• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.191-202
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• 2024

Global warming is causing abnormal climates worldwide due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, negatively affecting ecosystems and humanity. In response, various countries are attempting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in numerous ways, and interest in blue carbon, carbon absorbed by coastal ecosystems, is increasing. Known to absorb carbon up to 50 times faster than green carbon, blue carbon plays a vital role in responding to climate change. Particularly, the tidal flats of South Korea, one of the world's five largest tidal flats, are valued for their rich biodiversity and exceptional carbon absorption capabilities. While previous studies on blue carbon have focused on the carbon storage and annual carbon absorption rates of tidal flats, there is a lack of research linking tidal flat area changes detected using satellite data to carbon storage. This study applied the direct difference water index to high-resolution satellite data from PlanetScope and RapidEye to analyze the area and changes of the Nakdong River estuary tidal flats over six periods between 2013 and 2023, estimating the carbon storage for each period. The analysis showed that excluding the period in 2013 with a different tidal condition, the tidal flat area changed by up to approximately 5.4% annually, ranging from about 9.38 km² (in 2022) to about 9.89 km² (in 2021), with carbon storage estimated between approximately 30,230.0 Mg C and 31,893.7 Mg C.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2024

This study conducted surveys to identify the distribution of communities and flora according to vegetation in the coastal sand dunes of Sagye in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, located at the southernmost tip of Korea. The survey was conducted over 20 sessions from April 2020 to October 2021. As a result of the study, physiognomy was classified into six correlated vegetation types: plant communities on the salt marsh, annual communities on a coastal drift-line, herb communities on a dune, shrub communities on a coastal dune, forest-edge communities on a dune, and artificial afforestation vegetation. The survey identified 43 communities, and a total of 212 taxa were found to be distributed among 62 families, 166 genera, 191 species, 15 varieties, 3 subspecies, and 3 forma. It was found that there were five rare plant taxa distributed in the area, including the Cymbidium macrorrhizum which was classified as an endangered Class II plant by the Ministry of Environment. Floristic target species identified by the surveys included 2 taxa for grade V, 5 taxa for grade IV, 15 taxa for grade III, 14 taxa for grade II, and 19 taxa for grade I. Climate-sensitive biological indicator species included 11 indicator and 2 candidate species, representing a high ratio of 33.3% of all indicator species and 15.4% of candidate species. Naturalized plants included 16 families, 43 genera, and 52 taxa, with a naturalization rate of 21.1% and an urbanization index of 24.5%. It is expected that these results will be widely used as data needed to prepare conservation and management measures for biodiversity in response to climate change in coastal dunes in the future.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.295-309
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• 2024

With the implementation of the Northeast Revitalization Strategy, the tourism industry in Heilongjiang Province had an increasingly greater impact on regional economic development. Based on the tourism panel data of Heilongjiang Province from 2005 to 2021, this paper used DEA-BCC and Malmquist Index to analyze the static and dynamic changes of the tourism industry.The results of the study were as follows: (1) Static: The OE value reached strong DEA effectiveness in 2010, 2013, and 2019, indicated that tourism resources had been fully utilized. The SE value changed dramatically between 0.354 and 1, and the PTE value approached 1. OE was mainly affected by SE changes. (2) Dynamic: The total factor productivity (TFP) was overall greater than 1 and grew at an average annual rate of 13.8%. The variation in TFP was primarily influenced by the index of technological progress, indicated that the tourism industry in Heilongjiang Province made full use of technology for resource development, with a relatively high level of development efficiency. Therefore, the future focus of Heilongjiang Province's tourism industry will be on adjustments in industrial scale, technological innovation, and policy optimization.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2005

The measurement technique using laser distometer to estimate soil erosion on sloped upland was assessed for its possibility for application. This technique was practiced in lysimeter installed in Chuncheon and Pyeongchang in 2001. The lysimeter installed at Chuncheon has 12% slope, 10 m slope length, 2 m width, and soil texture was sandy loam, while the lysimeter installed at Pyeongchang showed 23% slope, 15 m slope length, 5 m width, and sandy loam soil. Change of surface soil height was monitored using laser distance meter before and after rainy season on same spots. The Investigated periods in Chuncheon and Pyeongchang were from 22 June to 22 September and from July to October, respectively. Precipitation in Chuncheon and Pyeongchang in this period was 892.2 and 931.9 mm, respectively. Rainfall over 60% of annual precipitation was concentrated on July and August in Chuncheon and September and October in Pyeongchang, respectively. By monitoring the change of surface soil height using laser distance meter before and after rainy season, eroded soil surface in up-down fallow field in Chuncheon was 0.874 cm, while eroded soil surface in slant furrow field in Pyeongchang was 1.127 cm, which correspond to 79.5 and $98.0MT\;ha^{-1}$. Soil erosion increased as furrow length increased. Amounts of estimated soil loss using laser distance meter was 0.98-1.18 times higher compared to the estimated values through Iysimeter experiment, which implies possibility for application to monitor soil loss particularly in up-down and slant furrowed field. However, in the lysimeter with contoured tillage, amount of estimated soil loss using laser distance meter was approximately a half compared to that from lysimeter experiment, which implies inadequacy of distance meter application in contour- tillage field. The great soil loss difference between distance meter and lysimeter might be caused by disruption of some of the contoured furrows in lysimeter. The measurement technique using distometer in this study could be useful to estimate soil loss especially in up-down and slant-tillage fields.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.698-703
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• 2012

This survey was conducted to obtain basic data of the quality of groundwater for agriculture in Gyeongnam province. Groundwater samples from paddy 15, upland 15, and plastic film house 30 sites were collected on April, July, and October in every two years from 2002 to 2008. According to the result of water quality analysis, groundwater quality was suitable for irrigation purpose averagely. The $NO_3$-N contents by land use were in the order of plastic film house > upland > paddy field and its contents were 6.53, 4.80, and $3.68mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. In annual changes of water quality, pH was no significant change in paddy, upland, and plastic film house by 6.6~6.9. EC was increased in upland and plastic film house in 2008 and majors factors were $NO_3$-N and $Cl^-$. In upland and plastic film house, $NO_3$-N contents were 4.72 and $6.52mg\;L^{-1}$ in 2002, respectively, whereas they were 5.63 and $8.70mg\;L^{-1}$ in 2008, respectively. Of the investigated sites, $NO_3$-N was exceeded water quality standards for agriculture by 3.3~15.0% in plastic film house and $Cl^-$ was exceeded water quality standards for agriculture by 2.2% in upland of 2004. The $NO_3$-N contents were decreased with well depth and their contents were $5.38mg\;L^{-1}$ from 3~10 m, $4.87mg\;L^{-1}$ from 10~20 m, and $2.58mg\;L^{-1}$ from above 30 m. The $NO_3$-N contents by soil texture were highest in sandy loam by $5.73mg\;L^{-1}$ and lowest in clay loam by $4.13mg\;L^{-1}$. The $NO_3$-N contents by crops category were in order of fruit vegetables > leaf vegetables > rice > fruits > beans, contents of fruit vegetables and leaf vegetables were 5.81 and $5.30mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.303-318
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• 2014

Baseflow gives a significant contribution to stream function in the regions where climatic characteristics are seasonally distinct. In this regard, variable baseflow can make it difficult to maintain a stable water supply, as well as causing disruption to the stream ecosystem. Changes in land use can affect both the direct flow and baseflow of a stream, and consequently, most other components of the hydrologic cycle. Baseflow estimation depends on the observed streamflow in gauge watersheds, but accurate predictions of streamflow through modeling can be useful in determining baseflow data for ungauged watersheds. Accordingly, the objectives of this study are to 1) improve predictions of SWAT by applying the alpha factor estimated using RECESS for calibration; 2) estimate baseflow in an ungauged watershed using the WHAT system; and 3) evaluate the effects of changes in land use on baseflow characteristics. These objectives were implemented in the Gapcheon watershed, as an ungauged watershed in South Korea. The results show that the alpha factor estimated using RECESS in SWAT calibration improves the prediction for streamflow, and, in particular, recessions in the baseflow. Also, the changes in land use in the Gapcheon watershed leads to no significant difference in annual baseflow between comparable periods, regardless of precipitation, but does lead to differences in the seasonal characteristics observed for the temporal distribution of baseflow. Therefore, the Guem River, into which the stream from the Gapcheon watershed flows, requires strategic seasonal variability predictions of baseflow due to changes in land use within the region.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.105-138
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• 2009

Although the decline in fertility rate is generally observed along the history of economic development throughout the world, the continuing decline hitting below the replacement level in Korea over the recent years gathered serious social concerns on the ground that it accelerates the process of population aging. The total fertility rate in Koreareached 2.08 in 1983, and gradually fell to the levels of 1.08 in 2005 and 1.26 in 2007. The policy debate over the role of the government has been focused mainly on the level of theoretical discussion without substantial basis on firm empirical evidence and the determinants of fertility. The objective of the paper is to empirically investigate the fertility effect of the female wage, which is understood as one of the most important determinants of fertility in Koreasince 1980 focusing on one aspect of fertility, namely birth spacing. Using the Korean National Fertility Survey conducted in 2006, I estimate a duration model of first and second births taking into account individual heterogeneity, which turned out to be an important factor to control for. Compared with previous studies in the literature on the Korean fertility, the study has an advantage of using the complete pregnancy history of women in a more representative sample. Unlike the previous studies, the analysis also deals with the endogeneity of marriage by treating a certain age, rather than age at marriage, as the time in which a woman becomes exposed to the risk of pregnancy. The study shares the common problem in the literature on birth spacing of lacking relevant wage information for respondents in a retrospective survey. I estimate the wage series as a function of the basic characteristics using the annual Wage Structure Survey from 1980 to 2005, which is considered as a nationally representative sample for wage information of employees. The results suggest that the increase in female wage by 10 percent leads to a decrease in second birth hazard by 0.56~0.92 percentage points and that the increase in spouse's wage by the equal amount is accompanied by the increase in second birth hazard by 0.36~1.13 percentage points. These estimates are more precisely estimated and of smaller magnitude than those presented by the previous studies. The results are robust to the different specifications of the wage equation. The simulation analysis based on the predicted values shows that about 17% of the change in the second birth hazard over the period 1980 to 2005 was due to the change in the female wage. Although there is some limitation in data, the results can be viewed as one estimate of the role of female wage on the recent fertility decline in Korea. The question raised by the paper is not a normative one of whether a government should promote childbearing but a positive one thatexplains fertility decline. Therefore, if there is a wide consensus on promoting childbearing, the finding suggests that the policies designed to reduce the opportunity cost of women in the labor market would be effective. The recent movement of implementing a wide range of family-friendly policies including child care support, maternity leave, parental leave and tax benefit in developed countries should be understood in this context.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.101-114
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• 2012

The physico-chemical characteristics including water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen(DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), chlorophyll-a(Chl. a), suspended particulate matter(SPM) and dissolved inorganic nutrients were investigated in the Garolim Bay, Yellow Sea, Korea in 2010 carried out six times per year at 11 fixed stations by Korea Fisheries Research & Development Institute. The water temperature, salinity, COD, dissolved inorganic nutrients, Chl. a and SPM showed significant difference between surface and bottom water but the other parameters didn't. There were not significant difference between stations. The water temperature showed typical change patterns of the temperate seawater. The annual average of salinity showed more than 31 so that there could not have occurred low saline water. The average of DO from June to August showed over than 3mg/L which showed higher than the below standard value of the hypoxic (oxygen-deficient) water. The average of Chl. a varied $1.68{\mu}g/L$ at surface, $2.38{\mu}g/L$ at bottom layer in June and $1.68{\mu}g/L$ at surface, $1.57{\mu}g/L$ at bottom layer at August. The dissolved inorganic nutrients showed high concentration in February and low concentration in August due to the limitation of the freshwater input in summer and phytoplankton used to the dissolved inorganic nutrients. The ratio of DIN/DIP showed 30.52 at surface and 37.89 at bottom layer in June which was higher than other month. The SPM was 44.15mg/L at bottom layer in February which was the highest value in this study due to the northwest monsoon. Because of the actively water change in the open sea without inflow of freshwater from land in Garolom Bay, there were not occurred low saline water and hypoxic water. thus, this Bay showed good water quality and required to be conserved continuously as important costal area for fisheries.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.46 no.8
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• pp.833-842
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• 2013

The quantile mapping is utilized to reproduce reliable GCM(Global Climate Model) data by correct systematic biases included in the original data set. This scheme, in general, projects the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of the underlying data set into the target CDF assuming that parameters of target distribution function is stationary. Therefore, the application of stationary quantile mapping for nonstationary long-term time series data of future precipitation scenario computed by GCM can show biased projection. In this research the Nonstationary Quantile Mapping (NSQM) scheme was suggested for bias correction of nonstationary long-term time series data. The proposed scheme uses the statistical parameters with nonstationary long-term trends. The Gamma distribution was assumed for the object and target probability distribution. As the climate change scenario, the 20C3M(baseline scenario) and SRES A2 scenario (projection scenario) of CGCM3.1/T63 model from CCCma (Canadian Centre for Climate modeling and analysis) were utilized. The precipitation data were collected from 10 rain gauge stations in the Han-river basin. In order to consider seasonal characteristics, the study was performed separately for the flood (June~October) and nonflood (November~May) seasons. The periods for baseline and projection scenario were set as 1973~2000 and 2011~2100, respectively. This study evaluated the performance of NSQM by experimenting various ways of setting parameters of target distribution. The projection scenarios were shown for 3 different periods of FF scenario (Foreseeable Future Scenario, 2011~2040 yr), MF scenario (Mid-term Future Scenario, 2041~2070 yr), LF scenario (Long-term Future Scenario, 2071~2100 yr). The trend test for the annual precipitation projection using NSQM shows 330.1 mm (25.2%), 564.5 mm (43.1%), and 634.3 mm (48.5%) increase for FF, MF, and LF scenarios, respectively. The application of stationary scheme shows overestimated projection for FF scenario and underestimated projection for LF scenario. This problem could be improved by applying nonstationary quantile mapping.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.124-131
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• 2012

This study was carried out to evaluate a possible change in freeze risk for 'Changhowon Hwangdo' peach buds in three major peach growing areas under the future climate projected by RCP8.5 emission scenario. Mean values of the monthly temperature data for the present decade (2000s) and the future decades (2020s, 2050s, 2080s) were extracted for farm lands in Icheon, Chungju, and Yeongcheon-Gyeongsan region at 1km resolution and 30 sets of daily temperature data were generated randomly by a stochastic process for each decade. The daily data were used to calculate a thermal time-based dormancy depth index which is closely related to the cold tolerance of peach buds. Combined with daily minimum temperature, dormancy depth can be used to estimate the potential risk of freezing damage on peach buds. When the freeze risk was calculated daily for the winter period (from 1 November to 15 March) in the present decade, Icheon and Chungju regions had high values across the whole period, but Yeongcheon-Gyeongsan regions had low values from mid-December to the end of January. In the future decades, the frequency of freezing damage would be reduced in all 3 regions and the reduction rate could be as high as 75 to 90% by 2080's. However, the severe class risk (over 80% damage) will not disappear in the future and most occurrences will be limited to December to early January according to the calculation. This phenomenon might be explained by shortened cold hardiness period caused by winter warming as well as sudden cold waves resulting from the higher inter-annual climate variability projected by the RCP8.5 scenario.