• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.653-662
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• 2003

Changes in the area of geo-ecosystem $(62^{\circ}09'S,\;58^{\circ}31'w)$ reflect climatic changes in the South Shetland Islands. Air temperature and deglaciation will increase. The ice-free space area at the SSSS 8- (ASPA 121) site has enlarged threefold during the last 21 years, thus creating conditions for inhabitation and succession. Wind, water and snow play important roles in transportation of geochemical components. They distribute nutrients, mineral substances, seeds, fragments of plants and animals, etc. Plant and animal colonization is patchy and it happens at random in an 'island' - like manner. The colonization pattern is dependant, to a high degree on physical factors. The newly uncovered ice-free areas are at first inhabited by a vascular plant known as the Deschampsia antarctica. The border of the land-oasis with Admiralty Bay is the place where the processes related to animal feeding at the sea and reproduction on the land take place. Bird colonies and pinniped lairs form centers of fertilization surrounded by high chemical gradients dependent on the direction of the flow of nutrients $(e.g.\;NH_4)$. During the last 25 years, the numbers of penguins in this region have decreased, and thus the amount of materials excreted on land has diminished. The numbers of fur seals change in multi-annual cycles, and their migration into this area is related to the E1 $Ni\~{n}o$ phenomenon. The numbers of elephant seals in the area did not change. Organic matter deposited by the sea onto the shore are a source of nutrients and deficient chemical elements on land. Mineral matter is washed out into the waters of Admiralty Bay. These processes change seasonally, and multi annually. Negative effects on the environment at Arctowski Station induced by man are slight, but noticeable nevertheless. Physical processes have the largest influence on the living conditions and distribution of plants and animals, and as a consequence, on the functioning of the geo-ecosystem in the coastal-shore zone of the Maritime Antarctic.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.216-233
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• 2003

This study delineates the phenomena related with global environmental changes such as global warming, ozone depletion, and El Ni${\tilde{n}}$o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) noted in the Antarctic. Retreat of ice cliffs, glaciers, and calving of ice shelves indicate the effects of recently aggravated global warming. The ice cliff located at Marian Cove, King George Island, South Shetland Islands off the Antarctic Peninsula has been observed to be retreating faster in the last 7 years than in the previous 38 years since 1956. There are some indications of temperature and precipitation changes associated with ENSO around King Sejong Station. The regression analyses indicate significant trends such as a decrease in the total amount of ozone and an increase in ultraviolet radiation which was seen by a satellite (TOMS-EUV) in September and October which correspond to ozone-hole season over King Sejong Station. Increase of UV radiation due to the ozone depletion in the Antarctic has changed the growth rate of marine organisms. It may also result in changes to the productivity, biomass, and species composition of marine organisms which can affect the whole marine ecosystem. The recent ice-core drilling over Lake Vostok has been reviewed with emphasis on the four cycles of glacial stages over the past 420,000 years. It is time to show more interest in mainland Antarctica through investigations of the coring and vast ice sheet, terrestrial geology, and upper atmospheric sciences in order to understand the past environmental changes and to predict possible changes to the environment in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.25-30
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• 2006

10kW wind turbine has been successfully commissioned at the King Sejong station in April, 2006. The wind turbine installed is a part of the R&D program for developing a solid wind/diesel hybrid power control system for a remote area such as Antarctica. At the same time, the current research aims to develop an anti-icing and de-icing technologies for a small wind turbine rated under 50kW. Since its commissioning, the turbine has generated about 500kWh for 47days without any system faults. Although sufficient data have not been obtained yet, any trouble has not occurred in the wind/diesel hybrid system based on the current analysis. Concerning on the environmental impact by the wind turbine operation, the turbine is installed within the station boundary in order to meet the Madrid protocol. Therefore, wind turbine operation meets the international requirements for preservation of antarctic ecosystem.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.80-89
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• 1998

To understand the temporal variation of phytoplankton community in the Antarctic coastal ecosystem, physicochemical parameters, chlorophyll a, and primary productivity were measured as a component of the 7th KARP (Korea Antarctic Research Program) in 1994. Data were collected every month between February and December except four months (June-September) when the study area was frozen. Chlorophyll a concentrations ranged from negligible to 3.03 ${\mu}g/l$, averaging 0.63 ${\mu}g/l$. The primary productivity ranged 0.53-18.95 mg C/$m^3{\cdot}day$, and the depth-integrated primary productivity ranged 41.28-560.20 mg C/$m^3{\cdot}day$. A positive relationship was observed between the phytoplankton biomass and irradiance ($r^2$=0.29, p < 0.01). The degree of correlation between the primary productivity and irradiance ($r^2$=0.85, p < 0.001) was significantly higher than that between the phytoplankton biomass and irradiance. However, neither temperature nor inorganic nutrients seem to affect the temporal variation of primary productivity.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.66-73
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• 1993

Psychrotrophic bacterial strains utilizing crude oil as their sole carbon and energy sources were isolated from Antarctic soil and sea sediments. One of the strains named AI-I showed the hightest activity for emulsification of crude oil and the best growth. This strain was identified as Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. A. calcoaceticus AI-I strain contains a plasmid (OCT plasmid) which was related to the utilization of alkane compounds. The molecular weight of this plasmid was estimated to be about 110 Md by agarose gel electrophoresis. The cured strain of A. calcoaceticus AI-I strain (OCT ) was not able to utilize normal hydrocarbon compounds ($C_6C_{17}$) as carbon and energy sources. A. ca/coaceticus AI-1 was resistant to ampicillin and sensitive to streptomycin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline. The results suggested that this strain carries a plasmid (OCT) responsible for oil utilization which is quite stable and might be concerned with antibiotics resistancy.

• Journal of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2019

The mission tasks of polar exploration utilizing unmanned systems such as glacier monitoring, ecosystem research, and inland exploration have been expanded. To facilitate unmanned exploration mission tasks, precise and robust navigation systems are required. However, limitations on the utilization of satellite navigation system are present due to satellite orbital characteristics at the polar region located in a high latitude. The orbital inclination of global positioning system (GPS), which was developed to be utilized in mid-latitude sites, was designed at $55^{\circ}$. This means that as the user is located in higher latitudes, the satellite visibility and vertical precision become worse. In addition, the use of satellite-based wide-area augmentation system (SBAS) is also limited in higher latitude regions than the maximum latitude of signal reception by stationary satellites, which is $70^{\circ}$. This study proposes a local-area augmentation system that additionally utilizes Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) considering satellite navigation system environment in Polar Regions. The orbital inclination of GLONASS is $64.8^{\circ}$, which is suitable in order to ensure satellite visibility in high-latitude regions. In contrast, GLONASS has different system operation elements such as configuration elements of navigation message and update cycle and has a statistically different signal error level around 4 m, which is larger than that of GPS. Thus, such system characteristics must be taken into consideration to ensure data integrity and monitor GLONASS signal fault. This study took GLONASS system characteristics and performance into consideration to improve previously developed fault detection algorithm in the local-area augmentation system based on GPS. In addition, real GNSS observation data were acquired from the receivers installed at the Antarctic King Sejong Station to analyze positioning accuracy and calculate test statistics of the fault monitors. Finally, this study analyzed the satellite visibility of GPS/GLONASS-based local-area augmentation system in Polar Regions and conducted performance evaluations through simulations.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.271-280
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• 2022

Landfast sea ice forms near coastlines in polar regions. Continuous monitoring of this sea ice is important, as it plays a key role in the marine ecosystem and affects the operation of nearby research stations. This study detected landfast sea ice around Jang Bogo research station in East Antarctica by stacking interferometric coherence images of Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data with 6-, 12- and 18-day temporal baselines. A total of 50 landfast sea ice maps were generated covering July 2017 to June 2018. The time series revealed regional differences in the timing of the maximum extent as well as growth rate of landfast sea ice. Overall, detecting landfast sea ice using interferometric SAR coherence seems promisingly feasible; however, limitations remain owing to low backscattering coefficients from new and smooth sea ice surfaces and subtle movements of sea ice in contact with the Campbell Glacier Tongue.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.199-216
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• 2021

In 2020, the solar and space environment division at the Korea Space Science Society surveyed the status of data archives in solar physics, magnetosphere, and ionosphere/upper atmosphere in Korea to promote broader utilization of the data and research collaboration. The survey includes ground- and satellite-based instruments and developing models by research institutes and universities in Korea. Based on the survey results, this study reports the status of the ground-based instruments, data products in the ionosphere and upper atmosphere, and documentation of them. The ground-based instruments operated by the Korea Polar Research Institute and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute include ionosonde, Fabry-Perot interferometer in Arctic Dasan stations, Antarctic King Sejong/Jang Bogo stations, and an all-sky camera, VHF radar in Korea. We also provide information on total electron content and scintillation observations derived from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) station networks in Korea. All data are available via the webpage, FTP, or by request. Information on ionospheric data and models is available at http://ksss.or.kr. We hope that this report will increase data accessibility and encourage the research community to engage in the establishment of a new Space Science Data Ecosystem, which supports archiving, searching, analyzing, and sharing the data with diverse communities, including educators, industries, and the public as wells as the research scientist.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.501-512
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• 2015

Landfast sea ice (LFI) in Terra Nova Bay, East Antarctica where the Jangbogo Antarctic Research Station is located, has significant influences on marine ecosystem and the sailing of an icebreaker. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the spatio-temporal variation of the LFI in Terra Nova Bay. In this study, we chose interferometric pairs with the temporal baseline from 1 to 9 days out of a total of 62 COSMO-SkyMed synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images over Terra Nova Bay obtained from December 2010 to January 2012, and then constructed the coherence image of each pair. The LFI showed coherence values higher than 0.3 even in the interferometric SAR (InSAR) pairs of up to 9-days of temporal baseline. This was because the LFI was fixed at coastline and thus showed low temporal phase decorrelation. Based on the characteristics of the coherence on LFI, We defined the areas of LFI that show spatially homogeneous coherence values higher than 0.5. Pack ice (PI) and open water showed low coherence values due to large temporal phase decorreation caused by current and wind. Distinguishing PI from open water in the coherence images was difficult due to their similarly low coherence values. PI was identified in SAR amplitude images by investigating cracks on the ice. The extents of the LFI and PI were estimated from the coherence and SAR amplitude images and their temporal variations were analyzed. The extent of the LFI increased from March to July (maximum extent of $170.7km^2$) and decreased from October. The extent of the PI increased from February to May and decreased from May to July when the LFI increases dramatically. The extent of the LFI and air temperature showed an inverse correlation with a time lag of about 2 months, i.e., the extent of the LFI decreases after 2 months of the increase in the air temperature. Meanwhile the correlation between wind speed and the extent of the LFI was very low. This represents that the extent of LFI in Terra Nova Bay are influenced more by the air temperature than wind speed.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.241-263
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• 2010

KoFlux is a Korean network of micrometeorological tower sites that use eddy covariance methods to monitor the cycles of energy, water, and carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the key terrestrial ecosystems in Korea. KoFlux embraces the mission of AsiaFlux, i.e. to bring Asia's key ecosystems under observation to ensure quality and sustainability of life on earth. The main purposes of KoFlux are to provide (1) an infrastructure to monitor, compile, archive and distribute data for the science community and (2) a forum and short courses for the application and distribution of knowledge and data between scientists including practitioners. The KoFlux community pursues the vision of AsiaFlux, i.e., "thinking community, learning frontiers" by creating information and knowledge of ecosystem science on carbon, water and energy exchanges in key terrestrial ecosystems in Asia, by promoting multidisciplinary cooperations and integration of scientific researches and practices, and by providing the local communities with sustainable ecosystem services. Currently, KoFlux has seven sites in key terrestrial ecosystems (i.e., five sites in Korea and two sites in the Arctic and Antarctic). KoFlux has systemized a standardized data processing based on scrutiny of the data observed from these ecosystems and synthesized the processed data for constructing database for further uses with open access. Through publications, workshops, and training courses on a regular basis, KoFlux has provided an agora for building networks, exchanging information among flux measurement and modelling experts, and educating scientists in flux measurement and data analysis. Despite such persistent initiatives, the collaborative networking is still limited within the KoFlux community. In order to break the walls between different disciplines and boost up partnership and ownership of the network, KoFlux will be housed in the National Center for Agro-Meteorology (NCAM) at Seoul National University in 2011 and provide several core services of NCAM. Such concerted efforts will facilitate the augmentation of the current monitoring network, the education of the next-generation scientists, and the provision of sustainable ecosystem services to our society.