, respectively.