Review of the Researches on Changma and Future Observational Study(KORMEX)

Changma is the most important supplier of water resource in Korea. However, its interannual variation may cause either floods or droughts time to time in many regions of Korea. A number of studies on Changma have been done in many subjects, such as the on-set and retreat timing, duration of Changma, and its interannual variation, which may cause either wet or dry Changma, and the heavy rainfall phenomena associated with the Changma front. Also, the subjects covered the dynamical situation of Changma compared to that of Baiu and Mei-yu as a part of East Asian monsoon circulation, and relation between Changma and tropical Pacific sea-surface temperature (SST) through atmosphere-ocean interaction, etc. A numerical study is presented in this paper to check the teleconnection between the behavior of Changma front and the variation of tropical Pacific SST. The difference in the lower level streamfunction between theEl Nio event of 1987 and the La Nia event of 1988 illustrates that the cross-equatorial and westerly wind crossing over the India and Indo-China peninsula were weak during the summer of 1988 compared to 1987. This may cause the drought of 1988 in East Asia by reducing moisture supply from the Indian Ocean and the south-western Pacific. Even though there are numerous research activities on the Changma, our knowledge on the Changma is still limited to explain the mechanism of interannual variation of Changma and to provide a proper prediction of precipitation due to both geographical location of Korea and its complex topography. In collaboration with the international field observational projects, such as GAME and SCSMEX, the Korea Monsoon Experiment (KORMEX) has been planned by several scientists in Korea to improve our knowledge on the atmospheric circulation and water cycle related to the East Asian monsoon and to provide necessary information to predict both short- and long-term variation of rainfall during the Changma season.

Surface and Upper-Level Features Associated with Wintertime Cold Surge Outbreaks in South Korea

The surface and upper-level features associated with a sharp drop ofwintertime daily temperature over South Korea is investigated in this study. This sharp drop indaily temperature is called a cold surge and is one of the most hazardous weather phenomena in EastAsian winters. An upper-level baroclinic wave of 60° wavelength propagating eastward at a phasespeed of 12° longitude per day across the continent of northern China from the west of Lake Baikaltoward the eastern coast of China causes the outbreak of cold air over South Korea. The coolingassociated with the upper-level baroclinic jvave is found at all altitudes under the geopotentialheight-fall center near the tropopause. The development in the ridge seems to derive the earlyevolution of the eastward-propagating sinusoidal wave, whereas the trough is connected directly withthe tropospheric temperature-drop. An enhancement of the wintertime East Asian jet stream after theoutbreak of a cold surge is a response to the steep temperature gradient associated with thedeveloping baroclinic wave.