[Asia Exclusive] Park Gwangseok, Head of Korea Meteorological Administration, "Accuracy Must Be Improved with Meteorological Observation Assets and Infrastructure"

Emphasis on Strengthening the Aviation Sector and the Need to Reinforce the Budget

Asia Exclusive_ Kwangseok Park, Director of the Korea Meteorological Administration./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Last spring, cherry blossoms bloomed the earliest in 100 years. Apple cultivation areas shifted northward from Daegu and Andong to Gangwon-do. The summer monsoon was very short, and the average temperature was the second highest on record. This is why weather information is becoming increasingly important.

Park Kwang-seok, the Commissioner of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), said, "To utilize our society's infrastructure under optimal conditions, weather information is essential, and not only infrastructure but also software-related aspects need reinforcement. The greater the climate change, the larger the weather fluctuations, and without predicting extreme values, it becomes difficult to respond." This year, the KMA's budget is 453.7 billion KRW. Compared to the scale of operating satellites, radars, observation ships, and meteorological aircraft, the KMA's budget is relatively small.

Commissioner Park stated, "Typhoons have made landfall from the North Pacific, but there were unusual weather phenomena such as Typhoon Chanthu lingering over Taiwan for several days. As mentioned in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports on climate change, to accurately and timely inform about extreme weather events, it is necessary to increase meteorological observation assets and infrastructure to improve accuracy."

He identified 'aviation meteorology' as a field where the KMA needs to strengthen its budget. He said, "Demand for aviation will continue to grow, and this year we invested in R&D to automate the process so that weather data produced by the KMA in air traffic control can be received and utilized immediately for flight operations."

As Urban Air Mobility (UAM) becomes more active in the future, the importance of related weather data is expected to increase along with the demand for air traffic. The airspace for Korea's Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) ranges from 300 to 600 meters, making it more affected by ground conditions such as terrain and buildings, as well as weather conditions like fog and precipitation.

Commissioner Park said, "UAM is more affected by wind and visibility than large aircraft, and weather data at takeoff and landing points will become very important. Until now, there has been no place measuring weather data in this airspace. Since this is an important area that the KMA must address, we are also developing customized urban aviation meteorological services tailored for Korea's Urban Air Mobility."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.