• Title/Summary/Keyword: Antarctic Science

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Association between Solar Variability and Teleconnection Index

  • Kim, Jung-Hee;Chang, Heon-Young
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.36 no.3
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    • pp.149-157
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    • 2019
  • In this study, we investigate the associations between the solar variability and teleconnection indices, which influence atmospheric circulation and subsequently, the spatial distribution of the global pressure system. A study of the link between the Sun and a large-scale mode of climate variability, which may indirectly affect the Earth's climate and weather, is crucial because the feedbacks of solar variability to an autogenic or internal process should be considered with due care. We have calculated the normalized cross-correlations of the total sunspot area, the total sunspot number, and the solar North-South asymmetry with teleconnection indices. We have found that the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) index is anti-correlated with both solar activity and the solar North-South asymmetry, with a ~3-year lag. This finding not only agrees with the fact that El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ episodes are likely to occur around the solar maximum, but also explains why tropical cyclones occurring in the solar maximum periods and in El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ periods appear similar. Conversely, other teleconnection indices, such as the Arctic Oscillation (AO) index, the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) index, and the Pacific-North American (PNA) index, are weakly or only slightly correlated with solar activity, which emphasizes that response of terrestrial climate and weather to solar variability are local in space. It is also found that correlations between teleconnection indices and solar activity are as good as correlations resulting from the teleconnection indices themselves.

Ground-based Observations of the Polar Region Space Environment at the Jang Bogo Station, Antarctica

  • Kwon, Hyuck-Jin;Lee, Changsup;Jee, Geonhwa;Ham, Young-Bae;Kim, Jeong-Han;Kim, Yong Ha;Kim, Khan-Hyuk;Wu, Qian;Bullett, Terence;Oh, Suyeon;Kwak, Young-Sil
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.35 no.3
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    • pp.185-193
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    • 2018
  • Jang Bogo Station (JBS), the second Korean Antarctic research station, was established in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica ($74.62^{\circ}S$ $164.22^{\circ}E$) in February 2014 in order to expand the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) research capabilities. One of the main research areas at JBS is space environmental research. The goal of the research is to better understand the general characteristics of the polar region ionosphere and thermosphere and their responses to solar wind and the magnetosphere. Ground-based observations at JBS for upper atmospheric wind and temperature measurements using the Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) began in March 2014. Ionospheric radar (VIPIR) measurements have been collected since 2015 to monitor the state of the polar ionosphere for electron density height profiles, horizontal density gradients, and ion drifts. To investigate the magnetosphere and geomagnetic field variations, a search-coil magnetometer and vector magnetometer were installed in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Since JBS is positioned in an ideal location for auroral observations, we installed an auroral all-sky imager with a color sensor in January 2018 to study substorms as well as auroras. In addition to these observations, we are also operating a proton auroral imager, airglow imager, global positioning system total electron content (GPS TEC)/scintillation monitor, and neutron monitor in collaboration with other institutes. In this article, we briefly introduce the observational activities performed at JBS and the preliminary results of these observations.

A Study of Stable Isotopic Variations of Antarctic Snow by Albedo Differences (알베도 변화에 의한 남극 눈 안정동위원소의 변동에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Jeonghoon;Han, Yeongcheol;Ham, Ji-Young;Na, Un-Sung
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.37 no.2
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    • pp.141-147
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    • 2015
  • Snow albedo can be decreased if there are any impurities on the snow surface other than the snow itself. Due to the decrease of snow albedo, melting rates of surface snow can increase, which is very crucial in climate change and hydrogeology in many parts of the world. Anthropogenic black carbons caused by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuel affect snow and tephra particles generated by geologic volcanic activities reduce snow albedo. In this study, we investigated isotopic compositions for snow covered by tephra particles and compared with this with clean snow. Isotopic compositions of snow with tephra statistically show more enriched than those of clean snow (p<0.02). This can be explained by the fact that snow becomes enriched in $^{18}O$ or D relative to meltwater as melting rates are increased. In addition, the slopes of the linear regression between oxygen and hydrogen for snow with tephra and clean snow are 6.7 and 8, respectively, and the latter is similar to that of the global meteoric water line of 8. Therefore, we can conclude that snow impurities control the isotopic compositions of snow, which is very crucial in the study of climate change and hydrogeology. To quantitatively explain these observations, melting experiments and numerical approaches are required.

STUDIES ON THE UTILIZATION OF ANTARCTIC KRILL 1. Compositional Characteristics of Fresh Frozen and Preboiled Frozen Krill (남대양산 크릴의 이용에 관한 연구 1. 크릴의 식품원료학적인 성상)

  • PARK Yeung-Ho;LEE Eung-Ho;LEE Kang-Ho;PYEUN Jae-Hyeung;RYU Hong-Soo;CHOI Su-An;KIM Seun-Bong
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.191-200
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    • 1979
  • For the use of antarctic krill as a fond protein source its compositional characteristics were investigated as the first part of the work includes other subjects such as processing of drill paste, concentrates, and fermented or seasoned product. In general composition of fresh frozen and preboiled frozen krill on board, the contents of crude fat and free amino nitrogen were higher in the former than in the latter which contained a high amount of ash. VBN was rather high as much as 37.6 and $26.4\;mg\%$ in both fresh frozen and preboiled krill. The pH of drill homogenates was 7.1 to 7.2 in both cases. Such a low pH might be attributed to a long term storage and temperature fluctuations during frequent transshipping. The amino acid competition of fresh frozen krill meat showed relatively high amount of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, lysine, proline, and leucine while methionine, histidine, serine, tyrosine, and phenylalanine were lower. Among the essential amino acids lysine and leucine were higher and methionine was lower. In tile composition of free amino acid proline, lysing, arginine, and alanine were higher comparatively to the contents of histidine, aspartic acid, serine, and threonine. It is noteworthy for nutritional qualification that tile essential amino acids particularly as lysine were abundant similarly to that of fishes. Heavy metal contents of krill meat 0.039 to 0.048 ppm as Hg, 0.06 to 0.11 ppm as Pb, less than 0.32 ppm as Zn, 0.008 to 0.012 ppm as Cd, 0.61 to 0.68 ppm as Fe, 0.87 to 1.37 ppm as Cu, and nondetective as Cr. A high Cu content seems to be resulted by tile blood pigment of crustacea. The ratio,1 of edible portion to non-edible portion were 37:63 in fresh frozen and 42:58 in preboiled frozen krill respectively. Release of drip after thawing was more in fresh frozen than in preboiled frozen drill marking $36\%$ and $24\%$ of both respectively.

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First records of Hemicyclops tanakai Itoh and Nishida, 2002 and Tisbe ensifer Fischer, 1860 (Crustacea, Copepoda) in Korea

  • Karanovic, Tomislav;Lee, Wonchoel
    • Journal of Species Research
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    • v.5 no.3
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    • pp.289-299
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    • 2016
  • Extensive survey of invertebrates in Korea, led by the National Institute of Biological Resources in Incheon, continues to uncover many new and endemic species, but also elements of neighbouring faunas that were previously unknown here. Hemicyclops tanakai Itoh and Nishida, 2002 was originally described from estuarine mud-flats in Tokyo Bay, Japan. We report one male and two females from a sandy beach on Jeju Island, which represent its first record in Korea and second record ever. No morphological differences were observed between these two disjunct populations, so we expect more records of this species in Korea and Japan. Tisbe ensifer Fischer, 1860 was originally described from Madeira and later on reported from numerous other parts of the Northern Atlantic, as well as from the Indian Ocean. We report two females from a shallow littoral in Sokcho, which represents its first record in Korea and the first record in the entire Pacific Ocean. Because of morphological discrepancies reported in previous records we recognize that this species might be in reality a species complex, and we only tentatively identify our Korean specimens as T. cf. ensifer. We provide numerous light photographs of both species in addition to short descriptions, in hope that they might elucidate global problems of their zoogeography and dispersal of small marine invertebrates in general. Further samplings from Korea and other parts of the world will be necessary to test our identifications and phylogenetic relationships of Korean populations with molecular and other tools.

Data Reductions of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Gravity Solutions and Their Applications (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) 중력자료 해석을 위한 자료 처리 및 응용)

  • Seo, Ki-Weon
    • Journal of the Korean earth science society
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    • v.32 no.6
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    • pp.586-594
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    • 2011
  • Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), launched in April, 2002, makes it possible to monitor Earth's mass redistribution with its time-varying gravity observation. GRACE provides monthly gravity solutions as coefficients of spherical harmonics, and thus ones need to convert the gravity spectrum to gravity grids (or mass grids) via the spherical harmonics. GRACE gravity solutions, however, include spatial alias error as well as noise, which requires to suppress in order to enhance signal to noise ratio. In this study, we present the GRACE data processing procedures and introduce some applications of time-varying gravity, which are studies of terrestrial water storage changes, Antarctic and Greenland ice melting, and sea level rise. Satellite missions such as GRACE will continue up to early 2020, and they are expected to be an essential resource to understand the global climate changes.

First record of a marine microalgal species, Micractinium singularis (Trebouxiophyceae) isolated from Janghang Harbor, Korea

  • Jo, Seung-Woo;Kang, Nam Seon;Chae, Hyunsik;Lee, Jung A;Kim, Kyeong Mi;Yoon, Moongeun;Hong, Ji Won;Yoon, Ho-Sung
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.38 no.1
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    • pp.61-70
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    • 2020
  • A eukaryotic microalga was isolated from seawater in Janghang Harbor, Korea and its morphological, molecular, and physiological characteristics were investigated. Due to its simple morphology, no distinctive characters were found by morphological observation, such as light microscope or scanning/transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM). However, molecular phylogenetic evidence inferred from the concatenated small subunit (SSU) 18S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence data indicated that the isolate belonged to the newly described Micractinium singularis. Furthermore, it was clustered with Antarctic Micractinium strains and it also showed a psychrotolerant property, surviving at temperatures as low as 5℃. However, its optimal growth temperatures range from 15℃ to 25℃, indicating that this microalga is a mesophile. Additionally, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed that the isolate was rich in nutritionally important omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis (HPLC) revealed that the high-value antioxidant lutein was biosynthesized as an accessory pigment by this microalga, with glucose as the major monosaccharide. Therefore, in this study, a Korean marine M. singularis species was discovered, characterized, and described. It was subsequently added to the national culture collections.

Development of Ground-Based Search-Coil Magnetometer for Near-Earth Space Research

  • Shin, Jehyuck;Kim, Khan-Hyuk;Jin, Ho;Kim, Hyomin;Kwon, Jong-Woo;Lee, Seungah;Lee, Jung-Kyu;Lee, Seongwhan;Jee, Geonhwa;Lessard, Marc R.
    • Journal of Magnetics
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.509-515
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    • 2016
  • We report on development of a ground-based bi-axial Search-Coil Magnetometer (SCM) designed to measure time-varying magnetic fields associated with magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes. The instrument provides two-axis magnetic field wave vector data in the Ultra Low Frequency or ULF (1 mHz to 5 Hz) range. ULF waves are well known to play an important role in energy transport and loss in geospace. The SCM will primarily be used to observe generation and propagation of the subclass of ULF waves. The analog signals produced by the search-coil magnetic sensors are amplified and filtered over a specified frequency range via electronics. Data acquisition system digitizes data at 10 samples/s rate with 16-bit resolution. Test results show that the resolution of the magnetometer reaches $0.1pT/{\sqrt{Hz}}$ at 1 Hz, and demonstrate its satisfactory performance, detecting geomagnetic pulsations. This instrument is scheduled to be installed at the Korean Antarctic station, Jang Bogo, in the austral summer 2016-2017.

Effects of Antarctic Ocean Krill (Euphausia superba) Supplementation on Hepatic Functional Enzyme Activities and Fluoride Levels in Rats (남극해 크릴의 섭취가 흰쥐의 간 기능 효소 활성 및 불소 함량에 미치는 영향)

  • Jin, Dong-Hyeok;Oh, Da-Young;Lee, Young-Geun;Kang, Dong-Soo;Kim, Han-Soo
    • Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.485-491
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of this study was to probe the influences of krill (Euphausia superba) meal supplementation on a dose effect relationship between fluoride levels of krill meal and serum hepatic functional enzyme activity such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in rats fed experimental diets for 5 weeks. There were no significant differences in the activities of ALP, AST, ALT, and LDH in sera among krill meal diet groups (KM10, KM20, KM30). However, these groups were significantly (p<0.05) lower enzyme activities than control group (CG). The fluoride levels of sera and organ tissues (liver, brain, heart, lung, kidney) in krill meal diet groups (KM10, KM20, KM30) were significantly increased by adding krill meal in comparison with CG. The results indicate that a difficult to found toxicity to the liver from krill meal diet groups.

Estimating Ocean Tidal Constituents Using SAR Interferometric Time Series over the Sulzberger Ice Shelf, W. Antarctica

  • Baek, Sang-Ho;Shum, C.K.
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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    • v.36 no.5
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    • pp.343-353
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    • 2018
  • Ocean tides in Antarctica are not well constrained mostly due to the lack of tidal observations. Especially, tides underneath and around ice shelves are uncertain. InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) data has been used to observe ice shelf movements primarily caused by ocean tides. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to estimate tidal constituents underneath the Sulzberger ice shelf, West Antarctica, solely using ERS-1/2 tandem mission DInSAR (differential InSAR) observations. In addition, the tidal constituents can be estimated in a high-resolution (~200 m) grid which is beyond any tidal model resolution. We assume that InSAR observed ocean tidal heights can be derived after correcting the InSAR data for the effect of atmospheric loading using the inverse barometric effect, solid earth tides, and ocean tide loading. The ERS (European Remote Sensing) tandem orbit configuration of a 1-day separation between SAR data takes diminishes the sensitivity to major tidal constituents including $K_1$ and $S_2$. Here, the dominant tidal constituent $O_1$ is estimated using 8 differential interferograms underneath the Sulzberger ice shelf. The resulting tidal constituent is compared with a contemporary regional tide model (CATS2008a) and a global tide model (TPXO7.1). The InSAR estimated tidal amplitude agrees well with both models with RMS (root-mean-square) differences of < 2.2 cm and the phase estimate corroborating both tide models to within $8^{\circ}$. We conclude that fine spatial scale (~200 m) Antarctic ice shelf ocean tide determination is feasible for dominant constituents using C-band ERS-1/2 tandem mission InSAR.