• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.113-128
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• 2019

The concentration and coating thickness of black carbon (BC) were measured along with fine dust in the fall of 2018, at the Seoul Metropolitan Area Intensive Monitoring Station (SIMS). In fall, the concentration of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ was $23{\pm}12.6{\mu}g/m^3$ and $12{\pm}5.8{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively, lower than that in other seasons. The BC level, measured using an Aethalometer, was $0.73{\pm}0.43{\mu}g/m^3$, while the levels of elemental carbon (EC) and refractory-BC (rBC), measured by semi-continuous carbon analyzer (SOCEC) and single particle soot photometer (SP2), were $0.34{\pm}0.18{\mu}g/m^3$ and $0.32{\pm}0.18{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. As such, the concentration level differed according to the measurement method, but its time-series distribution and diurnal variation showed the same trends. The BC concentration at SIMS was primarily affected by automobiles with higher levels of BC during morning and evening commuting times due to increased traffic congestion. rBC, measured by SP2, had a peak concentration and coating thickness of 84 nm and 43 nm, respectively. Notably, the coating thickness had an inverse relationship with particle size.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.299-308
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• 2016

Seoul metropolitan has established a vision as 'Healthy water-cycle city' to resolve urban water-environmental deterioration. And it established administrative structure to expand Low Impact Development (LID) facilities to recover aggravated water-cycle and water-environment. Therefore, various LID facilities are constructed and operated, however, benefit analytic plans for systematic valuation are insufficient. In this study, to analyze economic, environmental and social benefits of LID facilities, contents for benefit analysis were selected and categorized as water, energy, air quality and climate changes. As a result of quantification and valuation to the beneficial effects, LID facilities showed the total benefit as 1,191~3,292 won/yr. Characteristics of benefit distribution by analysis contents were various reflecting functional characteristics of each LID facility (Water: 30~90%, Energy: 4~44%, Air quality: <1~2%, Climate change: 5~22%). As a result of Triple Bottom Line analysis, economic benefit showed the greatest portion as 75~90%. As further studies, suggested benefit assessment plans for each LID facility should be applied to inter-connected LID systems on complex-scaled area, and synergy effects by various LID systems would be evaluated such as prevention of heat island and flood disasters.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1931-1938
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• 2012

This study evaluated whether the installed location of air quality monitoring stations is at an optimal level in an effort to improve the health and environmental quality of the surrounding areas of the Pohang Steel Complex. As a result of analyzing the atmospheric flow field, it was found that the location of air quality monitoring stations was acceptable in case of Daesong-myeon(The 1st Division of Local Wind Sector) and Jukdo-dong(The 3rd Division of Local Wind Sector). However, the air quality monitoring stations installed at Daedo-dong and Jukdo-dong is judged to have made an overlapped measurement because the stations existed at the Division of the same Wind Sector. Accordingly, this study suggests that the further air quality monitoring stations should be additionally installed at Buk-gu areas of Pohang where more than 50% of the population of Pohang is living presently. As a result of the analysis of air contaminant concentration distribution, the Jangheung-dong area showed higher concentration distribution than other areas in case of $PM_{10}$ while the Daesong-myeon area showed a comparatively higher concentration distribution in case of $O_3$. Conclusively, this study indicates that it is high time to prepare an aggressive management of $PM_{10}$ and $O_3$ which causes a harmful impact on the life and health of the residents of the target areas.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.127-145
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• 1998

Unlike water or air quality standards that have been established by legislation using potential human health impact as the primary criterion, soil quality depends on the soils primary function and its relevant environmental factors, which is much more site- and soil specific. A properly characterized soil quality assessment system should serve as an indicator of the soil capacity to produce safe and nutritious food, to enhance human and animal health, and to overcome degrative processes. For our proposed example, a high quality soil with regard to maintaining an adequate soil productivity as a food production resources must accommodate soil and water properties, food chain, sustainability and utilization, environment, and profitability, that (i) facilitate water transfer and absorption, (ii) sustain plant growth, (iii) resist physical degradation of soil, (iv) produce a safe food resources, (v) cost-effective agricultural management. Possible soil quality indicators are identified at several levels within the framework for each of these functions. Each indicator is assigned a priority or weight that reflects its relative importance using a multi-objective approach based on principles of systems to be considered. To do this, individual scoring system is differentiated by the several levels from low to very high category or point scoring ranging from 0 to 10, And then weights are multiplied and products are summed to provide an overall soil quality rating based on several physical and chemical indicators. Tlne framework and procedure in developing the soil quality assessment are determined by using information collected from an alternative and conventional farm practices in the regions. The use of an expanded framework for assessing effects of other processes, management practices, or policy issues on soil quality is also considered. To develop one possible form for a soil quality index, we should permit coupling the soil characteristics with assessment system based on soil properties and incoming and resident chemicals. The purpose of this paper is to discuss approaches to defining and assessing soil quality and to suggest the factors to be considered.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.232-243
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• 2018

The construction, development and maintenance of an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable campus involves the integration of measuring tools and technical information that invites and encourages the community to know the actual state to generate positive actions for reducing the negative impacts over the local environment. At the Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Campus $Bogot{\acute{a}}$, a public area with daily traffic of more than 25000 people, the Environmental Management Bureau has committed with the monitoring of the noise pollution and air quality, as support to the campaigns aiming to reduce the pollutant emissions associated to the student's activities and campus operation. The target of this study is based in the implementation of mobile air quality and sonometry monitoring equipment, the mapping of the actual air quality and noise pollution inside the university campus as a novel methodology for a sub-area inside a megacity. This results and mapping are proposed as planning tool for the institution administrative sections. A mobile Kunak$^{(R)}$ Air & OPC air monitoring station with the capability to measure particulate matter $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, Ozone ($O_3$), Sulfur Oxide ($SO_2$), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Nitrogen Oxide ($NO_2$) as well as Temperature, Relative Humidity and Latitude and Longitude coordinates for the data georeferenciation; and a sonometer Cirrus$^{(R)}$ 162B Class 2 were used to perform the measurements. The measurements took place in conditions of academic activity and without it, with the aim of identify the impacts generated by the campus operation. Using the free code geographical information software QGIS$^{(R)}$ 2.18, the maps of each variable measured were developed, and the impacts generated by the operation of the campus were identified qualitative and quantitively. For the measured variables, an increase of around 21% for the $L_{Aeq}$ noise level and around 80% to 90% for air pollution were detected during the operation period.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.105-113
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• 2017

Recently mountain tourism has been promoted and introduction of railroads with utilizing mountain resources is being planned. With the government policies to increase the share of eco-friendly transportation on railroad, national double-tracking of single rail and improvement projects are on going. However, the eco-friendly railroad policy suggests the environmental impact assessment items only on air quality, water quality, geographical/geological features, fauna/flora, natural/environmental resources, noise/ vibration, and recreation/landscape. And for fauna/flora and natural/environmental resources, confirming the presence of environmental protection zone is enough to satisfy legal requirement. This study suggested to evaluate environmental/ecological values with quantitative data. Evaluation indices and evaluation items have been selected to provide the data. Each of the subject map and railroad network was overlapped. The study selected naturalness and diversity as major indicators and calculated weight values of the items under the indicators, which are to be usd for the selection of the sites for railway development. This assessment method could be applied to the environmentally friendly construction of railroads in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.577-582
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this survey was to assess the concentrations of heavy metals in the atmosphere of Pocheon City by measuring heavy metals in the industrial complex area and at the city air measuring station, and also to assess the degree of impact that the industrial area has on urban air quality. Methods: Sampling was carried out between February 2018 and November 2018 at two sites in the industrial complex and in the city air monitoring stations. Results: At the industrial complex in Pocheon City, air pollutant emitting businesses were emitting concentrations of fine dust (PM₁₀) between 45 and 60 ㎍/㎥ higher than in the city air. The daily maximum concentrations of lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), and cadmium (Cd) in the industrial complex are below the WHO recommendation standard (annual average), and the impact on the urban atmosphere is judged to be insignificant. Three to five percent of fine dust (PM₁₀) consists of metallic materials, and as the fine dust increased, metals were detected proportionally. Although cadmium (Cd) and beryllium (Be) were not detected in the city air in Pocheon and chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and arsenic (As) were found to be 50 percent or less, it is deemed that copper (Cu) was detected at unusually high levels due to unknown air pollutants, which requires regular heavy metal measurement and cause verification. Conclusions: An analysis of the heavy metals in the industrial zone and the urban atmosphere in Pocheon City in this study showed that the linear relationship of heavy metals in the industrial zone, or the direct impact relationship, on the heavy metals in the urban atmosphere could not be estimated. The sampling device for equivalent assessment of particulate matter installed at air pollution monitoring stations is highly likely to be used for analysis of fine dust and heavy metals.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.197-211
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• 2004

Visibility impairment was known as an indicator of the increased air pollution. In many previous studies, it is known that both directly emitted fine particles mainly from vehicles and secondary aerosols from photochemical reactions could contribute to this visibility impairment in addition to the meteorological condition. Furthermore, the visibility showed different change patterns according to the geographical condition. In order to research into the influence of these factors on visibility, this study analyzed the visibility at 15:00, observed from 1990 to 2001 in Seoul, Ganghwa, Susan, Gwangju, Jeju. As a result, the visibility was increased in Seoul except the rainfall period, but in Susan, Gwangju, Jeju, it decreased with the relative humidity (RH). Especially, in Seoul, the number of low visibility days was larger than other sites and variations of the visibility were sensitive to the concentration of air pollutants, such as TSP, $NO_2$, $O_3$. The visibility impairment was mainly observed in meteorological condition of RH<50% and relatively stationary front. Therefore it is inferred that photochemical smog could lead to the low visibility in Seoul. On the other hands, in Ganghwa and Susan, when RH was 60~70%, the low visibility observed under the influence of the transports of air pollutants from nearby cities as well as humid air mass from coastal region. And in Jeju, sea fog and humid air mass caused the visibility impairment when the RH was larger than 80%. Finally, during the observational period, some cases of low visibility phenomena were simultaneously observed in the vast region including Seoul, Susan, Ganghwa. It not only includes the visibility aggravation by Asian Dust, but also could be caused by the movement and diffusion of flying dust or secondary aerosols. Moreover, the result shows that these phenomena could be mainly influenced by meteorological factors covering the wide regions.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.109-127
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• 2011

Atmospheric aerosols, small particles in the atmosphere, are one of the important parameters in climate change and human health. Additionally, accurate estimates of aerosol species are increasingly important in environmental impact assessment studies. Recent advances in global satellite remote sensing provide powerful tool for air quality monitoring. This study explores the potential usage of satellite derived data such as atmospheric aerosols for air quality monitoring as well as climate change study. The objectives of this study is to understand the general features of the global distribution of type dependent aerosols. A detailed spatio-temporal variability of the each different satellite dataset shows the variation of the global zonal average and specific geographical regions where the strong emission sources are located. Especially, significantly large aerosol amounts are observed in Asia and Africa because of the desert dust storm, anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.578-592
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• 2015

To investigate characteristics and seasonal variations of carbonaceous species for $PM_{2.5}$ in Seoul metropolitan area, Korea, we measured organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) from January 2014 to December 2014 using a semi-continuous OC/EC Analyzer (Model-4, Sunset Lab.). Mean concentrations of OC and EC were estimated $4.1{\pm}2.7{\mu}g/m^3$ and $1.6{\pm}1.0{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The annual averaged OC/EC ratio was $2.9{\pm}2.7$. Concentrations of OC and EC comprised 13% and 5% of $PM_{2.5}$ and the mass fraction of both was the highest in fall. OC and EC showed similar trend in seasonal variations. Concentrations of those showed a clear seasonal variation with the highest in winter and the lowest in summer. The correlations between the two were the best during the winter ($r^2=0.88$). As results of carbonaceous species analysis, the dominant factor in view of fine particle ($PM_{2.5}$) is primary emission source such as mobile, fossil fuel combustion during commute time(08:00~10:00 or 17:00~21:00) and winter season. Continuous monitoring of atmospheric carbonaceous species is essential to provide the science-based data to policy-maker establishing the air quality improvement policy.