• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.33-41
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• 2021

Ammonia emission from the agricultural sector contributes almost 78% of total ammonia emission in Korea. The current ammonia emission estimation method from fertilizer application has high uncertainty and needs to be improved. In this study, we propose an improvement method for estimating the amount of ammonia emission from agricultural land with improved spatiotemporal resolution using Farm Manager Registration Information System and criteria for the fertilizer. We calculated ammonia emissions by utilizing the 2020 cultivation area provided by Farm Manager Registration Information System for 55 kinds of upland crops cultivated in the field area of the farmland. As a result, soybeans were the most cultivated field crop in 2020, and the area of cultivated land was surveyed at about 77,021 ha, followed by sweet potatoes 22,057 ha, garlic 20004 ha, potatoes 17,512 ha, and corn 16,636 ha. The month with the highest ammonia emissions throughout the year was calculated by emitting 590.01 ton yr-1 in May, followed by 486.55 ton yr-1 in March. Hallim-eup in Jeju showed the highest ammonia emission at 117.50 ton yr-1.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.50 no.11
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• pp.735-743
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• 2017

With growing concerns about ever-increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, it is crucial to enhance preparedness for unprecedented extreme weathers that can bring catastrophic consequences. In this study, we proposed a stochastic framework that considers uncertainty in weather forecasts for flood analyses. First, we calibrated a simple rainfall-runoff model against observed hourly hydrographs. Then, using probability density functions of rainfall depths conditioned by 6-hourly weather forecasts, we generated many stochastic rainfall depths for upcoming 48 hours. We disaggregated the stochastic 6-hour rainfalls into an hourly scale, and input them into the runoff model to quantify a probabilistic range of runoff during upcoming 48 hours. Under this framework, we assessed two rainfall events occurred in Bocheong River Basin, South Korea in 2017. It is indicated actual flood events could be greater than expectations from weather forecasts in some cases; however, the probabilistic runoff range could be intuitive information for managing flood risks before events. This study suggests combining deterministic and stochastic methods for forecast-based flood analyses to consider uncertainty in weather forecasts.

• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

For the allergy patient who needs to know the situation about the extent of pollen risk, the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences developed a pollen forecasting system based on the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling (CMAQ). In the old system, pollen emission from the oak was estimated just based on the airborne concentration and meteorology factors, resulted in high uncertainty. For improving the quality of current pollen forecasting system, therefore the estimation of pollen emission is now corrected based on the observation of pollen emission at the oak forest to better reflect the real emission pattern. In this study, the performance of the previous (NIMS2014) and current (NIMS2016) model system was compared using observed oak pollen concentration. Daily pollen concentrations and emissions were simulated in pollen season 2016 and accuracy of onset and end of pollen season were evaluated. In the NIMS2014 model, pollen season was longer than actual pollen season; The simulated pollen season started 6 days earlier and finished 13.25 days later than the actual pollen season. The NIMS2016 model, however, the simulated pollen season started only 1.83 days later, and finished 0.25 days later than the actual pollen season, showing the improvement to predict the temporal range of pollen events. Also, the NIMS2016 model shows better performance for the prediction of pollen concentration, while there is a still large uncertainty to capture the maximum pollen concentration at the target site. Continuous efforts to correct these problems will be required in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.63-75
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this research is to explore the total heavy metals from a coal-fired power plant burning bituminous coal with wood pellets due to the implementation of the Renewable Portfolio Standard policy (RPS, 10% of electricity from renewable energy resources by 2023). Methods: The research was carried out by collecting archival data and using the USEPA's AP-42 & EMEP/EEA compilation of emission factors for use in calculating emissions. The Monte Carlo method was also applied for carrying out the calculations of measurement uncertainty. Results: In this paper, the results are listed as follows. Sb was measured at 110 kg (2015) and calculated as 165 kg (2019) and 201 kg (2023). Cr was measured at 1,597 kg (2015) and calculated as 1,687 kg (2019) and 1,728 kg (2023). Cu was measured at 2,888 kg (2015) and calculated as 3,133 kg (2019) and 3,264 kg (2023). Pb was measured at 2,580 kg (2015) and calculated as 2,831 kg (2019) and 2,969 kg (2023). Mn was measured at 3,011 kg (2015) and calculated as 15,034 kg (2019) and 23,014 kg (2023). Hg was measured at 510 kg (2015) and calculated as 513 kg (2019) and 537 kg (2023). Ni was measured at 1,720 kg (2015) and calculated as 1,895 kg (2019) and 1,991 kg (2023). Zn was measured at 7,054 kg (2015) and calculated as 9,938 kg (2019) and 11,778 kg (2023). Se was measured at 7,988 kg (2015) and calculated as 7,663 kg (2019) and 7,351 kg (2023). Conclusion: This shows that most heavy metals would increase steadily from 2015 to 2023. However, Se would decrease by 7.9%. This analysis was conducted with EMEP/EEA's emission factors due to the limited emission factors in South Korea. Co-firewood pellets in coal-fired power plants cause the emission of heavy metals. For this reason, emission factors at air pollution control facilities would be presented and the replacement of wood pellets would be needed.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.325-342
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• 2018

The Korea Emissions Trading Scheme ( K-ETS), which manages roughly 70% of the greenhouse gas emissions in South Korea, was initiated in 2015, after implementation of its 1st basic plan and the 1st allocation plan (2014) for the 1st phase (2015-2017). During the three and a half years since the launch of K-ETS, there have been critical policy change such as adjustment of the institutions involved, development and revision of the 2030 national GHG reduction roadmap, and change in the allocation plans. Moreover, lack of liquidity and fluctuation of carbon prices in the K-ETS market during this period has forced the Korean government to adjust the flexibility mechanism and auction permits of the market stability reserve. To evaluate the policy change in the K-ETS regarding conformance to its objectives, this study defines three objectives (Environmental Effectiveness, Cost Effectiveness and Economic Efficiency) and ten indicators. Evaluation of Environmental Effectiveness of K-ETS suggests that the national GHG reduction roadmap, coverage of GHG emitters and credibility of MRV positively affect GHG mitigation. However, there was a negative policy change implemented in 2017 that weakened the emission cap during the 1st phase. In terms of the Cost Effectiveness, the K-ETS policies related to market management and flexibility mechanism (e.g. banking, borrowing and offsets) were improved to deal with the liquidity shortage and permit price increase, which were caused by policy uncertainty and conservative behavior of firms during 2016-2018. Regarding Economic Efficiency, K-ETS expands benchmark?based allocation and began auction-based allocation; nevertheless, free allocation is being applied to sectors with high carbon leakage risk during the 2nd phase (2018-2020). As a result, it is worth evaluating the K-ETS policies that have been developed with respect to the three main objectives of ETS, considering the trial?and?error approach that has been followed since 2015. This study suggests that K-ETS policy should be modified to strengthen the emission cap, stabilize the market, expand auction-based allocation and build K-ETS specified funds during the 3rd phase (2021-2025).

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.283-302
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• 2022

Despite the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in China since January 23, 2020, haze days with high PM₁₀ levels of 88-98 ㎍ m^-3 occurred on February 1 and 2, 2020. During these haze days, the East Asian region was affected by a warm and stagnant air mass with positive air temperature anomalies and negative zonal wind anomalies at 850 hPa. The Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) was used to analyze the variation of regional PM₁₀ aerosol transport in Korea due to decreased anthropogenic emissions in East Asia. The base experiment (BASE), which applies the basic anthropogenic emissions in the WRF-Chem model, and the control experiment (CTL) applied by reducing the anthropogenic emission to 50%, were used to assess uncertainty with ground-based PM₁₀ measurements in Korea. The index of agreement (IOA) for the CTL simulation was 0.71, which was higher than that of BASE (0.67). A statistical analysis of the results suggests that anthropogenic emissions were reduced during the COVID-19 lockdown period in China. Furthermore, BASE and CTL applied to zero-out anthropogenic emissions outside Korea (BASE_ZEOK and CTL_ZEOK) were used to analyze the variations of regional PM₁₀ aerosol transport in Korea. Regional PM₁₀ transport in CTL was reduced by only 10-20% compared to BASE. Synthetic weather variables may be another reason for the non-linear response to changes in the contribution of regional transport to PM₁₀ in Korea with the reduction of anthropogenic emissions in East Asia. Although the regional transport contribution of other inorganic aerosols was high in CTL (80-90%), sulfate-nitrate-ammonium (SNA) aerosols showed lower contributions of 0-20%, 30-60%, and 30-60%, respectively. The SNA secondary aerosols, particularly nitrates, presumably declined as the Chinese lockdown induced traffic.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.249-258
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• 2008

Historical emission data for 11 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and a regional multimedia environmental model, CoZMo-POP 2, were used to predict air concentrations and congener patterns in Korea. The total emission value for South Korea was allocated to sub-provinces and cities based on their population. The spatial distribution of PCB emissions was generally correlated with that of measured atmospheric levels, suggesting that population could be a good surrogate for the intensity of PCB emission in Korea. The simulated time trends of air concentrations well reflected those of emission with a peak in the mid-1970s and insignificant levels in the 2030s. The model predicted that the contribution of volatile PCBs had increased after emission reduction iii the 1970s. This trend would continue until the early 2030s. The measured and modeled PCB levels in the 2000s were in an agreement of an order of magnitude, and their congener patterns were very similar. Consequently, despite of high uncertainty for emission estimates, the emission data for Korea used in this study is considered to be reliable. The results of this study could be compared with simulation data based on a new emission inventory to be developed by measurements in the near future.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2012

This paper deals with the evaluation of environmental impact of rail and road transport in South Korea. A framework of energy input-output analysis is employed to estimate the total energy consumption and $CO_2$ emission in acquiring and using a life cycle of passenger and freight transport activity. The reliability of $CO_2$ emission based on uncertainty values is assessed by means of a Monte Carlo simulation. The results show that on a passenger-kilometers basis, passenger roads have life cycle emissions about 1.5 times those of rail, while that ratio is ten times greater when the scope of evaluation regards the tailpipe. In the case of freight transport, on a million ton-kilometers basis, the value for road mode is estimated to be about three times compared to those of rail mode. The results also show that the main contribution of $CO_2$ emission for road transport is the operation stage, accounting for 70%; however, the main contribution for rail transport is the construction and supply chain stage, accounting for over 50% emission.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.65-71
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• 2008

To drive efficiently total water pollution load management, needs to calculate the exact load emissions, pollution load allocation and implementation evaluation in each unit area of watershed and accurate and regular flow of data. For these reasons, the Nakdong River TMDL Research Center has produced directly or indirectly in the average interval of eight days (30 times or more / year) 41 points for unit area of the total water pollution load management and 8-point of municipal requirement for a total of 49 branches as a flow data in 2004 from August. This acquired the survey flow is evidence of trends and changes each point in the Nakdong River based on time, such as 10 years based on average design flow available to the foundation of the summit as the major water policy is to be utilized. This study was performed on actual discharge measuring data and introduced performance results each drainage basin of Nakdong River from 2004 to 2008 over the total of past five years.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.152.1-152.1
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• 2011

This study analyzes transitions to a green path in transportation system in South Korea. We develop transportation system model with four new technology options, green cars; Hybrid electric vehicle, plug-in hybrid vehicle, electric vehicle and fuel cell vehicle. Among those technologies fuel cell vehicle is the best option assuming no GHG emissions when driving. We use MESSAGE model to get an optimal solution of pathway for high deployment of fuel cell vehicles under the Korea BAU transportation model. Among hydrogen production sources, off gas hydrogen is most economic since it is hardly used to other chemical sources or emits in South Korea. According to off gas hydrogen projection it can run 1.8 million fuel cell vehicles in 2040 which corresponds to 10% of all passenger cars expected in Korea in 2040. However, there are concerns associated with technology maturity, cost uncertainty which has contradictions. But clean pathway with off gas and renewable sources may provide a strong driving force for energy transition in transportation in South Korea.