• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.233-255
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• 2024

This study analyzed the distribution of Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Version 3 Level 2.0 data, spanning over two decades, across South Korea and its six administrative regions (Seoul metropolitan area, Chungcheong, Jeolla, Gangwon, Gyeongsang, and Jeju). The research assessed long-term trends in aerosol optical depth (AOD) and mass concentration of particulate matter (i.e., PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), using data from the AERONET direct sun product and AirKorea, respectively. Additionally, eight aerosol types were identified using the scattering Ångström exponent and absorption Ångström exponent from the AERONET inversion product. The study further explored their domestic and regional distributions. Findings indicated that AERONET data were predominantly concentrated in the western regions of South Korea, including the Seoul metropolitan area, Chungcheong, and Jeolla, with a higher frequency of data in spring, thus demonstrating spatial and temporal heterogeneity. The annual average AOD exhibited a declining trend of -0.006 yr^-1. Similarly, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 mass concentrations decreased by -1.324 ㎍ m^-3 yr^-1 and -1.335 ㎍ m^-3 yr^-1, respectively. These trends in AOD and PM₁₀ (PM_2.5) demonstrated positive correlations, with correlation coefficients of 0.674 (0.753) and statistically significant low p-values of 0.00058 (0.03), respectively. The analysis also revealed that aerosols in South Korea predominantly consisted of black carbon (BC) or BC-mixed types (84.09%), with a notable presence of smaller, less absorbent aerosol types (13.11%).

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.91-100
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• 2010

Existing traffic safety studies have focused on identifying the relationship among roadway crashes, highway design and incremental weather condition such as rainy/ice weather. However, it is hard to find researches that studied the effect of sun glare on traffic safety although there are abundant evidences demonstrating that fatal traffic crashes are attributed to the sun glare. Affecting drivers'vision particularly during the morning or the evening time when the sun positions close to the horizon, sun glare directly deteriorate drivers'judgmental capability. In this paper, we numerically analyze the effect of sun glare on the drivers'vision in time and space domains. Applied to the roadways around St Louis area in the United States, the GIS based simulation analysis identifies the time of day in a year and the segments of highways that are potentially influenced by the sun glare. This study evidentially confirms the fact that roadway bounded for West and East directions have longer time influenced by sun glare particularly during Spring and Fall season than other roadways. The computational result provides risky time periods of day at intersections or pedestrian crossings where the sun glare potentially endangers traffic safety, which be utilized to reduce the crashes due to the sun glare.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.23-36
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• 2017

Objective: This paper presents a study to evaluate the WBGT index for assessing the effects of a wide range of outdoor weather conditions on human responses. Background: The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index was firstly developed for the assessment of hot outdoor conditions. It is a recognised index that is used world-wide. It may be useful over a range of outdoor conditions and not just for hot climates. Method: Four group experiments, involving people performing a light stepping activity, were conducted to determine human responses to outside conditions in the U.K. They were conducted in September 2007 (autumn), December 2007 (winter), March 2008 (spring) and June 2008 (summer). Environmental measurements included WBGT, air temperature, radiant temperature (including solar load), humidity and wind speed all measured at 1.2m above the ground, as well as weather data measured by a standard weather station at 3m to 4m above the ground. Participants' physiological and subjective responses were measured. When the overall results of the four seasons are considered, WBGT provided a strong prediction of physiological responses as well as subjective responses if aural temperature, heart rate and sweat production were measured. Results: WBGT is appropriate to predict thermal strain on a large group of ordinary people in moderate conditions. Consideration should be given to include the WBGT index in warning systems for a wide range of weather conditions. However, the WBGT overestimated physiological responses of subjects. In addition, tenfold Borg's RPE was significantly different with heart rate measured for the four conditions except autumn (p<0.05). Physiological and subjective responses over 60 minutes consistently showed a similar tendency in the relationships with the $WBGT_{head}$ and $WBGT_{abdomen}$. Conclusion: It was found that either $WBGT_{head}$ or $WBGT_{abdomen}$ could be measured if a measurement should be conducted at only one height. The relationship between the WBGT values and weather station data was also investigated. There was a significant relationship between WBGT values at the position of a person and weather station data. For UK daytime weather conditions ranging from an average air temperature of $6^{\circ}C$ to $21^{\circ}C$ with mean radiant temperatures of up to $57^{\circ}C$, the WBGT index could be used as a simple thermal index to indicate the effects of weather on people. Application: The result of evaluation of WBGT might help to develop the smart clothing for workers in industrial sites and improve the work environment in terms of considering workers' wellness.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.581-586
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• 2015

In this study, an analysis was performed on the performance of the solar water heating system with geo-thermal heat pump for a detached house. This system has a flat plate solar collector ($8\;m^2$) and a 3 RT heat pump. The heat pump acts as an auxiliary heater of the solar water heating system. These systems were installed at four individual houses with the same area of $100\;m^2$. The monitoring results for one year are as follows. (1) The average daily operating time of the solar system appeared to be 313 minutes in spring (intermediate season), and 135 minutes and 76 minutes in winter and summer respectively. The reason for the short operating time in summer is the high storage temperature due to low water heating load. The high storage temperature is caused by a decrease in collecting efficiency as well as by overheating. (2) The geothermal heat pump as an auxiliary heater mainly operates on days of poor insolation during the winter season. (3) Despite controlling for total house area, hot water consumption varies greatly according to the number of people in the family, hot water usage habits, etc. (4) The yearly solar fraction was 69.8 to 91.5 percent, which exceeds the maximum value of 80% as recommended by ASHRAE. So the solar collector area of $8\;m^2$ appeared to be somewhat greater for the house with an area of $100\;m^2$. (5) The observed annual efficiency of solar systems was relatively low at 13.5 to 23.6%, which was analyzed to be due to the decrease in thermal efficiency and the overheating caused by a high solar fraction.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1559-1567
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• 2015

This study investigated the association between $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations obtained with portable real-time monitors and those obtained with gravimetric methods in national urban air-quality monitoring sites in Seoul, South Korea. We used the SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor (TSI Inc., 500 Cardigan Road Shoreview, MN) and DustTrak DRX 8533 (TSI Inc., 500 Cardigan Road Shoreview, MN) as portable real-time monitors for measuring $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations and compared these values with those measured with the PMS-103 or SEQ 47/50 models operated by Federal Reference Method (FRM) or the European Committee for Standardization(ECS), respectively, in national urban air-quality monitoring sites in Seoul. Measurements were conducted every other day in the winter and spring seasons of 2014. The estimated daily mean concentrations of $PM_{2.5}$ ranged between 13.4 and $161.9{\mu}g/m^3$ using AM 510 and between 22.0 and $156.0{\mu}g/m^3$ using DustTrak. The Spearman correlation coefficient for $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations between AM 510 and gravimetric results was 0.99, and the correlation between DustTrak and gravimetric results was 0.87. The correction factor suggested was 0.42 and 0.29 for AM 510 and DustTrak, respectively. We found that $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations measured with real-time monitors could overestimate true $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations and therefore the application of a correction factor (0.43) is strongly suggested for quantification when Real-time monitors were operated of $PM_{2.5}$ levels at urban atmospheric environment of South Korea.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.229-235
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• 2000

Characteristics of hail occurred during 1989-1998 is studied. Hail is observed mainly at west coast, southwest inland, and Taegwallyong. Average diameter of hailstone is 0.6 cm, and 70% of the occurrence frequency of hail is observed at west coast. During winter and spring, the wet -bulb zero height (WBZ) is low enough to prevent the melting process of hail. But the lack of available low-level moisture (mean mixing ratio in lowest 100 hPa) makes the size of hail small. As a result, smaller size hail is observed frequently over west coast. On the contrary, WBZ is higher during summer, it means that hail is melted before it reaches ground, but the size of hail is bigger. Thus the larger hail is observed mainly Taegwallyong during summer. Hail is observed from 1100 LST to 1500 LST over west coast and around 1800 LST over Taegwallyong. It suggest that thermally driven mesoscale circulations such as land-sea breeze and mountain ridge-valley circulation aid in the formation of hail. Upper and surface air temperature is related to formation of hailstorm. Before formation of hailstorm in November 1998, the upper air temperature decreases. And hails is observed in the spot of strong temperature and dew point temperature gradient coincidently.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.78-82
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• 2011

Ventilation rates, inside and outside weather data were measured in a arch-shape single-span plastic greenhouse growing tomatoes. On the roof of the experimental greenhouse, round windows which have a diameter of 0.6 m were installed at intervals of 8m. It showed that the number of air changes in this greenhouse were average 0.17 volumes per minute and in the range of 0.02 to 0.32 volumes per minute. These air changes are insufficient to meet the recommended ventilation rate for commercial greenhouses, and it is estimated that interval of 6 m is appropriate for spring or fall season. For summer season, it is necessary to narrow the space or to enlarge the open area of roof windows. Using the heat balance model, the evapotranspiration coefficients of greenhouse tomatoes were estimated from experimental ventilation data, overall heat transfer and solar radiation. It showed that the evapotranspiration coefficients were average 0.62 and in the 0.39 to 0.85 range. We suggest applying 0.6 as the evapotranspiration coefficient in design of ventilation for the single-span tomato greenhouses.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.422-434
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• 2016

This study was conducted to understand roles of $NO_x(=NO+NO_2)$ on high $O_3$ episodes at an urban monitoring station in Seoul. Concentrations of NO, $NO_2$, $NO_y$ and $O_3$ were measured intensively at KIST monitoring station which located at urban center in Seoul metropolitan area during May 18~June 13, 2015. Sampling period was planed because high $O_3$ and PM occurred frequently during from late spring to early summer months in Seoul. The experimental site locates in NW from center of Seoul and is surrounded by residential area. Belt highway of the city runs from north to west side nearby experimental site. Vehicle exhaust emissions due to heavy traffic influenced $NO_x$ concentration at the site during northwesterly wind. Specific $NO_2$ concentration was measured by Blue Light photolytic converter, and it was compared to $NO_2$ concentration measured by molybedenum converter. $[NO_2]_{phtolysis}$ was usually lower than $[NO_2]_{molybedenum}$ during the experiment period; however their diurnal variations were very similar. The linear relationship between these $NO_2$ concentrations was found to be $[NO_2]_{phtolysis}$=0.64 $[NO_2]_{molybedenum}$ - 2.6, $r^2$=0.83 during May 16~8, 2015. The difference between $NO_2$ by molybdenum converter and by photolytic converter (${\Delta}NO_2=[NO_2]_{molybedenum}-[NO_2]_{phtolysis}$) accounted for residual $NO_y$ which can represent $NO_z$ (=$NO_y-NO_x$). $O_3$ concentration showed typical daily trend which has maximum at late afternoon and minimum during the night. $O_3$ increased at a rate of 7 ppb/hr since 8 am. and reached the maximum concentration (~80 ppb) at 3 pm.. The diurnal pattern of $O_3$ was inversely related with that of $NO_2$, suggesting that the formation of $O_3$ was the result of photochemical activity of $NO_2$.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.281-290
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• 2014

This study was conducted to evaluate the distribution characteristics of $PM_{10}$ and heavy metals concentrations in the ambient air of Gyeonggi-do area by region and season from February, 2013 to March, 2014. The regression model for the prediction of formation characteristics and contamination degree of $PM_{10}$ and heavy metals by correlation analysis and regression analysis for using the multivariate statistical analysis was also established. The main wind direction during the investigation period was South East (SE) and West South West (WSW) winds, and the concentration of $SO_2$ at Ansan with industrial region showed 1.6 times higher than Suwon, Euiwang with residential region. The concentrations (median) of Pb, Cu and Ni at Ansan showed 3.2~4.5, 1.9~2.2 and 1.7~2.6 times respectively higher than those at Suwon. By the seasonal concentration variation, the concentrations of $PM_{10}$, Pb, Fe and As in winter and spring (December to May) showed 1.7, 1.9, 1.9 and 2.7 times respectively higher than those in summer and fall (June to November). As, Fe and $PM_{10}$ had a big difference by the seasonal factors, and Cu and Ni were evaluated to be influenced by the regional factors. From the results of correlation analysis among the target items, the correlation coefficient of PM and Mn had 0.82 (p/0.01) and that of Fe and Mn had 0.82 (p/0.01), which showed high correlation. And the correlation coefficients for $SO_2$ and Pb, CO and $PM_{10}$ were 0.66 (p/0.01) and 0.62 (p/0.01) respectively. The multiple linear regression models for $PM_{10}$, Pb, Cu, Cr, As, Ni, Fe and Mn were established by independent variables of CO, $SO_2$ and meteorological factors (wind speed, relative humidity). In the regression models, independent variable $SO_2$ was in cause-and-effect relationship with all dependent variables, and $PM_{10}$, Fe and Mn were influenced by CO and wind speed, and Pb, Cu, Ni and As had a main factor of $SO_2$.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.818-829
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• 2013

The collection of rainwater samples was made at Jeju area during 2009~2010, and the major ionic species were analyzed. In the comparison of ion balance, conductivity, and acid fraction for the validation of analytical data, the correlation coefficients showed a good linear relationship within the range of 0.966~0.990. The volume-weighted mean pH and electric conductivity were 4.9 and $17.8{\mu}S/cm$, respectively, at the Jeju area. The volume-weighted mean concentrations of ionic species in rainwater were in the order of $Cl^-$ > $Na^+$ > $nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$ > $NH_4{^+}$ > $NO_3{^-}$ > $Mg^{2+}$ > $H^+$ > $nss-Ca^{2+}$ > $HCOO^-$ > $K^+$ > $PO_4{^{3-}}$ > $CH_3COO^-$ > $NO_2{^-}$ > $F^-$ > $HCO_3{^-}$ > $CH_3SO_3{^-}$. The ionic strength of rainwater was $0.26{\pm}0.21$ mM during the study period. The composition ratios of ionic species were such as 50.1% for the marine sources ($Na^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Cl^-$), 30.9% for the anthropogenic sources ($NH_4{^+}$, $nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$, $NO_3{^-}$), and 4.7% for the soil source ($nss-Ca^{2+}$), and 3.1% for organic acids ($HCOO^-$, $CH_3COO^-$). From the seasonal comparison, the concentrations of $NO_3{^-}$, $nss-Ca^{2+}$, and $nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$ increased in winter and spring seasons, indicating a reasonable possibility of long range transport from Asia continent. Especially, the acidifying contributions by major inorganic acids ($nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$ and $NO_3{^-}$) and organic acids ($HCOO^-$ and $CH_3COO^-$) were 87.6% and 12.4%, respectively. In comparison by sectional inflow pathway of air mass during the rainy sampling days, the concentrations of $nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$ and $NO_3{^-}$ were relatively high when the air mass was moved from the China continent into Jeju area.