Towards Observation- and Model-Based Early Warning Systems for Meteotsunami Mitigation : A Case Study of Extreme Event in Korea

A traveling air pressure disturbance of several hPa for a short period (5–10 min) can generate tsunami-like waves in coastal areas owing to a multi-resonant mechanism. Pressure-forced meteotsunamis have been reported over the Korean Peninsula on a regular basis in recent years; however, the current early warning system does not always provide a sufficient warning time. The meteotsunami warning system comprises two-segmented zones for tracking air pressure disturbances, with 89 meteorological stations in precaution zones (outside islands) and warning zones (coastline). We used a high-resolution atmospheric model, the Korea Meteorological Administration’s local data assimilation and prediction system (LDAPS), to address the lead-time problem in the observation-based monitoring system. The ability of the LDAPS to detect air pressure disturbances was tested for a widespread and catastrophic pressure-forced meteotsunami event that occurred on March 4, 2018. The detection capability of significant air pressure disturbances (>1.5 hPa/10 min) was 67% in the precaution zone, and the propagation pattern (direction, speed, and spatial scale) was reasonably consistent with the monitoring results. Based on the LDAPS prediction and the established observation-based monitoring system, a monitoring operator can determine the potential meteotsunami risk from the open Yellow Sea beyond the observation system with sufficient lead time. In the near future, it is expected that LDAPS-based meteotsunami modeling over the Korean Peninsula could be performed considering the output time interval (10 min) and high horizontal resolution (1.5 km) of the LDAPS. These findings could contribute to the development of observation- and model-based early warning systems for meteotsunami mitigation