Spatial and Temporal Variation in PBL Height over the Korean Peninsula in the KMA Operational Regional Model

Abstract

Spatial and temporal variations in planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) over the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding oceans are investigated using a regional grid model operated at the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Special attention is placed on daily maximum mixing height for evaluation against two radiosonde observation datasets. In order to construct a new high-resolution PBLH database with 3-hour time and 10 km spatial resolution, short-term integrations with the regional model are carried out for a one-year period from June 2010 to May 2011. The resulting dataset is then utilized to explore the seasonal patterns of horizontal PBLH distribution over the peninsula for one year. Frequency distributions as well as monthly and diurnal variations of PBLH at two selected locations are examined. This study reveals specific spatiotemporal structure of boundary layer depth over the Korean Peninsula for the first time at a relatively high-resolution scale. The results are expected to provide insights into the direction for operational tuning and future development in the model boundary layer schemes at KMA.