• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.339-344
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• 2013

Water vapor isotopes can be excellent tools for understanding complex mechanisms in the water cycle and atmospheric hydrological cycle and they can be applied to various fields of paleoclimatology, atmospheric science, hydrogeology, oceanography, and ecohydrology. Thus, studies of global or local transport of water vapor may be able to provide a very useful clue to better understand the movements of water and energy in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. In this study, the isotopic compositions of water vapor have been observed for moisture transport during the passage of Typhoon Bolaven at Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI), Incheon, in the western part of Korea, from August 27 to August 29, 2012. In the clear sky, the isotopic compositions of water vapor at KOPRI exhibited relatively higher isotopic ratios, which were near isotopic equilibrium with sea surface water (${\delta}^{18}O$=-14‰). On the other hand, a largely depleted isotopic ratios in surface water vapor were observed in association with the passage of Typhoon Bolaven (approximately 10‰ depleted compared to the clear sky). The fact that the isotopic minima in water vapor are encountered during the onset period of the Typhoon Bolaven with increases of relative humidity, which is consistent with, so called, "the amount effect".

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 1992

The reconstruction of the vegetational and environmental history of the Korean peninsula by the use of various fossil floral data from the Carboniferous period to the Pre-Holocene is reviewed. Though the oldest plant fossil in Korea (Neuropteris) dates back to the Carboniferous period, the first appearance of many of the present-day floristic genera indeed dates back to the Oligocene (c. 40 to 20 million years B.P.), and includes many thermophilous genera. The presence of thermophilous genera in the Oligocene at up to four degrees north of their present distributional limits implies that the climate of the Oligocene was warmer than that of today. The occurrence of similar thermophilous floristic element at up to six degrees north of their present range during the Middle Miocene suggests a maximum northward expansion of warmth-loving evergreen broadleaved vegetation for, recent Korean vegetation history. The continued occurrence of numerous present-day genera since the Oligocene period indicates a long-term stability of Korean vegetation, along with minor fluctuations within it. The admixture of evergreen coniferous plants and deciduous breadleaved plants, however, indicates a probable temperate climate for much of the Middle Pleistocene. There are couple of evidences which are indicative of an early-stage anthropogenic disturbance of natural vegetation during the Middle Pleistocene of Korea. The presence of cold-episodes during the Upper Pleistocene caused a general expansion of deciduous plants and cryophilous evergreen coniferous, plants. It is likely that the maximum southward expansion of cryophilous arctic-alpine and alpine floras in Korea occured during the penultimate glacial period. The disappearance of some cryophilous genera from 10,000 years B.P. marks the continued climatic amelioration since then, along with minor climatic fluctuations during the Holocene period.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.13-20
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• 2015

Due to the population growth and exhaustion of resource, the development on the harsh environment such as cold weather is emerging as an alternative for new resource development. The permafrost area covers about 14 percent of the world's land area and the global construction market for such area is rapidly expanded. Whereas the developed countries have already recognition of the need for research of coldest place and invested heavily in technology development, the domestic technology for the coldest place development is less developed and related research has rarely been performed. There is not a detailed national specification standard for the strength and deformation properties of the earthworks at sub-zero temperature but simple field directions. Therefore, the D compaction tests were conducted on the sand with fine contents of 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% at room temperature ($18^{\circ}C$), $-3^{\circ}C$ and $-8^{\circ}C$ to investigate the effect of the compaction energy on the compacted soils at sub-zero temperatures. Based on the test results, the larger compaction energy, the larger maximum dry unit weight under sub-zero temperature and D type compaction at $-3^{\circ}C$ show similar max. dry unit weights as those obtained from the compaction at the room temperature. However, compaction at $-8^{\circ}C$ showed significant performance degradation regardless of the compaction energy.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.169-182
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• 2019

This study assessed biological water quality using epilithic diatoms in the Yeong river, Naeseong stream and Wi stream in the upper region of the Nakdong river from May to October 2016. Epilithic diatoms were not mobile, so they could reflect long-term water quality. The sampled epilithic diatoms were identified a total 158 taxa which were composed to 2 orders, 3 suborders, 8 families, 34 genera, 143 species and 15 varieties. Dominant species were Achnanthes convergens and Achnanthes minutissima at Yeong river, Nitzschia inconspicua at Naeseong stream, and Achnanthes minutissima, Cocconeis placentula var. lineata and Navicula minima at Wi stream. As a result of the CCA, Electrical conductivity, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were important factors determining the diatom species composition in the upper region of the Nakdong river. The correlation between diatom indices (DAIpo & TDI) measured to be high in the correlation coefficient (0.87) from the result of correlation analysis. In the result of the assessment of biological water quality using DAIpo and TDI, Yeong river was rated as class A at most sites. Naeseong stream was rated as class C to D at all sites except for N1 which was rated as Class A. Wi stream was rated as class B to C for DAIpo of W1, and TDI was rated as class D. The assessment of biological water quality at this site showed inferior TDI result compared to that of DAIpo. DAIpo and TDI of W2 were rated as class A to D, and the water quality has changed a lot. W3 and W4 were mostly rated as class B and C respectively.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.6_2
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• pp.1273-1282
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• 2018

Recently, active research on the Arctic Ocean has been conducted due to the influence of global warming and new Arctic ship route. Although previous studies already calculated quantitative extent of sea ice using passive microwave radiometers, melting at the edge of sea ice and surface roughness were hardly considered due to low spatial resolution. Since Sentienl-1A/B data in Extended Wide (EW) mode are being distributed as free of charge and bulk data for Arctic sea can be generated during a short period, the entire Arctic sea ice data can be covered in high spatial resolution by mosaicking bulk data. However, Sentinel-1A/B data in EW mode, especially in HV polarization, needs significant radiometric correction for further classification. Thus, in this study, we developed algorithms that can correct thermal noise and scalloping effects, and confirmed that Arctic sea ice and open-water were well classified using the corrected dual-polarization SAR data.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.202-209
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• 2019

The primary productivity and production rate of photosynthetic pigment of periphyton and phytoplankton were estimated using a $^{13}C$ stable labeling technique in May 2011, in the waterfront of Lake Paldang. Primary productivity of periphyton ($28.15mgC\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$) was higher than phytoplankton production ($0.14mgC\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$). The net production rates of photosynthetic pigments(Chl a and Fucoxanthin) of periphyton were $2.53ngC\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$ and $0.12ngC\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$, respectively. On the other hand, the net production rate of pigments on phytoplankton (Chl a : $0.023ngC\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$, Fucoxanthin: $0.002ngC\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$) was lower than that of periphyton. Specific production rates of individual pigments of phytoplankton to the total primary productivity indicate the predominance of diatom (Fucoxanthin) species in phytoplankton assemblage in Lake Paldang. The net individual production rate of pigments by $^{13}C$ tracer was a useful tool to estimate the contribution of each phytoplankton class for total primary productivity, and it is possible to calculate the seasonal contribution of each phytoplankton class to the total primary productivity in the aquatic ecosystems. This study is the first report on photosynthetic pigment production rates of periphyton and phytoplankton.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_1
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• pp.1245-1255
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• 2022

Terra Nova Bay polynya (TNBP) is a representative coastal polynya in East Antarctica, which is formed by strong katabatic winds. As the TNBP is one of the major sea ice factory in East Antarctica and has a great impact on regional ocean circulation and surrounding marine ecosystem, it is very important to analyze its area change and development characteristics. In this study, we detected the TNBP from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical images obtained from April 2007 to April 2022 by visually analyzing the stripes caused by the Langmuir circulation effect and the boundary between the polynya and surrounding sea ice. Then, we analyzed the area change and development characteristics of the TNBP. The TNBP occurred frequently but in a small size during the Antarctic winter (April-July) when strong katabatic winds blow, whereas it developed in a large size in March and November when sea ice thickness is thin. The 12-hour mean wind speed before the satellite observations showed a correlation coefficient of 0.577 with the TNBP area. This represents that wind has a significant effect on the formation of TNBP, and that other environmental factors might also affect its development process. The direction of TNBP expansion was predominantly determined by the wind direction and was partially influenced by the local ocean current. The results of this study suggest that the influences of environmental factors related to wind, sea ice, ocean, and atmosphere should be analyzed in combination to identify the development characteristics of TNBP.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_1
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• pp.1177-1186
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• 2021

As the Arctic melt ponds play an important role in determining the interannual variation of the sea ice extent and changes in the Arctic environment, it is crucial to monitor the Arctic melt ponds with high accuracy. Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), which is the NASA's latest altimeter satellite based on the green laser (532 nm), observes the global surface elevation. When compared to the CryoSat-2 altimetry satellite whose along-track resolution is 250 m, ICESat-2 is highly expected to provide much more detailed information about Arctic melt ponds thanks to its high along-track resolution of 70 cm. The basic products of ICESat-2 are the surface height and the number of reflected photons. To aggregate the neighboring information of a specific ICESat-2 photon, the segments of photons with 10 m length were used. The standard deviation of the height and the total number of photons were calculated for each segment. As the melt ponds have the smoother surface than the sea ice, the lower variation of the height over melt ponds can make the melt ponds distinguished from the sea ice. When the melt ponds were extracted, the number of photons per segment was used to classify the melt ponds covered with open-water and specular ice. As photons are much more absorbed in the water-covered melt pondsthan the melt ponds with the specular ice, the number of photons persegment can distinguish the water- and ice-covered ponds. As a result, the suggested melt pond detection method was able to classify the sea ice, water-covered melt ponds, and ice-covered melt ponds. A qualitative analysis was conducted using the Sentinel-2 optical imagery. The suggested method successfully classified the water- and ice-covered ponds which were difficult to distinguish with Sentinel-2 optical images. Lastly, the pros and cons of the melt pond detection using satellite altimetry and optical images were discussed.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.659-669
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationship between occurrence of natural radioactive materials such as ²³⁸U and ²²²Rn and original mixing ratio of helium isotope of groundwater from various geology, and to suggest the underground aquifer environment from helium original mixing data. 9 groundwater samples were collected from five study areas, and ²³⁸U, Rn-222 and helium isotope were analyzed. A high ²³⁸U content of the range of 218~477 ㎍ /L in the groundwater occurs in the twomica granite. ⁴He air-crust mixing ratio and the Rn-222 content show a rough relation, that is, Rn-222 content increases according to the increase of ⁴He crust mixing ratio. Because of helium and radon are an inert gas, their behavior in underground environment is assumed as an analogous. The ²³⁸U content and He isotope in groundwater does not show any distinct correlation. The groundwater can be classified as three groups (air, air-crust mixing, crust-mantle mixing origin) on the diagram of ³He/⁴He vs ⁴He/²⁰Ne, which is composed of original mixing line from air-crust-mantle end members. This original mixing of helium can provide the information of underground aquifer characteristic such as the connection with surface environment or isolation condition from air environment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.3 s.59
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• pp.257-268
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• 2005

Meiofauna community was surveyed in the Arctic Ocean. Sediment samples were collected from six stations in the east Barents Sea and from five stations in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard during summer 2002. Eight taxa of meiofauna were identified in the Barents Sea. Meiofauna abundance ranged from 245 to 906 indiv.10 $cm^{-2}$ (mean 580 indiv.10 $cm^{-2}$) and total biomass varied from 23 and 404 ${\mu}gC10cm^{-2}$ (mean 184 ${\mug}C10cm^{-2}$) in the Barent Sea. Nematode predominated in meiofauna comprising $95.2\%$ of total abundance and $66.4\%$ of biomass. Copepods, polycheats and sarcomastigophonans were also dominant in the study area. Nine taxa of meiofauna were identified in Kongsfiorden. Meiofauna abundance ranged from 103 to 513 indiv.10 $cm^{-2}$ (mean 292 indiv.10 $cm^{-2}$) and biomass varied from 13 and 196{\mu}gC10\;cm^{-2}$ (mean 94{\mu}gC10\;cm^{-2}$) in the Kongsfiorden. Nematodes predominated in meiofauna, comprising $64.1\%$ of abundance and $64.3\%$ biomass. Copepods, polychaets, and kinorhyncha were also dominant in the study area. The meiofauna abundances from both the study areas well match with the previous reports from the various regions including the temperate areas. However the occurred taxa in the present study are only a half comparing with the reports from temperate zone. Meiofauna abundance, biomass, diversity index and species richness were much higher than in the coastal which were strongly affected by fresh water run off in the Barents Sea. The stations affected by chlorophyll had high abundance and biomass, but low diversity index and spices richness in Kongsfiorden.