Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology Earth System Model and Its Simulation Characteristics

Ocean Science Journal - We document the performance of a new earth system model developed at Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, called the KIOST-ESM, based on a low-resolution...     

Hydrologo-morphological approach to regionalization of the Selenga river basin

We examine the evolutionary stages of scientific views on the formation history of the delta plain of the Selenga river and adjacent territories, based on cartographic material and national investigations spanning the period 1701?C2009. We suggest the regionalization of the Selenga river from hydromorphometric attributes of erosion-accumulation, abrasion-accumulation and neotectonic processes. The study is based on comparing topographic maps, guides for navigation and space images (1898?C2009) as well as on experimental data obtained by the authors.     

CGCM3 predictors used for daily temperature and precipitation downscaling in Southern Québec, Canada

This study provides some guidance on the choice of predictor variables from both reanalysis products and the third version of the Canadian Coupled Global Climate Model (CGCM3) outputs for regression-based statistical downscaling models (SDMs) for climate change application in southern Québec (Canada). Twenty CGCM3 grid points and four surface observation sites in the study area were employed. Twenty-five deseasonalized predictors and four deseasonalized predictands (daily maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation occurrence and wet day precipitation amount) were used to investigate correlation coefficients among predictors and to evaluate their predictive ability when used in a multiple linear regression (MLR) downscaling model. The basic statistical characteristics of vorticity at 1,000-, 850- and 500-hPa levels, U-component of velocity at 1,000-hPa level, temperature at 2?m (T ₂) and wind direction at 1,000- and 500-hPa level of CGCM3 showed a larger difference with those of the NCEP reanalysis data. Therefore, those seven variables require high caution to be included as predictors in statistical downscaling models. Specific humidity at 1,000-, 850- and 500-hPa levels, geopotential height at 850- and 500-hPa levels and T ₂ were the most sensitive predictors for future climate conditions (i.e. A1B and A2 emission scenarios). Specific humidity and geopotential height at different levels and T ₂ were important explainable predictors for the daily temperatures. Mean sea level pressure, specific humidity, U and V components and divergence showed potential as predictors for daily precipitation. Spatial explained variance of MLRs between predictors of every different CGCM3 grid points and the four predictands showed large values at the CGCM3 grid points located near the observation sites, whereas relatively small values were shown at the CGCM3 grid points located more than 400?km from the sites. The explained variance of the downscaled predictands by predictors of three or four CGCM3 grid points located near the observation site produced 2–5% larger R-squares than those by predictors of the nearest grid point. The results illustrated that the use of predictors from more than one AOGCM grid points located near the observation site can increase the skill of the MLR downscaling models.     

Climate change impacts on spatial patterns in drought risk in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon, USA

Climate change is likely to lead more frequent droughts in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of America. Rising air temperature will reduce winter snowfall and increase earlier snowmelt, subsequently reducing summer flows. Longer crop-growing season caused by higher temperatures will lead to increases in evapotranspiration and irrigation water demand, which could exacerbate drought damage. However, the impacts of climate change on drought risk will vary over space and time. Thus, spatially explicit drought assessment can help water resource managers and planners to better cope with risk. This study seeks to identify possible drought-vulnerable regions in the Willamette River Basin of the PNW. In order to estimate drought risk in a spatially explicit way, relative Standardized Precipitation Index (rSPI) and relative Standardized Runoff Index (rSRI) were employed. Statistically downscaled climate simulations forcing two greenhouse gas emission scenarios, A1B and B1, were used to investigate the possible changes in drought frequency with 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-month time scales. The results of rSPI and rSRI showed an increase in the short-term frequency of drought due to decreases in summer precipitation and snowmelt. However, long-term drought showed no change or a slight decreasing pattern due to increases in winter precipitation and runoff. According to the local index of spatial autocorrelation analysis, the Willamette Valley region was more vulnerable (hot spot) to drought risk than the mountainous regions of the Western Cascades and the High Cascades (cold spot). Although the hydrology of the Western Cascades and the High Cascades will be affected by climate change, these regions will remain relatively water-rich. This suggests that improving the water transfer system could be a reasonable climate adaptation option. Additionally, these results showed that the spatial patterns of drought risk change were affected by drought indices, such that appropriate drought index selection will be important in future studies of climate impacts on spatial drought risk.     

Changes in climate classification and extreme climate indices from a high-resolution future projection in Korea

We investigate the future changes in the climate zone and six extreme temperature indices in Korea, using the 20-km high-resolution atmospheric general circulation model (MRI-AGCM3.1S). The Trewartha and K?ppen climate classification schemes are applied, and four summer-based extreme temperature indices (i.e., summer days, tropical nights, growing degree days, and cooling degree days (CDD) and two winter-based indices (frost days and heating degree days (HDD) are analyzed. To represent significantly the change in threshold indices, the monthly mean bias is corrected in model. The model result reasonably captures the temporal and spatial distribution of the present-day extreme temperatures associated with topography. It was found that in the future climate, the area of the subtropical climate zone in Korea expands northward and increases by 21% under the Trewartha classification scheme and by 35% under the K?ppen classification scheme. The spatial change in extreme climate indices is significantly modulated by geographical characteristics in relation to land-ocean thermal inertia and topographical effects. The change is manifested more in coastal regions than in inland regions, except for that in summer days and HDD. Regions with higher indices in the present climate tend to reveal a larger increase in the future climate. The summer-based indices display an increasing trend, while the winter-based indices show a decreasing trend. The most significant increase is in tropical nights (+452%), whereas the most significant decrease is in HDD (?25%). As an important indicator of energy-saving applications, the changes in HDD and CDD are compared in terms of the frequency and intensity. The future changes in CDD reveal a higher frequency but a lower temperature than those in HDD. The more frequent changes in CDD may be due to a higher and less dispersed occurrence probability of extreme temperatures during the warm season. The greater increase in extreme temperature events during the summer season remains an important implication of projecting future changes in extreme climate events.     

Property-based redevelopment and gentrification: The case of Seoul, South Korea

The urban experiences of South Korea in times of its rapid urbanisation and economic growth show that wholesale redevelopment had been a dominant approach to urban renewal, leading to redevelopment-induced gentrification. This was led by a programme known as the Joint Redevelopment Programme, transforming urban space that was once dominated by informal settlements into high-rise commercial housing estates. This paper tries to explain how this approach was possible at city-wide scale in its capital city, Seoul. Through the examination of redevelopment processes in a case study neighbourhood, it puts forward three arguments. First, the development potential arising from the rent gap expansion through under-utilisation of dilapidated neighbourhoods provided material conditions for the sustained implementation of property-based redevelopment projects. Second, this paper critically examines the dynamics of socio-political relations among various property-based interests embedded in redevelopment neighbourhoods, and argues that external property-based interests have enabled the full exploitation of development opportunities at the expense of poor owner-occupiers and tenants. Third, South Korea had been noted for its strong developmental state with minimum attention to redistributive social policies. The Joint Redevelopment Programme in Seoul was effectively a market-oriented, profit-led renewal approach, in line with a national housing strategy that favoured increased housing production and home-ownership at the expense of local poor residents’ housing needs.     

Paleosol profiles in the Shiohama Formation of the Lower Cretaceous Kanmon Group,Southwest Japan and implications for sediment supply frequency

This paper describes the pedogenic features of paleosols in the upper Lower Cretaceous Shiohama Formation, the lowest unit of the Shimonoseki Subgroup, in Yoshimi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, southwest Japan. The paleosol profiles in the Shiohama Formation are compound and complex, characterized by the presence of abundant calcrete horizons. An analysis of these profiles reveals that the floodplain upon which the Shiohama Formation was deposited was part of an unstable aggradation system characterized by the intermittent influx of sediments and occasional erosion. Furthermore, the mean annual range of precipitation was less than about 30 mm, suggesting only minor seasonal change between wet and dry conditions during deposition of the Shiohama Formation. The microstructures of the observed calcretes include dense microfabric, floating detrital grains, micronodules, circum-granular cracks, and complex cracks. These features formed by chemical precipitation under dry conditions, with little bioactivity. The calcrete horizons are classified into seven types (I–VII) based on their modes of occurrence. Two processes of carbonate accumulation can be identified based on the size and abundance of nodules: VI–V–III–(II)–I and VI–(V)–IV–II–I. These processes represent the development of calcrete horizons from the early to late stages of calcretization. Type I represents the most highly developed stage of calcretization. Calcretes within the Lower Member sequence of the Shiohama Formation show repetitions of type I and types II and III. Thus, it is interpreted that the frequency of sediment supply to the floodplain changed repeatedly over time.     

Terrigenous zircon of archean greenstone belts as a source of information on the early earth’s crust: Azov and Dnieper domains,Ukrainian shield

Zircons from the metasedimentary rocks of the Mesoarchean greenstone belts of the Azov and Middle Dnieper blocks of the Ukrainian shield were studied and dated by U-Pb method on a NORDSIM secondary-ion mass spectrometer. Detrital zircons from the metasediments of the Belozerskaya Formation of the greenstone belts of the Middle Dnieper block are usually dated within 3000–3100 Ma, while individual grains have an age of 3200–3300 Ma. This indicates that the sediments were derived mainly from proximal volcanic source with minor contribution of the basement material (Aul’skaya Group). The metasediments of the Soroki greenstone structure of the Azov block contain mainly zircons with ages within 3500–3600 Ma, except for scarce grains having the ages older than 3700 Ma. Zircon cores are overgrown by granulitic rims dated at approximately 3300 Ma. A wide scatter in ages and Th/U ratios in the zircons indicate that they were derived from rocks of different composition and age. Obtained data suggest significantly wider distribution of the Paleoarchean crust within the Azov block of the Ukrainian shield than was previously assumed.     

Galactic satellite systems: radial distribution and environment dependence of galaxy morphology

We have studied the radial distribution of the early (E/S0) and late (S/Irr) types of satellites around bright host galaxies. We made a volume-limited sample of 4986 satellites brighter than   M _r=−18.0  associated with 2254 hosts brighter than   M _r=−19.0  from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 sample. The morphology of satellites is determined by an automated morphology classifier, but the host galaxies are visually classified. We found segregation of satellite morphology as a function of the projected distance from the host galaxy. The amplitude and shape of the early-type satellite fraction profile are found to depend on the host luminosity. This is the morphology–radius/density relation at the galactic scale. There is a strong tendency for morphology conformity between the host galaxy and its satellites. The early-type fraction of satellites hosted by early-type galaxies is systematically larger than that of late-type hosts, and is a strong function of the distance from the host galaxies. Fainter satellites are more vulnerable to the morphology transformation effects of hosts. Dependence of satellite morphology on the large-scale background density was detected. The fraction of early-type satellites increases in high-density regions for both early- and late-type hosts. It is argued that the conformity in morphology of galactic satellite system is mainly originated by the hydrodynamical and radiative effects of hosts on satellites.     

Uncertainty of snow water equivalent retrieved from AMSR‐E brightness temperature in northeast Asia

Accurate estimation of snow water equivalent (SWE) has been significantly recognized to improve management and analyses of water resource in specific regions. Although several studies have focused on developing SWE values based on remotely sensed brightness temperatures obtained by microwave sensor systems, it is known that there are still a number of uncertainties in SWE values retrieved from microwave radiometers. Therefore, further research for improving remotely sensed SWE values including global validation should be conducted in unexplored regions such as Northeast Asia. In this regard, we evaluated SWE through comparison of values produced by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Earth Observing System (AMSR‐E) from December 2002 to February 2011 with in situ SWE values converted from snow‐depth observation data from four regions in the South Korea. The results from three areas showed similarities which indicated that the AMSR‐E SWE values were overestimated when compared with in situ SWE values, and their Mean Absolute Errors (MAE) by month were relatively small (1.1 to 6.5 mm). Contrariwise, the AMSR‐E SWE values of one area were significantly underestimated when compared with in situ SWE values and the MAE were much greater (4.9 to 35.2 mm). These results were closely related to AMSR‐E algorithm‐related error sources, which we analyzed with respect to topographic characteristics and snow properties. In particular, we found that snow density data used in the AMSR‐E SWE algorithm should be based on reliable in situ data as the current AMSR‐E SWE algorithm cannot reflect the spatio‐temporal variability of snow density values. Additionally, we derived better results considering saturation effect of AMSR‐E SWE. Despite the demise of AMSR‐E, this study's analysis is significant for providing a baseline for the new sensor and suggests parameters important for obtaining more reliable SWE. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.