Research Group 3 

: Interaction diagnose and prediction system

'Interaction diagnose and prediction system,' three research topics will be studied; development of interaction diagnose and prediction system, remote sensing observation and monitoring, and interface and integrated database (DB) development. In this Task, a data interface and database system will be operated to consolidate the produced data for sharing and distribution in the Center.

 

 

Research Group 3-1

:  Development of Coupled Regional Climate-Land Surface Process Model Considering Interaction Processes

 

Purpose

Climate change exerts influence on the Earth-environment system through water/energy cycle. These cycles can be diagnosed or predicted using the land surface process model (LSPM) that deals synthetically with atmospheric boundary layer, land surface, soil layer and vegetation. LSPM provides soil temperature and soil moisture to predict microscale soil/water environment and plays a central role in propagating the effect of climate change to overall Earth-environment system via evaluation of water cycle variables. LSPM also links the feedback effect due to changes in environmental systems to climate models. This year, we will apply the LSPM to various regions in Korea to produce water cycle variables associated with climate change. In addition, we aim to improve our understanding of major cloud processes in global and regional climate using satellite observations, and to test relevant parameterization in climate models.

 

Contents

  • In order to study the feedback process related to changes in forest ecosystem, water and soil environment, and vegetation, we apply the LSPM to forest, wetlands, watershed, etc., and evaluate variables of water/energy cycle. 
        
  • To test physical parameterizations in climate models, we perform two important tasks: 
       
    1. Response of tropical cumulonimbus and cirrus clouds to sea surface temperature change: this study will test what previous hypotheses of cloud processes are actually operating in nature. This can be accomplished by observational determination of tropical water vapor and cloud feedback by analyzing the radiative imbalance at the top of the atmosphere. Finally, the sensitivity of surface temperature to CO2 concentration (climate sensitivity) will be estimated. This study also analyzes IPCC AR4 AMIP models to improve the confidence of their climate sensitivities.
              
    2. Vertical structure of cold clouds-aerosol interaction: The net aerosol effects should be interpreted taking into account vertical differences in aerosol-cloud interactions. We especially focus on secondary effects and its impact on known first-order effects. Spaceborne lidar instrument will be used for our purpose of vertically resolved analysis. Also, it is necessary to inquire how the radiative effects would eventually be affected by the dynamical processes. Finally, we apply the cloud-aerosol interaction found in this observational study to climate model parameterization.

    

Expected Contribution

  • The LSPM calculates the water and energy budgets, and produces variables related to land surface-soil-vegetation processes such as soil moisture, soil temperature and evapotranspiration that can be used as input data for studying microscale interactive processes in soil/water environment. The LSPM can assess the impact of regional climate change on regional water/energy cycle using the climate change scenario as the input, and establish policies on confrontation/adaptation on regional climate change
              
  • The intellectual merit of the proposed study consists not only in adding to our general knowledge of clouds and climate, but also in the ability of the proposed tests results to increase confidence in global/regional climate simulation by aiding current climate models to be consistent with observed behavior.
              
  • We will include a Ewha graduate students as participants in the proposed activities as appropriate. 
          
  • Finally, such an observationally based knowledge has a broad impact upon all scientific bodies that make every effort to understand Earth’s climate, including Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as on socioeconomic activities for climate change.

 

 

 

Research Group 3-2

: The climatic and ecological change derived from satellite observations

 

Purpose 

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and analyze various satellite observations which have been used to globally monitor the temperature trend and water circulation in the artificial (man-made) changes of the climate and ecological system. Also, the corrections for different kinds of the satellite series and data are performed because this study utilizes satellite observations of AIRS/AMSU and MODIS which have been  induced with different spatial resolutions and algorithms.
         

Contents

This study will carry out as follows; The MSU/AMSU data from 1980 to the present are combined with more than ten NOAA satellite series. Thus, the following corrections at a given grid are required utilizing the overlapping-period data in order to produce a long-term time series at each channel;

  • Bias correction between two satellite series,
  • Diurnal-cycle correction due to their different Local Equatorial Crossing Time (LECT),
  • Correction of local time drift due to the satellite-orbit change with time.

The data will be arranged separately over the land and ocean because of their surface emissivity difference in microwave. It is also necessary to decide whether nadir or all scan data will be analyzed for the global warming. The surface temperature, obtained from the MODIS data, will also be used to input the high-resolution data to LSPM. The climate change over the Korean peninsula and the globe will be examined, based on the EOF analysis.

 

Expected Contribution

The satellite data of AIRS/AMSU and MODIS in this study will be collected and rearranged to use the input and benchmark data for the LSPM. This study also will investigate the global warming and water circulation over the Korean peninsula, based on three different satellite observations, while other previous studies have been done over the globe for a limited period. Furthermore, the characteristics of the different satellite data will be examined from the reanalysis and corrections between the satellite data or in the satellite data. Finally we will analyze how the difference affects the temperature trend over the Korean peninsula.

 

 

 

 Research Group 3-3

:  Development of Interface for managing and Building Integrated Ecological Environment DB and GIS-based Application System

 

Purpose 

To understand the impact of climate change on the environment is essential to account for all the complex interactions and feedbacks among climate-environment system components. It is expected that environmental processes and GIS will closely integrate. Once data are collected and stored in well-organized database, the possibilities for well designed GIS application are tremendous, not only within one database but also using combinations of different databases. Therefore this study will develop the GIS interface system for managing and building integrated climate/ecological environment DB to share and distribute the produced data in the other Task Teams at the Center. In addition, Web 2.0 based system will be developed to offer a viable approach to combining GIS models and experts systems for general users as well as experts.

 

Contents

  • To share and distribute the produced data in the other Task Teams at the Center,  GIS integration system will be invaluable to extract information from the climate, ecology, and environment prediction systems and to aggregate that information into more holistic-oriented systems.
  • To achieve such a level of integration and corporation, a high degree of standardization is required to be in place. Since almost all climate/ecology and environment prediction data are established by different task teams, a standardization studies will be carried out to have a good chance of success in integrating data. By forming standards, it will be possible to utilize research results made for other purposes in various scales.
  • Conceptual configurations for GIS system will be analyzed to meet the needs of various users. Each configuration is accompanied by a description of the type of the research team, the level of distribution, and the systems' upgrade possibilities.
  • GIS products are now internet aware and work together with the advancement in the spatial database technology. Application based on GIS such as 'Data Drilling' are now possible over the Internet. Web based GIS system will be developed for general users as well as experts. All contents can be created for these users.

 

Expected Contribution
  • Data standardization encourages integrated studies and enhance cost-effect-data build. GIS integration system can be greatly enhanced not only for manipulating the database but also for analyzing the aggregation of environment data.
                                                                                                      
  • Web 2.0 based system can offer a viable approach to combining GIS models and experts systems. Web based system can be developed for general users as well as experts. All contents can be adopted for these users. Therefore this system can provide educational resources in term of the climate/ecosystem/ environment systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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