Development of an Urban High-Resolution Air Temperature Forecast System for Local Weather Information Services Based on Statistical Downscaling

• Main Authors: Chaeyeon Yi, Yire Shin, Joon-Woo Roh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-04-01
• Series: Atmosphere
• Subjects: heat-wave; statistical downscaling; weather information service; building-scale air temperature; heat-exposure map
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/9/5/164

The Korean peninsula has complex and diverse weather phenomena, and the Korea Meteorological Administration has been working on various numerical models to produce better forecasting data. The Unified Model Local Data Assimilation and Prediction System is a limited-area working model with a horizontal resolution of 1.5 km for estimating local-scale weather forecasts on the Korean peninsula. However, in order to numerically predict the detailed temperature characteristics of the urban space, in which surface characteristics change rapidly in a small spatial area, a city temperature prediction model with higher resolution spatial decomposition capabilities is required. As an alternative to this, a building-scale temperature model was developed, and a 25 m air temperature resolution was determined for the Seoul area. The spatial information was processed using statistical methods, such as linear regression models and machine learning. By comparing the accuracy of the estimated air temperatures with observational data during the summer, the machine learning was improved. In addition, horizontal and vertical characteristics of the urban space were better represented, and the air temperature was better resolved spatially. Air temperature information can be used to manage the response to heat-waves and tropical nights in administrative districts of urban areas.