Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences

Korean Meteorological Society (한국기상학회)
권호 표지

Climatology of Stability Indices and Environmental Parameters Derived from Rawinsonde Data over South Korea

Eom, Hyo-Sik;Suh, Myoung-Seok;Ha, Jong-Chul;Lee, Yong-Hee;Lee, Hee-Sang

  • Published : 2008.06.10
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The climatology of various stability indices (SIs) and environmental parameters (EPs) widely used to forecast severe convection over South Korea has been studied by using the five upper air observation data for a period of 10 years(1997-2006). Virtual temperature correction is applied when calculating SIs and EPs, such as the equilibrium level (EL), level of free convection (LFC), convective available potential energy (CAPE), and convection inhibition (CIN). The characteristics (spread ranges of SIs and EPs) of the atmospheric environment are significantly affected by geographic location and seasonal features. Most of the selected SIs and EPs show significant variation as a result of the seasonal march of Asian monsoons, but their magnitudes are depend on the geographic location, SI and EP. The seasonal variations of SIs and EPs show that summer is the most favorable season for deep convection. Osan and Gwangju show larger instability and more favorable conditions for deep convection than other regions under the influence of the ocean. Also, most of the selected SIs and EPs show significant diurnal variations with the largest (lowest) instability at 12 UTC (00 UTC). The diurnal variation is more significant in the inland area (Osan and Gwangju), than on the coast (Baengnyeongdo, Jeju, and Pohang). The diurnal variations of SIs and EPs are likely to be related to the diurnal cycle of solar heating and water vapor at the lower layer. The frequency distributions of SIs classified by the Korea Meteorological Administration criteria show that the threshold values should be re-inspected for efficient use of SIs over South Korea, because the frequency distributions in a similar instability class are quite different among SIs.

Keywords

References

  1. Chuda, T., and H. Niino, 2005: Climatology of environmental parameters for mesoscale convection in Japan. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 83, 391-408 https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.83.391
  2. COMET, 2006: Skew-T mastery. [Available online at http://www.meted.ucar.edu/mesoprim/skewt /index.htm]
  3. Craven, J. P., H. E. Brooks, and J. A. Hart, 2002a: Baseline climatology of sounding derived parameters associated with deep, moist convection. Preprints, 21st Conf. on Severe Local Storms, San Antonio, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 643-646
  4. Craven, J. P., R. E. Jewell, and H. E. Brooks, 2002b: Comparison between observed convective cloud-base heights and lifting condensation level for two different lifted parcels. Wea. Forecasting, 17, 885-890 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(2002)017<0885:CBOCCB>2.0.CO;2
  5. Craven, J. P. and H. E. Brooks, 2004: Baseline climatology of sounding derived parameters associated with deep moist convection. Natl. Wea. Dig., 28, 13-24
  6. Davies, J. M, 1993: Hourly helicity, instability and EHI in forecasting supercell tornadoes. Preprints, 17th Conf. on Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 107-111
  7. Davies, J. M, 2002: On low-level thermodynamic parameters associated with tornadic and nontornadic supercells. Preprints, 21st Conf. on Severe Local Storms, San Antonio, TX , Amer. Meteor. Soc., 603-606 [Available online at http://members.cox.net/jondavies1/ LLthermo.PDF]
  8. Derubertis, D., 2006: Recent trends in four common stability indices derived from U.S radiosonde observations. J. Climate, 19, 309-323 https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3626.1
  9. Doswell, C. A., and E. N. Rasmussen, 1994: The effect of neglecting the virtual temperature correction on CAPE calculations. Wea. Forecasting, 9, 625-629 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(1994)009<0625:TEONTV>2.0.CO;2
  10. Galway, J. G., 1956: The lifted index as a predictor of latent instability. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 37, 528-529
  11. George, J. J., 1960: Weather and Forecasting for Aeronautics. Academic Press, 673 pp.
  12. Heo, B.-H., K.-E. Kim, and K.-D. Min, 1994: Synoptic thermodynamic characteristics of air mass thunderstorms occurring in the middle region of South Korea during the summer. J. Korean Meteor. Soc., 30, 49-63. (In Korean with English abstract)
  13. Hong, K.-O., M.-S. Suh, and D.-K. Rha, 2006: Temporal and spatial variations of precipitation in South Korea for recent 30 years (1976-2005) and geographic environments. J. Korean Earth Sci. Soc., 27, 433- 449. (In Korean with English abstract)
  14. Iwasaki, H., and T. Miki, 2001: Observational study on the diurnal variation in precipitable water associated with the thermally induced local circulation over the 'semi-basin' around Maebashi using GPS data. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 79, 1077-1091 https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.79.1077
  15. Iwasaki, H., and T. Miki, 2002: Diurnal variation of convective activity and precipitable water over the '"Semi-Basin'. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 80, 439-450 https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.80.439
  16. Kerr, B. W., and G. L. Darkow, 1996: Storm-relative winds and helicity in tornadic thunderstorm environments. Wea. Forecasting, 11, 489-505 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(1996)011<0489:SRWAHI>2.0.CO;2
  17. Kim, J.-S., S.-H. Park, S.-J. Ham, K.-S. Ban, Y.-J. Choi, D.-E. Chang, and H.-S, Chung, 2006: The study on the frontal thunderstorm during winter time in the Korean peninsula. Atmosphere, 16, 351-358. (In Korean with English abstract)
  18. Kim, K.-E., and H.-R. Lee, 1994: Development mechanism of summertime air mass thunderstorm occurred in Kwangju area. J. Korean Meteor. Soc., 30, 597-613. (In Korean with English abstract)
  19. Miller, R. C., 1972: Notes on analysis and severe-storm forecasting procedures of the Military Warning Center. Air Weather Service (MAC). Technical Report 200,Scott Air Force Base, IL, 181 pp.
  20. Rasmussen, E. N., and D. O. Blanchard, 1998: Baseline cli-matology of sounding-derived supercell and tornado parameters. Wea. Forecasting, 13 1148-1164 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(1998)013<1148:ABCOSD>2.0.CO;2
  21. Romero, R., M. Gaya, and C. A. Doswell, 2007: European climatology of severe convective storm environmental parameters. Atmos. Res., 83, 389-404 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2005.06.011
  22. RTM-230, 2000: Skew-T Log P Diagram and Sounding Analysis. National Weather Service Training Center Remote Training Module
  23. Thompson, R. L., R. Edwards, and C. M. Mead, 2004: An update to the supercell composite and significant tornado parameters. Preprints, 22nd Conf. on Severe Local Storms, Hyannis, MA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., [Available online at http://www.spc.noaa. gov/publications/thompson/ stp_scp.pdf]
  24. Weisman, M. L. and J. B. Klemp, 1982: The dependence of numerically simulated convective storms on vertical wind shear and buoyancy. Mon. Wea. Rev., 110, 04-520
  25. Wilks, D. S., 2006: Statistical Methods in the Atmospheric Sciences. 2nd ed. Academic Press, 30 pp.