Characteristics of Sea Surface Temperature Variation during the High Impact Weather over the Korean Peninsula

Typhoons, torrential rainfall, and heavy snowfall cause catastrophic losses each year in the Republic of Korea. Therefore, if we can know the possibility of this phenomenon in advance through regular observations, it will be greatly beneficial to Korean society. Korea is surrounded by sea on its three sides, and the sea surface temperature (SST) directly or indirectly affects the development of typhoons, heavy rainfall, and heavy snowfall. Therefore, the characteristics of SST variability related to the high impact weather are investigated in this paper. The heavy rainfall in Korea was distributed around Seoul, Gyeonggi, and west and southern coast. The heavy snowfall occurred mainly in the eastern coastal (hereafter Youngdong Heavy Snow) and the southwestern region (hereafter Honam-type heavy snow). The SST variability was slightly different depending on the type and major occurrence regions of the high impact weather. When the torrential rain occurred, the SST variability was significantly increased in the regions extending to Jindo-Jeju island-Ieodo-Shanghai in China. When the heavy snow occurred, the SST variability has reduced in the southern sea of Jeju island, regardless of the type of heavy snowfall, whereas the SST variability has increased in the East Sea near 130 degrees E and 39 degrees N. Areas with high SST variability are anticipated to be used as a basis for studying the atmospheric-oceanic interaction mechanism as well as for determining the background atmospheric aerosol observation area.