Cho et al. (2025) Thermodynamic Differences Between Moderately and Extremely Long Heat Waves in South Korea

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: International Journal of Climatology
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-15
• Authors: Minjeong Cho, Ha‐Rim Kim, Changhyun Yoo, Yong‐Sang Choi
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.70151

Research Groups

Not specified in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study categorizes South Korean summer heat waves over 52 years into moderately and extremely long events, revealing that extremely long events are sustained by distinct thermodynamic processes involving persistent high-pressure systems, subsidence, land-atmosphere interactions, and delayed surface cooling, which differ from shorter events.

Objective

• To better understand the physical mechanisms governing the persistence of heat waves in South Korea, particularly by examining the thermodynamic evolution of moderately long and extremely long summer heat waves.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: South Korea
• Temporal Scale: 52 years (1973–2024) of summer heat waves

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not specified in the abstract.
• Data sources: Observational data for summer heat waves (implied for temperature, duration, and related atmospheric/land surface variables).

Main Results

• Moderately long events (MLEs; 5–9 days) and extremely long events (ELEs; ≥ 10 days) both exhibit similar initial warming driven by warm advection and adiabatic heating during their growth stage.
• ELEs develop distinct thermodynamic features during their maintenance and decay stages.
• Persistent high-pressure systems over South Korea induce pronounced subsidence, which sustains adiabatic warming and inhibits cloud formation.
• This leads to enhanced surface downward shortwave radiation and amplified surface warming during ELEs.
• Amplified warming, in turn, depletes soil moisture, enhancing sensible heat flux through land–atmosphere interactions, thereby strengthening diabatic heating and delaying surface cooling.
• These thermodynamic processes sustain ELEs, with large-scale circulation providing the dynamical background for the stagnation of the high-pressure systems.

Contributions

• Provides key insights into the mechanisms driving longer heat waves over South Korea by distinguishing the thermodynamic evolution of extremely long events from moderately long events.
• Highlights the critical role of persistent high-pressure systems, subsidence, and land-atmosphere interactions in sustaining extremely long heat waves.

Funding

Not specified in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Cho2025Thermodynamic,
  author = {Cho, Minjeong and Kim, Ha‐Rim and Yoo, Changhyun and Choi, Yong‐Sang},
  title = {Thermodynamic Differences Between Moderately and Extremely Long Heat Waves in South Korea},
  journal = {International Journal of Climatology},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1002/joc.70151},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70151}
}