Simulations of the mesoscale cyclone accompanying the storm surge on 30 March 2007 in the western coast of Korea

Abstract

Cyclones are quite common and occasionally are disastrous because of the location of the Korean Peninsula. The storm surge on 30 March 2007 was very unusual in terms of its presence on the western coast and in terms of typical mesoscale cyclone development. Very specific numbers for sea level pressure and sea surface wind are required to predict cyclone disaster potential in the Korean Peninsula. In this study, we attempt to reproduce the reliable surface wind and sea level pressure using optimal physical parameterizations for high wind conditions in different models such as MM5, WRF, and COAMPS. To select the optimal physics combinations for the high winds, we designed three experiments with different parameterization combinations for MM5 and WRF as follows; EXP1 (Eta PBL and Betts-Miller cumulus), EXP2 (Eta PBL and Grell cumulus) and EXP3 (MRF PBL and Kain-Fritsch cumulus). EXP2 showed good performance in terms of the distribution and the magnitude of wind speed. The WRF and MM5 with EXP2 physics have an early evolution and a delayed maximum magnitude, respectively. The COAMPS model simulated the evolution but with a smaller magnitude. Warm advection, moisture flux and its convergence, convective instability, and longitude-height cross-section of temperature were explored by MM5 and WRF with EXP2 and COAMPS.