Wet deposition of pollutants and precipitation patterns classified by cluster analysis of 850 hPa geopotential height in South Korea

Synoptic meteorological conditions for precipitating systems over South Kor ea are characterized into several similar types using a clustering techniqu e based on the K-mean principles with the daily mean 850 hPa grid pointed g eopotential height in the spatial resolution of 5 degrees x 5 degrees data obtained from NCEP in the domain of 25 degrees similar to 50 degreesN and 1 10 degrees similar to 140 degreesE for five years from 1994 to 1998. The co nsecutive three-day gridded NCEP data with the precipitation event on the l ast day over South Korea are used for the cluster analysis. With the use of the precipitation chemistry monitored data at 8 sites in South Korea, wet depositions of SO42-, NO3- and NH4+ belonging to each cluster are examined to identify the deposition levels for each cluster. The result indicates th at the present methodology is found to identify the deposition levels clear ly and be used more practically in the field of acid rain study without hea vy computational requirement.