Effect of Urbanization on Rainfall Events during the 2010 Summer Intensive Observation Period over Seoul Metropolitan Area

The intensive observation (ProbeX-2010) was performed to investigate an urban effect on summer rainfall over the Seoul metropolitan area from 13 August to 3 September 2010. Two kinds of urban effect were detected. First, weak rainfall (<= 1 mm h (-1)) was observed more frequently in the downwind area of Seoul than any other area of the country. The high frequency of weak rainfall in the downwind area was also confirmed from the recent five years of observational data (2006-2010). Because the high frequency was more apparent in mountainous regions during nighttime, the weak rainfall seems to be caused by a combined effect of urbanization and topography. Second, sporadically, a convective system was developed rapidly in the downwind area of Seoul, causing heavy rainfall (>= 10 mm hr(-1)). It can be most clearly seen in series of radar images around 1300-1500 KST 27 August 2010. We investigated in detail the synoptic and local weather and upper air conditions. As a result, not only urban-induced high sensible heat but also conditionally unstable atmosphere (especially unstable in low level) and low level moisture were pointed out as important factors that contributed to urban-induced heavy rainfall.