Observational Analysis of Aerosol–Meteorology Interactions for the Severe Haze Episode in Korea

• Published in: Atmosphere Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 33
• Main Authors: Eun, Seung-Hee, Park, Sung-Min, Kim, Byung-Gon, Park, Jin-Soo, Chang, Ki-Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.01.2021
• Subjects: aerosol; Aerosols; Air pollution; Atmospheric aerosols; Boundary layer height; Boundary layers; Clouds; Economic growth; Haze; Height; Humidity; Hypotheses; interactions; Irradiance; Meteorological conditions; Meteorology; Pollutants; Precipitation; Stability; Standard deviation; Weather forecasting; Wind speed; South Korea; China
• ISSN: 2073-4433; 2073-4433
• DOI: 10.3390/atmos12010033

Korea has occasionally suffered from various kinds of severe hazes such as long-range transported aerosol (LH), yellow sand (YS), and urban haze (UH). We classified haze days into LH, YS, and UH and analyzed the characteristics of its associated meteorological conditions for 2011–2016 using reanalysis data and surface observations. The results show that higher boundary layer height and stronger wind speed were found for the LH and YS hazes relative to those for UH. Intensive analysis on a golden episode of 10–18 January 2013 indicates that the cloud fraction increased along with extended light precipitation at a weaker rate by enhanced aerosol loading for an unprecedented LH event, which in turn brought about a decrease in boundary layer height (BLH) with less irradiance, that is, much stronger stability. Later, the intensified stability after the LH event accumulated and increased domestic aerosols, and eventually resulted in the longer-lasting severe haze. This study suggests that aerosol–meteorology interactions play an important role in both short-term weather and fine particle forecasts, especially on polluted days.