On the observations of yellow sand (dust storms) in Korea

Abstract

Abstract It is observed that the outbreak of dust storms (yellow sand) from Northern China and Mongolia occurs a few time in spring and that a dust cloud can move to Korea and Japan in 2–4 days from the source region. The phenomenon of yellow sand occurs in the lee sides of massive mountains; the Tienshan-Altai-Sayan Mts. The downslopes of these mountain barriers are favourable regions of fohn (dry air) and of orographic cyclogenesis in East Asia. In Korea, however, the episodes of yellow sand appear to occur after the passage of a dry cold front of a cyclone, at least 1–2 times each year. With the invasion of dust clouds, visibility less than 1 km has been observed and atmospheric loadings up to ≈ 1105 μg m −3 have been recorded. Evidence of long-range transport of dust clouds to Korea is included.