In this study, the characteristics of crop damage area by flooding for 113 middle range watersheds during 2000-2016 were analyzed and future crop damage area by flooding were analyzed using 13 GCM outputs such as hourly maximum rainfall, 10-min maximum rainfall, number of days of 80 mm/day, daily rainfall maximum, annual rainfall amount associated with RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios and watershed characteristic data such as DEM, urbanization ratio, population density, asset density, road improvement ratio, river improvement ratio, drainage system improvement ratio, pumping capacity, detention basin capacity, and crop damage area by flooding. A constrained multiple linear regression model was used to construct the relationships between the crop damage area by flooding and other variables. Future flood index related to crop damage may mainly increase in the Mankyung watershed, Southwest part of Youngsan and Sumjin river basin and Southern part of Nackdong river basin. Results are useful to identify watersheds which need to establish strategies for responding to future flood damage.

The objective of this study was to find an optimum methane yield condition in anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge with microwave pretreatment. The pretreatment process was carried out using a lab scale industrial microwave unit (2,450 MHz frequency). The digestion efficiency of pretreated sludge was evaluated by biochemical methane potential (BMP) test. Box-Behnken design and Response Surface Analysis (RSA) were applied to determine the optimal combination of sludge mixing ratio (0 to 100%), power (400 to 1600 W), holding time (0 to 10 min) and pretreatment temperature (60 to 100℃). BMP test results showed that Volatile Solid (VS) removal efficiency was up to 48% at a condition of 0% for mixing ratio, 1600 W for power, 5 min for holding time, and 80℃ for pretreatment temperature. Methane production was up to 832.3 mL/g VS_removed at a condition of 50% for mixing ratio, 1000 W for power, 5 min for holding time, and 80℃ for pretreatment temperature. The results of the variance analysis (ANOVA) showed that the p-value of the power and pretreatment temperature among the independent variables were significant (p<0.05), and in particular, the pretreatment temperature significantly affected on the solubilization and methane production. The optimum condition for the maximum methane yield (847 mL/g VS_removed) was consist of 38.4% of mixing ratio, 909.1 W of power, 4.1 min of holding time, and 80℃ of temperature within the design boundaries.

Controlled Low Strength Material (CLSM) has high fluidity and self-compaction characteristics. CLSM is mainly used for backfilling the excavated road. Early-age properties of CLSM should be characterized for fast restoration of the road. In this study, shear wave monitoring and Vicat needle test are performed to investigate the early-age properties of CLSM depending on the setting time. CLSM consists of CSA cement, fly ash, silt and sand, accelerator, and water. Five fly ashes with different chemical properties are used for CLSM samples. The penetration of CLSM along setting time is obtained through the Vicat needle test. A pair of bender elements are placed in a mold for shear wave measurement, and the change in shear waves with the setting time is monitored. The experimental results show that, regardless of the type of fly ash, the penetration depth decreases and the shear wave velocity increases with the setting time. Depending on the type of fly ash, initial and final times and shear wave velocity change. After testing, the correlation between penetration and shear wave velocity is obtained with high coefficient of determination. The shear wave measurement technique using the bender element can be used to identify early-age properties.

A high quality, long-term, high-resolution precipitation dataset is an essential in climate analyses and global water cycles. Rainfall data from station observations are inadequate over many parts of the world, especially North Korea, due to non-existent observation networks, or limited reporting of gauge observations. As a result, satellite-based rainfall estimates have been used as an alternative as a supplement to station observations. The Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation (CHIRP) and CHIRP combined with station observations (CHIRPS) are recently produced satellite-based rainfall products with relatively high spatial and temporal resolutions and global coverage. CHIRPS is a global precipitation product and is made available at daily to seasonal time scales with a spatial resolution of 0.05° and a 1981 to near real-time period of record. In this study, we analyze the applicability of CHIRPS data on the Korean Peninsula by supplementing the lack of precipitation data of North Korea. We compared the daily precipitation estimates from CHIRPS with 81 rain gauges across Korea using several statistical metrics in the long-term period of 1981-2017. To summarize the results, the CHIRPS product for the Korean Peninsula was shown an acceptable performance when it is used for hydrological applications based on monthly rainfall amounts. Overall, this study concludes that CHIRPS can be a valuable complement to gauge precipitation data for estimating precipitation and climate, hydrological application, for example, drought monitoring in this region.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the channel water loss of agricultural water supply in the command areas belong to Yechon irrigation channel of Gyeongcheon reservoir located Mungyeong-si, which area experienced a severe drought in 2015. The channel water loss was estimated by comparison of the irrigation water requirements (IWR) and agricultural water supply of the field data from 2012 to 2015. Further analysis was conducted to define the conveyance loss estimated based on the leakage holes and illegal pumping spots investigated through the field survey, and the distribution loss obtained by subtracting conveyance loss from the channel water loss. The annual rainfall decreased gradually, but the contribution of effective rainfall, available rain water to crop, increased to IWR during the study period. These phenomena resulted in the increase of agricultural water supply, and hence made greater the channel water loss simultaneously. The average channel water losses estimated as 36.8 % with 7.1 % of the conveyance loss and 29.7 % of distribution loss respectively. The distribution loss seems to be related to total number of rainy days, and irrigation schedules, while the conveyance loss was caused by irrigation channel aging conditions and illegal intake problems. In order to achieve sustainable agricultural water resources, the channel water loss needs to be reduced through the restoration of aged irrigation facilities and effective water managements in the fields.

Drought is considered as a devastating hazard that causes serious agricultural, ecological and socio-economic impacts worldwide. Fundamentally, the drought can be defined as temporarily different levels of inadequate precipitation, soil moisture, and water supply relative to the long-term average conditions. From no unified definition of droughts, droughts have been divided into different severity level, i.e., moderate drought, severe drought, extreme drought and exceptional drought. The drought severity classification defined the ranges for each indicator for each dryness level. Because the ranges of the various indicators often don't coincide, the final drought category tends to be based on what the majority of the indicators show and on local observations. Evaporative Stress Index (ESI), a satellite-based drought index using the ratio of potential and actual evaporation, is being used as a index of the droughts occurring rapidly in a short period of time from studies showing a more sensitive and fast response to drought compared to Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). However, ESI is difficult to provide an objective drought assessment because it does not have clear drought severity classification criteria. In this study, U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM), the standard for drought determination used in the United States, was applied to ESI, and the Percentile method was used to classify drought categories by severity. Regarding the actual 2017 drought event in South Korea, we compare the spatial distribution of drought area and understand the USDM-based ESI by comparing the results of Standardized Groundwater level Index (SGI) and drought impact information. These results demonstrated that the USDM-based ESI could be an effective tool to provide objective drought conditions to inform management decisions for drought policy.

The Daehang-ri intertidal flat located the just outside of the Saemangeum dike has been reported to show new-developing flats. Based on the topographic surveys of 21 times from 2000 to 2016 by a leveling method every year, this site clearly shows variation of deposition/erosion in time and space. Deposition has consistently occurred at the rate of +3.75 cm per year at the area along the dike (Zone 1), and this tidal flat is expanding and prograding seaward. In the area of far from the dike (Zone 2), on the other hand, erosion prevails at the rate of -2.38 cm per year, and this zone tends to retreat landward. However, the erosional trend of Zone 2 has slightly slowed down since 2014. As a whole from 2000 to 2016, net deposition is recorded over 3.0 m at the upper beach and the area adjacent to the dike (Zone 1), while erosion up to 1.0 m in Zone 2. In conclusion, the results at the Daehang-ri intertidal flat clearly revealed that its topographic changes were induced by the artificial structures and water masses through its sluice gate. Counter-clockwise gyre newly created after the sea dikes construction probably results in relocating of sediment outside the dike 1 by transportation of materials eroded from the south to the north along the coast.

The water circulation in agricultural watersheds changes with the operation of agricultural reservoirs, it is necessary to classify and evaluate them into upstream, agricultural reservoirs, irrigation districts, and downstream. Therefore, in this study, we developed the agricultural water circulation rate (AWCR) considering an agricultural reservoir and irrigation district by improving the water circulation rate of the Water environmental conservation Act. we applied it to Jinwi watershed using the module-based hydrologic analysis system to simulate the water circulation for agricultural reservoirs and irrigation areas. The model performance during the validation period was NSE of 0.762 for the downstream stream and 0.682 for the reservoir level. And the hydrograph separation model was applied to separate the direct and baseflow. As a result of this study, The AWCR of Jinwi watershed was 71.8% on average, which was higher than the water circulation rate estimated by the downstream hydrograph separation.

Drought is one of the most influential disasters in sustainable agriculture and food security of nations. In order to preemptively respond to agricultural droughts, vulnerability assessments were conducted to predict the possibility of drought in the region, the degree of direct or indirect damage, and the ability to cope with the damage. Information on agricultural drought vulnerability status of different regions is extremely useful for implementation of long term drought management measures. The purpose of this study is to develop and implement a quantitative approach for measuring agricultural drought vulnerability at sub-district level based on agricultural water and reservoirs. To assess the vulnerability in a quantitative manner and also to deal with different physical and socioeconomic data on the occurrence of agricultural drought, we selected the appropriate factors for the assessment of agricultural drought vulnerability through preceding studies, and analyzed the meteorological and agricultural reservoir data from 2015 to 2018. Each item was weighted using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) analysis and evaluated through the agricultural drought vulnerability estimation. The entire national vulnerability assessments showed that Ganghwa, Naju, and Damyang were the most vulnerable to agricultural droughts. As a result of analyzing spatial expression, Gyeongsang-do is relatively more vulnerable to drought than Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do. The results revealed that the methodology and evaluation items achieved good performance in drought response. In addition, vulnerability assessments based on agricultural reservoir are expected to contribute supporting effective drought decisions in the field of agricultural water management.

This study assessed the reliability of the agricultural water supply based on future climate change scenarios, and suggested plans to improve the reliability in order to promote the adaptability of irrigation water in agricultural reservoirs to climate change. The assessment of agricultural water supply reliability was performed on reservoirs which had a lower water quantity than their design basis and which had recently been subject to drought. In other words, from the irrigation districts of main intake works among the reservoirs managed by the Korea Rural Community Corporation, 1~2 districts in each province-that is, a total of 13 districts -that were recently designated as a district for securing agricultural water (drought prevention district) were selected. Climate change scenarios were applied to the selected districts to analyze their future water supply reliability compared to the current level. All districts selected showed a drought frequency of 4 years or shorter, which demonstrated the need to establish climate change response plans. As plans for responding to climate change, a plan that utilizes supplemental intake works to reduce the area of the irrigation districts of main intake works, and another one that increases the capacity of main intake works were adopted to reanalyze their water supply reliability. When the area of the irrigation districts of main intake works was reduced by about 30~40%, the drought frequency dropped to more than 10 years, securing the reliability of water supply. To secure the reliability by increasing the capacity of main intake works, it was calculated that about 19,000~2,400,000 tons need to be added to each reservoir. In addition, climate change response plans were suggested to improve the reliability of the water supply in each district based on the results of economic analysis.