• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.3 s.172
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• pp.299-304
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• 2005

Geoid undulation and gravity anomaly were calculated from GRACE satellite data on the eastern Asia including Korean peninsula. Geoid undulation varies from -60m in the China to 60m toward the Pacific Ocean across the Korean Peninsula. Calculated gravity anomalies are in the range of -60 and 60 mgal except the subduction zone showing -100 mgal. High positive values are observed at Mt. Baekdu, Kaema highland and Taebaek mountains, and low values at Ulleung, Japan and Yamato basins in the East sea. We removed regional components below the spherical harmonic degree of 10 from gravity anomaly to get the residual anomaly for crust components. Residual gravity anomaly shows high anomalies at the northern mountainous area and Kyungsang basin in the Korean Peninsula. And low anomalies appears at the western Korea bay basin, Kunsan basin, Cheju basin, and Ulleung basin in the marine. Anomalies separated by the spherical harmonic degree as well as the residual anomalies are useful for the study of large crustal structure about geologic scale and depth distribution and for the survey of natural resources.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 2013

This study was carried out to evaluate the geospatial characteristics of blooming date migration in three major spring flowers across North and South Korea as influenced by climate change. A thermal time-based phenology model driven by daily maximum and minimum temperature was adjusted for the key parameters (i.e., reference temperature, chilling requirement, heating requirement) used for predicting blooming of forsythia, azaleas, and Japanese cherry. The model was run by the RCP 8.5 projected temperature outlook over the Korean Peninsula and produced the mean booming dates for the three climatological normal years in the future (2011-2040, 2041-2070, and 2071-2100) at a 12.5 km grid spacing. Comparison against the observed blooming date patterns in the baseline climate (1971-2000) showed that there will be a substantial acceleration in blooming dates of the three species, resulting in cherry booming in February and flowers of azaleas and forsythia found at the top of mountain Baikdu by the 2071-2100 period. Flowering dates of the three species in the near future (2011-2040) may be accelerated by 3-5 days at minimum and 10-11 days at maximum compared with that in the baseline period (1971-2000). Those values corresponding to the middle future (2041-2070) can be from a minimum of 9-11 days to a maximum of 23-24 days. Blooming date of Japanese cherry can be accelerated by 26 days on average for the far future (2071-2100). The acceleration seems more prominent at islands and coastal plain areas than over inland mountainous areas.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.225-233
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• 2010

Wind power density distribution over the North Korea territory was investigated by using 30-year wind observations at 27 meteorological stations. The mean annual wind power density over North Korea turned out to be 58.6W/$m^2$, which corresponds to the wind power class of 1. The wind power density shows a seasonal variation, having the highest density in spring and the lowest in summer. In particular, the wind power density in summer is about a half of that in spring. The diurnal variation of the wind power density shows that the highest and lowest densities occur in the afternoon and between 3 and 6 am in local time, respectively. The most potential wind energy generation regions are the Gaema Plateau in the central region, the northeast part of Hamgyeongbuk-do, the south coast of Pyongan-do and the west coast of Hwanghae-do. The mean annual wind power density in Changjin is 151.2W/$m^2$, which is equivalent to the class of 3. In Ryongyon, the annual mean wind power density is 102.4W/$m^2$, which belongs to the class of 2.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.319-331
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• 2013

Records found on labels of specimens deposited at Kyoto University (KYO) and references about three Japanese taxonomists, Koidzumi, Gen'ichi (1883-1953), Ohwi, Jisaburo (1905-1977), Kitamura, Siro (1906-2002) were assembled to produce collector's itineraries from 1930 to 1935 in Korea. The quality of data on labels of the specimens varies, but most are only the collector's name and country of collection, often, the locality data are only textual, and the Chinese and Japanese names, as well as the ethnic dialects common to the region, varies widely. It is estimated that approximately 2,000 specimens collected from Korea by three taxonomists are currently held within the collections of Kyoto University herbarium (KYO). Koidzumi, who was the professor of Kyoto University, traversed different northern parts of the country, such as Island Jeju-do, Mt. Keumkang-san, Hamkyongbuk-do during summer (July to August) in 1932, 1933, and 1935. In 1930 and 1932, Ohwi spend three months in the unexplored mountains in northern parts, such as Hamkyeongnam-do, Hamkyeongbuk-do, and Gangwon-do. On the other hand, for two months in the middle of 1935 visited Jeju-do, Mt. Jirisan and travelled through southern parts. Unlike two previous botanists, major collections in Korea by Kitamura took place twice in one major area in northern part and Jeju-do and Mt. Keumgang-san in 1930, 1932, and 1935.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.120-132
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• 2008

Remotely sensed images from a satellite can be applied for detecting and quantifying spatial and temporal variations in terms of landuse & landcover, crop growth, and disaster for agricultural applications. The purposes of this study were to analyze topography using DEM(digital elevation model) and classify landuse & landcover into 10 classes-paddy field, dry field, forest, bare land, grass & bush, water body, reclaimed land, salt farm, residence & building, and others-using Landsat TM images in North Korea. Elevation was greater than 1,000 meters in the eastern part of North Korea around Ranggang-do where Kaemagowon was located. Pyeongnam and Hwangnam in the western part of North Korea were low in elevation. Topography of North Korea showed typical 'east-high and west-low' landform characteristics. Landcover classification of North Korea using spectral reflectance of multi-temporal Landsat TM images was performed and the statistics of each landcover by administrative district, slope, and agroclimatic zone were calculated in terms of area. Forest areas accounted for 69.6 percent of the whole area while the areas of dry fields and paddy fields were 15.7 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. Bare land and water body occupied 6.6 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Residence & building reached less than 1 percent of the country. Paddy field areas concentrated in the A slope ranged from 0 to 2 percent(greater than 80 percent). The dry field areas were shown in the A slope the most, followed by D, E, C, B, and F slopes. According to the statistics by agroclimatic zone, paddy and dry fields were mainly distributed in the North plain region(N-6) and North western coastal region(N-7). Forest areas were evenly distributed all over the agroclimatic regions. Periodic landcover analysis of North Korea based on remote sensing technique using satellite imagery can produce spatial and temporal statistics information for future landuse management and planning of North Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.42 no.3 s.120
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• pp.368-387
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• 2007

In order to explain geomorphological characteristics of the Korean Peninsula, it is necessary to understand the spatial distribution of tectonic movements and its causes. Even though geomorphological elements which might have been formed by tectonic movements(e.g. tilted overall landform, erosion surface, river terrace, marine terraces, etc.) have long been considered as main geomorphological research topics in Korea, the knowledge on the spatial distribution of tectonic movement is still limited. This research aims to identify the spatial distributions of tectonic movement via sequential analyses of Digital Elevation Model(DEM). This paper first developed a set of terrain analysis techniques derived from theoretical interrelationships between tectonic uplifts and landsurface denudation processes. The terrain analyses used in this research assume that elevations along major drainage basin divides might preserve original landsurfaces(psuedo-landsuface) that were formed by tectonic movement with relatively little influence by denudation processes. Psuedo-landsurfaces derived from a DEM show clear spatial distribution patterns with distinct directional alignments. Lines connecting psuedo-landsufaces in a certain direction are defined as psuedo-landsurface axes, which are again categorized into two groups: the first is uplift psuedo-landsurface axes that indicate the axis of landmass uplift; and the second is denudational psuedo-landsurface axes that cross step-shaped pusedo-landsurfaces formed via surface denudation. In total, 13 axes of pusedo-landsurface are identified in the Korean Peninsula, which show distinct direction, length, and relative uplift rate. Judging from the distribution of psudo-landsurfaces and their axes, it is concluded that the Korean Peninsula ran be divided into four tectonic regions, which are named as the Northern Tectonic Region, Center Tectonic Region, Southern Tectonic Region, and East Sea Tectonic Region, respectively. The Northern Tectonic Region had experienced a regional uplift centered at the Kaema plateau, and the rate of uplift gradually decreased toward southern, western and eastern directions. The Center Tectonic Region shows an arch-shaped uplift. Its uplift rate is the highest along the East Sea and the rate decreases towards the Yellow sea. The Southern Tectonic Region shows an asymmetric uplift centered a line connecting Dukyu and Jiri Mountains in the middle of the region. The eastern side of the Southern Regions shows higher uplift rate than that of the western side. The East Sea Tectonic Region includes south-eastern coastal area of the peninsula and Gilju-Myeongchun Jigudae, which shows relatively recent tectonic movements in Korea. Since this research visualizes the spatial heterogeneity of long-term tenonic movement in the Korean peninsula, this would provide valuable basic information on long-term and regional differences of geomorphological evolutionary processes and regional geomorphological differences of the Korean Peninsula.