Observational Study of Surface Wind along a Sloping Surface over Mountainous Terrain during Winter

The 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Pyeongchang, Korea, during February and March. We examined the near surface winds and wind gusts along the sloping surface at two outdoor venues in Pyeongchang during February and March using surface wind data. The outdoor venues are located in a complex, mountainous terrain, and hence the near-surface winds form intricate patterns due to the interplay between large-scale and locally forced winds. During February and March, the dominant wind at the ridge level is westerly; however, a significant wind direction change is observed along the sloping surface at the venues. The winds on the sloping surface are also influenced by thermal forcing,showing increased upslope flow during daytime. When neutral air flows over the hill, the windward and leeward flows show a significantly different behavior. A higher correlation of the wind speed between upper-and lower-level stations is shown in the windward region compared with the leeward region. The strong synoptic wind, small width of the ridge, and steep leeward ridge slope angle provide favorable conditions for flow separation at the leeward foot of the ridge. The gust factor increases with decreasing surface elevation and is larger during daytime than nighttime. A significantly large gust factor is also observed in the leeward region.     

A New Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer Channel Selection and Assessment of Its Impact on Met Office NWP Forecasts

A new set of Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer(IASI) channels was re-selected from 314 EUMETSAT channels.In selecting channels,we calculated the impact of the individually added channel on the improvement in the analysis outputs from a one-dimensional variational analysis(1D-Var) for the Unified Model(UM) data assimilation system at the Met Office,using the channel score index(CSI) as a figure of merit.Then,200 channels were selected in order by counting each individual channel's CSI contribution.Compared with the operationally used 183 channels for the UM at the Met Office,the new set shares 149 channels,while the other 51 channels are new.Also examined is the selection from the entropy reduction method with the same 1D-Var approach.Results suggest that channel selection can be made in a more objective fashion using the proposed CSI method.This is because the most important channels can be selected across the whole IASI observation spectrum.In the experimental trial runs using the UM global assimilation system,the new channels had an overall neutral impact in terms of improvement in forecasts,as compared with results from the operational channels.However,upper-tropospheric moist biases shown in the control run with operational channels were significantly reduced in the experimental trial with the newly selected channels.The reduction of moist biases was mainly due to the additional water vapor channels,which are sensitive to the upper-tropospheric water vapor.     

Effects of an Urban Park and Residential Area on the Atmospheric CO2 Concentration and Flux in Seoul, Korea

The CO₂ concentrations and fluxes over an urban forest site (Namsan) and an urban residential region (Boramae) in Seoul, Korea, during the non-growing season (2–4 March 2011), the growing season (10–12 June 2011), and the late-growing season (22–24 September 2011) were analyzed. The CO₂ concentrations of two sites showed nearly the same diurnal variation, with a maximum value occurring during the night and a minimum value occurring during daytime, as well as the same seasonal variation, with a maximum value during the non-growing season (early spring) and a minimum value during the growing season (summer). The CO₂ flux over the urban forest did not show any typical diurnal variation during the non-growing season, but did show diurnal variation with a small positive value during the night and a large negative value during daytime in the growing and late-growing seasons due to photosynthesis in the urban forest. The CO₂ flux over the urban residential region showed a positive daily mean value for all periods, with large values during the non-growing season and small values during the growing season, and it also showed diurnal variation with two maxima at 0600–1000 LST and 1800–2400 LST, and two minima at 0300-0600 LST and 1100-1500 LST, and was strongly correlated with the use of liquefied natural gas for cooking and heating by surrounding houses.     

Provenance of Jurassic accretionary complex: Mino terrane, inner zone of south-west Japan – implications for palaeogeography of eastern Asia

Provenance and tectonic history of the Jurassic accretionary complex, Mino terrane, located in the Inner Zone of south‐west Japan, were studied using sandstone framework composition and mudrock geochemistry. Modal analysis of sandstones shows that the tectonic setting of the source area for the studied Mino terrane clastic rocks was uplifted basement, largely dominated by high‐grade metamorphic terrain composed of quartz and feldspar, especially plagioclase. The textural and mineralogical immaturity, extent of alkali and alkaline earth element leaching, low chemical index of alteration values and depleted rare earth element (REE) contents suggest rapid uplift and erosion within the source terrain and a relatively weak weathering intensity. Factor analysis revealed that grain‐size effects governed compositional heterogeneity in the studied sediments. Provenance of the sediments is interpreted as being plagioclase‐enriched felsic basement rock, such as granodiorite, within a continental margin and evolved arc tectonic setting rather than active volcanic arc. Lack of a contribution from active volcanic arcs may have resulted from the cessation of volcanism during the reorganization of the subducting plate system and/or erosion of arc volcanics and exposure of basement. Considering the previous studies on palaeogeography and palaeocurrent reconstruction, the north‐eastern part of the Yeongnam massif in the Korean Peninsula is interpreted as the most probable source area for the studied turbidites. The results of mixing calculation for Mino terrane sediments suggest that Precambrian leucocratic granite and the basement rock of the Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin shed large amounts of sediments to the Mino trench, whilst Precambrian granitic gneiss and the Triassic pluton supplied lesser amounts. The results of this study reveal that, although active subduction–accretion processes were occurring, the Mino trench was bordered by continental basement rocks. This knowledge contributes to enhanced understanding of the Jurassic palaeogeography of the east Asia continental margin.     

Better cars or older cars?: Assessing CO2 emission reduction potential of passenger vehicle replacement programs

The primary motivation for the vehicle replacement schemes that were implemented in many countries was to encourage the purchase of new cars. The basic assumption of these schemes was that these acquisitions would benefit both the economy and the environment as older and less fuel-efficient cars were scrapped and replaced with more fuel-efficient models. In this article, we present a new environmental impact assessment method for assessing the effectiveness of scrappage schemes for reducing CO₂ emissions taking into account the rebound effect, driving behavior for older versus new cars and entire lifecycle emissions for during the manufacturing processes of new cars. The assessment of the Japanese scrappage scheme shows that CO₂ emissions would only decrease if users of the scheme retained their new gasoline passenger vehicles for at least 4.7 years. When vehicle replacements were restricted to hybrid cars, the reduction in CO₂ achieved by the scheme would be 6–8.5 times higher than the emissions resulting from a scheme involving standard, gasoline passenger vehicles. Cost–benefit analysis, based on the emission reduction potential, showed that the scheme was very costly. Sensitivity analysis showed that the Japanese government failed to determine the optimum, or target, car age for scrapping old cars in the scheme. Specifically, scrapping cars aged 13 years and over did not maximize the environmental benefits of the scheme. Consequently, modifying this policy to include a reduction in new car subsidies, focused funding for fuel-efficient cars, and modifying the target car age, would increase environmental benefits.