Numerical weather prediction for mitigating the fatal loss by the Meteo-tsunami incidence on the west coast of Korean peninsula
The west coast of Korean Peninsula is an area where casualties and property damages by meteo-tsunamis from the Yellow Sea have been reported. A case in point is the event with an estimated maximum amplitude of 240 cm in Yeonggwang (YG) on 31 March 2007. Many studies have been carried out since then in Korea. These researches focused primarily on the oceanographic aspects (e.g., the resonance between the atmosphere and ocean). They wanted to calculate the resonance effects by the propagation velocity and direction of meteo-tsunami. On the other hand, there were no sufficient atmospheric observation data on the sea, and it was inadequate to explain the various interactions between the atmosphere and ocean. Therefore, the weather research and forecast (WRF) model was used to predict the various detailed meteorological factors (e.g., air pressure, wind vector) on the open sea. This was performed on representative meteo-tsunami events induced by four synoptic weather types. As a result, the numerical weather model, WRF, projected various gridded atmospheric information on the Yellow Sea, and the main atmospheric forcing (e.g., pressure jump line, high pressure system) of the four meteo-tsunami events could be indicated. The numerical weather modeling showed the potential to predict the coastal disaster caused by the meteo-tsunami.