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Hydrometeorological variability in the Korean Han River Basin and its sub-watersheds during different El Niño phases

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Abstract

This study investigated the characteristic changes in precipitation and runoff that occur in the Korean Han River Basin and its sub-basins in association with the cold-tongue (CT) and warm-pool (WP) El Niño phases during spring and summer. During the WP El Niño years, rainfall in spring and its coefficient of variation were higher than long-term normal precipitation. During the CT El Niño years, summers tended to be drier than in climatologically normal years, although the variability in precipitation during the summer was relatively lower. The data for runoff showed wetter springs compared to long-term normal years during both types of El Niño events and significant changes in runoff during summer under CT El Niño conditions. During the WP El Niño years, increased runoff was seen for 95.8 % of all basins and this increase was statistically significant for 58.3 % of these basins, but variability in runoff was small. Overall, the findings confirm that water resources in the Han River Basin during the spring and summer are sensitive to CT/WP El Niño events. Thus, for basins such as these, where seasonal variability and the uncertainty of hydrologic data are high, investigation of the relationship between climatic factors and hydrologic parameters is necessary to maintain the stability of the water supply system and to allow prediction for water resources.

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Acknowledgments

This CRI work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (2012R1A1A2005304) and also funded by The Korea Meteorological Administration Research and Development Program under grant CATER 2012-3100 (Development of Drought Outlook & Response Techniques on Korea and East Asia Region). The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and valuable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Climate Research Department, APEC Climate Center, Busan, 612-020, Republic of Korea

    Sun-Kwon Yoon

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Seoul, Seoul, 130-743, Republic of Korea

    Jong-Suk Kim & Young-Il Moon

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Joongbu Univeristy, Chung-nam, 312-702, Republic of Korea

    Joo-Heon Lee

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  1. Sun-Kwon Yoon
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  2. Jong-Suk Kim
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  3. Joo-Heon Lee
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  4. Young-Il Moon
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Correspondence to Jong-Suk Kim.

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Yoon, SK., Kim, JS., Lee, JH. et al. Hydrometeorological variability in the Korean Han River Basin and its sub-watersheds during different El Niño phases. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 27, 1465–1477 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-012-0683-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-012-0683-9

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