• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.537-549
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to provide data for the basic research to found the effective conservation and management plan for the Hamyangsangrim designated as Natural Monument No. 154 and surround areas by analyzing the ecological characteristics such as landuse and actual vegetation, plant community structure, soil chemical property and also to identify the tendency of the ecosystem changes through comparison with past studies. According to analysis the results, the landuse and actual vegetation of survey site was classified as 8 types which were forest, artificial greenspace, plaza and open-space, bare ground and the pavement, water bodies, facilities, agricultural land and etc.. It was also categorized as 38 types according to detailed characteristic. 15 kinds of forest vegetation community types comprising silva were classified among them. The changes of actual vegetation showed little variation that the Quercus serrata-Carpinus tschonoskii forest was the most widely distributed in 2003(forest area ratio is 48.3%) and 2010(forest area ratio is 48.1%), whereas, the Quercus serrata forest declined a more dramatic from 11.6% to 23.2%. The Quercus serrata-Carpinus tschonoskii forest increased sharply(11.6% ${\rightarrow}$ 23.2%) and also the Quercus serrata-Zelkova serrata forest increased steadily(2.2% ${\rightarrow}$ 7.9%). The agricultural land around forest was transformed into artificial green zone. Moreover, water bodies, bare ground and the pavement of areas have increased. In addition, the urbanized area has decreased because the damaged areas inside forest have been restored to the woodlands. According to the result of typical 6 types vegetation communities change, the middle layer trees grew up to the canopy layer trees and was formed the canopy layer structure. The middle layer trees expanded their forces widely. Also new species appeared. And the shrub individuals also more dramatically increased due to the growth of shrubs. The force of Quercus serrata declined as well. However the force of Carpinus tschonoskii and Zelkova serrata expanded and increased in the forest. It must be the result of the ecological vegetation succession and environmentally soundly health recovery by influence of the projects of forest surrounding environment improvement and limitation of access to forest have managed and maintained since 2003. Those sorts of changes seems to be going to develop continuously. In the future Carpinus tschonoskii and Zelkova serrata will not be only codominant in the canopy layer but also Carpinus Tschonoskii, Zelkova serrata, Meliosma myriantha, Sapium japonicum. Styrax obassia and Acer pseudo-sieboldianum will be codominant in the middle layer. As a result, the forest's codominance species are going to be changed such like that.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.122-131
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• 2016

Caesium radioisotopes, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs which come from the atmospheric nuclear tests and discharges from nuclear power plants, are very important to study artificial radioactivity. In this work, in order to lower the minimum detection activity (MDA) we investigated environmental radioactivity according to the Environment Measurement Laboratory procedure by ¹³⁷Cs and ¹³⁴Cs which is similar to chemical and environmental behaviors of ¹³⁷Cs. The environmental soils in high mountain areas near nuclear power plant were collected, and an Ammonium Molybdophosphate (AMP) precipitation method, which showed high selectivity toward Cs⁺ ions, was applied to chemically extract and concentrate Caesium radioisotopes. Radioactivity was estimated by a gamma-ray spectrometry. In gamma energy spectrum, with an increasing of ⁴⁰K radioactivity, it increased the MDA of ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs. Therefore, if the natural radionuclides were removed from the soil samples, the MDA of Caesium may be reduced, and the contents of ¹³⁷Cs of in the environmental soils can effectively be estimated. In the standard soil sample of Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, radioactivity of ⁴⁰K was removed more than 84% on average, and the MDA of ¹³⁴Cs was reduced 2 times. The content of ¹³⁷Cs was recovered over 84%. On the other hand, in environmental soils, AMP precipitation method showed removal ratio of ⁴⁰K up to 180 times, which reduced the MDA about 5 times smaller than those of Direct method. ¹³⁷Cs recovery ratio showed from 54.54% to 70.06%. When considering the MDA and recovery ratio, AMP precipitation method is effective for detection of Caesium radioisotopes in low concentration.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2009

Biofouling in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination process causes many problems such as flux decline, biodegradation of membrane, increased cleaning time, and increased energy consumption and operational cost. Therefore biofouling is considered as the most critical problem in system operation. To control biofouling in early stage, detection of the most problematic bacteria causing biofouling is required. In this study, six model bacteria were chosen; Bacillus sp., Flavobacterium sp., Mycobacterium sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Rhodobacter sp. based on report in the literature and phylogenetic analysis of seawater intake and fouled RO membrane. The adhesion to RO membrane, the high pressure resistance, and the hydrophobicity of the six model bacteria were examined to find out their fouling potential. Rhodobacter sp. and Mycobacterium sp. were found to attach very well to RO membrane surface compared to others used in this study. The test of hydrophobicity revealed that the bacteria which have high hydrophobicity or similar contact angle with RO membrane ($63^{\circ}$ of contact angle) easily attached to RO membrane surface. P. aeruginosa which is highly hydrophilic ($23.07^{\circ}$ of contact angle) showed the least adhesion characteristic among six model bacteria. After applying a pressure of 800 psi to the sample, Rhodobacter sp. was found to show the highest reduction rate; with 59-73% of the cells removed from the membrane under pressure. P. fluorescens on the other hand analyzed as the most pressure resistant bacteria among six model bacteria. The difference between reduction rates using direct counting and plate counting indicates that the viability of each model bacteria was affected significantly from the high pressure. Most cells subjected to high pressure were unable to form colonies even thought they maintained their structural integrity.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.399-407
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• 2009

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS) is an simple analysis method for directly quantifying many kinds of soil micro-elements on site using a small size of laser without pre-treatment at any property of materials(solid, liquid and gas). The purpose of this study were to find an optimum condition of the LIBS measurement including wavelengths for quantifying soil elements, to relate spectral properties to the concentration of soil elements using LIBS as a simultaneous un-breakdown quantitative analysis technology, which can be applied for the safety assessment of agricultural products and precision agriculture, and to compare the results with a standardized chemical analysis method. Soil samples classified as fine-silty, mixed, thermic Typic Hapludalf(Memphis series) from grassland and uplands in Tennessee, USA were collected, crushed, and prepared for further analysis or LIBS measurement. The samples were measured using LIBS ranged from 200 to 600 nm(0.03 nm interval) with a Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm, with a beam energy of 25 mJ per pulse, a pulse width of 5 ns, and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The optimum wavelength(${\lambda}nm$) of LIBS for estimating soil and plant elements were 308.2 nm for Al, 428.3 nm for Ca, 247.8 nm for T-C, 438.3 nm for Fe, 766.5 nm for K, 85.2 nm for Mg, 330.2 nm for Na, 213.6 nm for P, 180.7 nm for S, 288.2 nm for Si, and 351.9 nm for Ti, respectively. Coefficients of determination($r^2$) of calibration curve using standard reference soil samples for each element from LIBS measurement were ranged from 0.863 to 0.977. In comparison with ICP-AES(Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy) measurement, measurement error in terms of relative standard error were calculated. Silicon dioxide(SiO2) concentration estimated from two methods showed good agreement with -3.5% of relative standard error. The relative standard errors for the other elements were high. It implies that the prediction accuracy is low which might be caused by matrix effect such as particle size and constituent of soils. It is necessary to enhance the measurement and prediction accuracy of LIBS by improving pretreatment process, standard reference soil samples, and measurement method for a reliable quantification method.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.163-177
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• 2010

This study analyzes the economies of photovoltaic systems in an apartment complex of 1,185 households, in cases of feed-in tariff and subsidy for solar home program of the government. When including the revenue only from electricity sales, NPVs of subsidy and that of feed-in tariff are -560 million KRW and -87 million KRW respectively. With the avoided social cost included without the revenues from CERs, NPVs of subsidy and feed-in tariff are -556 million KRW and -84 million KRW respectively. With the revenues from CERs, NPV of subsidy is -526 million KRW and NPV of feed-in tariff is -54 million KRW. As results of sensitivity analysis based on the changes in capital costs and discount rates, while all scenarios with subsidy including the revenues from CERs are not commercially viable, all scenarios with feed-in tariff exclusive of the revenues from CERs are commercially viable when discount rate is less than 7.2% or capital cost is less than 6,840 thousand KRW/kW. In the cases that include the avoided social cost, while all scenarios with subsidy including the avoided social cost as well as the revenues from CERs are not commercially viable, all scenarios with feed-in tariff are commercially viable without the revenues from CERs when discount rate is less than 7.2% or capital cost is less than 6,856 thousand KRW/KW. The results indicate that the changes in discount rates do not influence the revenues from CERs, but the revenues from electricity sale. Considering that the number of apartment complex and the positive environmental and social benefits from PV system, government needs to promote its diffusion.

• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.223-230
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• 2019

This research was performed to evaluate the characteristics of food waste from 5 areas in Gangwon Province, Korea and to predict the $CH_4$ gas production rate. Food wastes were sampled in July and September, 2017. The amount of methane gas generation was evaluated through the biochemical methane potential (BMP) test and a calculation method using chemical composition. Average bulk density and pH of the food wastes were in the range of $0.758{\sim}0.850g\;cm^{-3}$ and 4.29 ~ 4.75, respectively. By physical composition, vegetables were the highest with 56.43 ~ 72.81% with fruits recording 5.31 ~ 8.95%, cereals 1.60 ~ 18.73%, fish and meat 4.47 ~ 12.11%, and filtrate 1.76 ~ 3.64%. The average water content was 69.30 ~ 75.87%, and VS and ash content were 22.50 ~ 27.98% and 1.63 ~ 2.48%, respectively. In addition, $BOD_5$, $COD_{Cr}$, and $COD_{Mn}$ were in the ranges of $17,690.3{\sim}33,154.9mg\;L^{-1}$, $106,212.3{\sim}128,695.5mg\;L^{-1}$, and $51,266.1{\sim}63,426.3mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. The NaCl content ranged from 0.81 to 1.17%. The results of elemental analysis showed that the contents of C, H, O, N, and S were 44.87 ~ 48.1%, 7.12 ~ 7.57%, 40.13 ~ 43.78%, 3.22 ~ 4.14%, and 0.00 ~ 0.02%, respectively. In a comparison of the methane production yield per VS mass of food waste, there was no significant difference between the cumulative amount (${0.303{\sim}0.354m_{CH4}}^3\;{kg_{VS}}^{-1}$) by the BMP test and the theoretical amount (${0.294{\sim}0.352m_{CH4}}^3\;{kg_{VS}}^{-1}$) calculated by chemical composition.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.345-353
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• 2022

A wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is a major gateway for the engineered nano-particles (ENPs) entering the water bodies. However existing studies have reported that many WWTPs exceed the No Observed Effective Concentration (NOEC) for ENPs in the effluent and thus they need to be designed or operated to more effectively control ENPs. Understanding and predicting ENPs behaviors in the unit and \the whole process of a WWTP should be the key first step to develop strategies for controlling ENPs using a WWTP. This study aims to provide a modeling tool for predicting behaviors and removal efficiencies of ENPs in a WWTP associated with process characteristics and major operating conditions. In the developed model, four unit processes for water treatment (primary clarifier, bioreactor, secondary clarifier, and tertiary treatment unit) were considered. Additionally the model simulates the sludge treatment system as a single process that integrates multiple unit processes including thickeners, digesters, and dewatering units. The simulated ENP was nano-sized TiO₂, (nano-TiO₂) assuming that its behavior in a WWTP is dominated by the attachment with suspendid solids (SS), while dissolution and transformation are insignificant. The attachment mechanism of nano-TiO₂ to SS was incorporated into the model equations using the apparent solid-liquid partition coefficient (Kd) under the equilibrium assumption between solid and liquid phase, and a steady state condition of nano-TiO₂ was assumed. Furthermore, an MS Excel-based user interface was developed to provide user-friendly environment for the nano-TiO₂ removal efficiency calculations. Using the developed model, a preliminary simulation was conducted to examine how the solid retention time (SRT), a major operating variable affects the removal efficiency of nano-TiO₂ particles in a WWTP.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.97-109
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• 2022

This study focused on the physicochemical effects of bottom ash dissolved precipitation on the soil and groundwater environment. The iced column and percolation experiments showed that most of the bottom ash particles were drained as the ash-dissolved solution, while the charcoal powder was filtered through the soil. Ion species of Al, As, Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, Fe, Mn, Ca, K, Si, F, NO₃, SO₄ were analyzed from the eluates collected during the 24 h column test. In the charcoal powder eluates, a high concentration of K was detected at the beginning of the reaction, but it decreased with time. The concentrations of Al and Ca were observed to increase with time, although they existed in trace amount. In the bottom ash eluates, the concentrations of Ca and SO₄ decreased by 30 mg·L^-1 and 67 mg·L^-1, respectively, over 24 h. It is regarded that the infiltration patterns of the bottom ash and biochar in the unsaturated zone were different owing to their particle sizes and solvent properties. It is expected that a significant amount of the bottom ash will mix with the precipitation and percolate below the water table, especially in the case of thin and highly permeable unsaturated zone. The biochar was filtered through the unsaturated zone. The biochar did not dissolve in the groundwater, although it reached the saturation zone. For these reasons, it is considered that the direct contamination by the bottom ash and biochar are unlikely to occur.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.746-752
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• 2022

Kiribati, a South Pacific island, and its surrounding countries are gradually submerging to rising sea levels. The sea level continues to change according to the degree of thermal expansion of glaciers and seawater that decreases with increase in temperature. Global warming affects both the amount and volume of seawater, thus increasing sea level. Tidal phenomena occur twice a day to the attraction of celestial bodies such as the moon and the sun. The moon changes the angle of orbiting surface with the Earth equator every 18.6 years, and the magnitude of the tidal force changes depending on the distance between the Earth equator and the moon orbital surface. The University of Hawaii Sea Level Center selected Tarawa, Christmas, Kanton of Kiribati,, Lautoka, Suva of Fiji,Funafuti of Tuvalu, Nuk1u'alofa of Tonga, and Port Vila of Vanuatu. When comparing tide levels for each year for 19 years, the focus was on checking the change in sleep to Tide levels, and rising sea levels was the effect of Tide levels. The highest astronomical tides (HAT) and lowest astronomical tides (LAT) were identified as Tarawa 297.0, 50.8 cm, Christmas 123.8, 19.9 cm, Kanton 173.7, 39.9 cm, Lautoka 240.7, 11.3 cm, Funafuti 328.6, 98.4 cm, Nuk1u'alofa 188.8, 15.5 cm, Port Vila 161.5, -0.5cm, respectively. The Sea level rising speed was Tarawa 3.1 mm/year, Christmas -1.0 mm/year, Kanton 1.6 mm/year, Lautoka 3.1 mm/year, Suva 7.4 mm/year, Funafuti 1.4 mm/year, Nuk1u'alofa 4.2 mm/year, and Port Vila -1.2 mm/year, respectively

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.342-352
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• 2023

Ultra-violet (UV) light is one of abiotic stress factors and causes oxidative stress in plants, but a suitable level of UV radiation can be used to enhance the phytochemical content of plants. The accumulation of antioxidant phenolic compounds in UV-exposed plants may vary depending on the conditions of plant (species, cultivar, age, etc.) and UV (wavelength, energy, irradiation period, etc.). To date, however, little research has been conducted on how leaf thickness affects the pattern of phytochemical accumulation. In this study, we conducted an experiment to find out how the antioxidant phenolic content of kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) leaves with different thicknesses react to UV-A light. Kale seedlings were grown in a controlled growth chamber for four weeks under the following conditions: 20℃ temperature, 60% relative humidity, 12-hour photoperiod, light source (fluorescent lamp), and photosynthetic photon flux density of 121±10 µmol m^-2 s^-1. The kale plants were then transferred to two chambers with different CO₂ concentrations (382±3.2 and 1,027±11.7 µmol mol^-1), and grown for 10 days. After then, each group of kale plants were subjected to UV-A LED (275+285 nm at peak wavelength) light of 25.4 W m^-2 for 5 days. As a result, when kale plants with thickened leaves from treatment with high CO₂ were exposed to UV-A, they had lower UV sensitivity than thinner leaves. The Fv/Fm (maximum quantum yield on photosystem II) in the leaves of kale exposed to UV-A in a low-concentration CO₂ environment decreased abruptly and significantly immediately after UV treatment, but not in kale leaves exposed to UV-A in a high-concentration CO₂ environment. The accumulation pattern of total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity and individual phenolic compounds varied according to leaf thickness. In conclusion, this experiment suggests that the UV intensity should vary based on the leaf thickness (age etc.) during UV treatment for phytochemical enhancement.