• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.184-210
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• 2005

The atmospheric transportation and dispersion processes of air pollutants are important issues in dealing with air pollution problems. Air pollutants originated from biological and anthropogenic activities are not only limited to the local emission sources, but could also be transported and dispersed to other regions by synoptic weather systems. Besides, the complexity of topography of central Taiwan helps accumulating air pollutants to promote high-concentration episodes. The techniques of tethersonding were applied to monitor the vertical profiles of winds, air temperatures and humidity, as well as to collect air samples, to be analyzed for pollutants ($O_3,\;NO_2$, NO and NMHC) from the ground up to 1000 m. A time period of about one week, 19 -26 October 2002, was chosen as the sampling period due to the high frequency of episode occurrence in autumn based on the past records. Associating with the analysis of weather patterns, the atmospheric characteristics over high-concentration areas can be resolved in more detail. The result of the tethersonding studies showed that weak northerly sea breeze (with thickness about 300 m) with now wind speed (about 1 to 2 m/sec) could help develop high ozone concentrations in the down-wind areas. It is also important to have a built-up aloft of precursors and ozone to develop high concentration on the previous day.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.98-99
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• 2009

• Atmosphere
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2021

In this study, two-step statistical approach including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) was employed, and main meteorological factors explaining the high-PM2.5 episodes were identified in two regions: Seoul and Busan. We first performed PCA to isolate the Principal Component (PC) that is linear combination of the meteorological variables observed at two levels: surface and 850 hPa level. The employed variables at surface are: temperature (T2m), wind speed, sea level pressure, south-north and west-east wind component and those at 850 hPa upper level variables are: south-north (v850) and west-east (u850) wind component and vertical stability. Secondly we carried out MLR analysis and verified the relationships between PM2.5 daily mean concentration and meteorological PCs. Our two-step statistical approach revealed that in Seoul, dominant factors for influencing the high PM2.5 days are mainly composed of upper wind characteristics in winter including positive u850 and negative v850, indicating that continental (or Siberian) anticyclone had a strong influence. In Busan, however, the dominant factors in explanaining in high PM2.5 concentrations were associated with high T2m and negative u850 in summer. This is suggesting that marine anticyclone had a considerable effect on Busan's high PM2.5 with high temperature which is relevant to the vigorous photochemical secondary generation. Our results of both differences and similarities between two regions derived from only statistical approaches imply the high-PM2.5 episodes in Korea show their own unique characteristics and seasonality which are mostly explainable by two layer (surface and upper) mesoscale meteorological variables.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.600-607
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• 2010

In 2008, multiple episodes of large-scale transport of natural airborne particles and anthropogenically affected particles from different sources in the East Asian continent were identified in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite RGB-composite images and the mass concentrations of ground level particulate matters. To analyze the aerosol size distribution during the large-scale transport of atmospheric aerosols, both aerosol optical depth (AOD; proportional to the aerosol total loading in the vertical column) and fine aerosol weighting (FW; fractional contribution of fine aerosol to the total AOD) of Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol products were used over the East Asian region. The six episodes of massive natural airborne particles were observed at Cheongwon, originating from sandstorms in northern China, Mongolia and the loess plateau of China. The $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ stood at 70% and 16% of the total mass concentration of TSP, respectively. However, the mass concentration of $PM_{2.5}$ among TSP increased as high as 23% in the episode in which they were flowing in by way f the industrial area in east China. In the other five episodes of anthropogenically affected particles that flowed into the Korean Peninsula from east China, the mass concentrations of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ among TSP reached 82% and 65%, respectively. The average AOD for the large-scale transport of anthropogenically affected particle episodes in the East Asian region was measured at $0.42{\pm}0.17$ compared with AOD ($0.36{\pm}0.13$) for the natural airborne particle episodes. Particularly, the regions covering east China, the Yellow Sea, the Korean Peninsula, and the east Korean sea were characterized by high levels of AOD. The average FW values observed during the event of anthropogenically affected aerosols ($0.63{\pm}0.16$) were moderately higher than those of natural airborne particles ($0.52{\pm}0.13$). This observation suggests that anthropogenically affected particles contribute greatly to the atmospheric aerosols in East Asia.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.196-209
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• 2009

Occurrences of sandstorms in the deserts and loess of Mongolia and northern China and associated dustfall episodes in the Korean Peninsula were monitored during the period January through December, 2005. False colour images were made by directly receiving the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data, and the distribution and transport of sandstorms were analyzed. The ground concentrations for PM10, PM2.5 and visibility of the dustfall episodes (PM10 concentration over $190{\mu}g\;m^{-3}$) were analyzed at Cheongwon, located midway in South Korea, and in the leeward direction of the place of origin of the sandstorms. Variations in the concentrations of $O_3,\;NO_2$, CO and $SO_2$ were also compared with dust concentrations in the dustfall episodes. Fewer occurrences of strong sandstorms in the place of origin were observed in 2005, due largely to the accumulation of snow and mild fluctuations of high and low pressure systems in the place of origin, thereby accounting for a low frequency of dustfall episodes in Korea, compared with those during the period 1997-2005. A total of 7 dustfall episodes were monitored in Korea in 2005 that lasted 11 days. In summer, sandstorms occurred less frequently in the source region in 2005 due to high humidity and milder winds, thereby causing no dustfall episodes in Korea. In case the sandstorms occurring at the place of source head directly to Korea without passing through large cities and industrial areas of China, the PM2.5 concentrations were measured at 20% or lower than the PM10 concentrations. However, when the sandstorms headed to Korea via the industrial areas of eastern China, where they pick up anthropogenic air pollutants, the PM2.5 concentrations were at least 25% higher of the PM10 concentrations. On the other hand, over 5 cases were observed and analyzed in 2005 where the PM10 concentrations of sand dust originating from the deserts were measured at $190{\mu}g\;m^{-3}$ or lower, falling short of the level of a dustfall episode.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.21-35
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• 2009

The Asian dust storms which originated in the deserts of Mongolia and China transported particles to Korea and led to a high concentration of atmospheric particulate matters (PM) of more than $1000{\mu}g/m^3$ throughout the country in the spring, of 2007. Public concern, in Korea, about the possible adverse effects of these dust events has increased, as these dust storms can contain various air pollutants emitted from heavily industrialized eastern China. The objectives of this study were to understand the concentration characteristics of PM as a function of particle size between the Asian dust storm episodes and non-Asian dust period and to consider the mass size distribution of PM in the Asian dust storms and their water soluble ion species on the potential, possible effects on deposition levels in the three regions (nasopharyngeal, tracheobronchial, and alveolar) of the human respiratory system. The size distribution of PM mass concentration during the Asian dust storms showed a peak in the coarse particle region due to the long-range transport of soil particles from the deserts of Mongolia and China, which was identified by HYSPLIT-4 model for backward trajectory analysis of air arriving in the sampling site of Iksan. During the non-Asian dust period, there were two different types in PM size distribution: bimodal distribution when low concentrations of $PM_{2.5}$ were observed, while unimodal distribution having a peak in fine particle region when high concentrations of $PM_{2.5}$ were showed. This unimodal distribution with high concentrations of fine particulate and secondary air pollutants such as ${SO_4}^{2-}$, ${NO_3}^-$, ${NH_4}^+$ was found to be due to the long-range transport of air pollutants from industrialized eastern China. During the Asian dust storms, the mean concentrations of PM that can be deposited in the nasopharyngeal, tracheobronchial, and alveolar region were $128.8{\mu}g/m^3$, $216.5{\mu}g/m^3$, and $89.6{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. During the non-Asian dust period, the mean concentrations of PM that can be deposited in the nasopharyngeal, tracheobronchial, and alveolar region were $8.4{\mu}g/m^3$, $9.5{\mu}g/m^3$ and $38.5{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1375-1387
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• 2017

In order to investigate the $PM_{10}$ concentration trend and its characteristics over five different sub area in Busan from 2013 to 2015, data analysis with considering air flow distribution according to its topography was carried out using statistical methodology. The annual mean concentrations of $PM_{10}$ in Busan tend to decrease from $49.6{\mu}g/m^3$ in 2013 to $46.9{\mu}g/m^3$ in 2015. The monthly mean concentrations value of $PM_{10}$ were high during spring season, from March to May, and low during summer and fall due to frequent rain events. The concentration of $PM_{10}$ was the highest in five different sub-area in Busan. High concentration episodes over 90 percentile of daily $PM_{10}$ concentration were strongly associated with mean daily wind speed, and often occurred when the westerly wind or southwesterly wind were dominant. Regardless of wind direction, the highest correlation of $PM_{10}$ concentrations was observed between eastern and southern regions, which were geographically close to each other, and the lowest in the western and eastern regions blocked by mountains. Wind flow along the complex terrain in Busan is also one of the predominant factors to understand the temporal variation of $PM_{10}$ concentrations.

• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.127-137
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• 2000

This study presents an analysis of the characteristics of vertical ozone distribution near the surface using ozonesonde data(l995 to 1998), plus surface ozone and meteorological data from the Pohang region. These features were examined in detail using three case studies. The first related to episodes of high surface ozone concentrations during the Spring season when the frontogenesis between the high and low pressure associated with the upper-level jet stream was found to be located near the surface. The second was a 5-day winter period(l3 -17 December, 1997) in the Pohang province when the hourly concentrations exceeded 90 ppb on several occasions owing to low-level jets(LLJs) induced by a nocturnal stable layer. Accordingly, this explains why the high surface ozone concentrations occurred at night as the ozone was transported across the zone by a strong wind speed( over 12.5 ms .1). The third case study was ozone enhancement due to photochemical reactions. In this case, the maximum concentration of ozone exceeded 60 ppb in the summer(23 -28 August, 1997). When an ozone peak appeared within the boundary layer, the occurrence frequency of a low-level jet due to the nocturnal stable layer was about 77%, similarly the occurrence frequency of a near-surface ozone peak relative to the appearance of an LLJ was about 76%. Accordingly, there is clearly a close correlation between the occurrence of LLJs and near-surface ozone peaks.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.331-345
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• 2001

The increase of carbon monoxide in the ambient air due to the emissions from point sources without control was estimated using three -dimensional numerical models. The target area was Ulsan where one of the largest industrial complexes was located. As a typical example using numerical models for air quality impact analysis of criteria pollutants that will determine whether the air quality standards would be exceeded or not, the following approaches were suggested. They include: (1) investigation of pre-existing atmospheric conditions, (2) identification of major factors causing high concentrations, (3) selection of episode days. (4) preparation of three-dimensional meteorological data, (5) confirmation of agreement between measured and predicted concentrations in the emission conditions of episode days, and (6) estimation of the impact due to changes of the emission conditions. In the present work, daily meteorological conditions for the specific period were classified into four clusters of distinctive features, and the episode days were selected individually from each cluster. Emphasis was placed on the selection of episodes representing meteorological conditions conducive to high concentrations especially for point sources that were sensitive to the wind direction variations.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.157-165
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• 2017

Fruits of Sonneratia apetala (Buch.-Ham.), (English: mangrove apple, Bengali: keora) both seeds and pericarps, are largely consumed as food besides their enormous medicinal application. The fruit seeds have high content of nutrients and bioactive components. The seeds powder of S. apetala was successively fractionated using n-hexane, diethyl ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol. The fractions were used to evaluate antibacterial, anti-diarrhoeal, analgesic, and cytotoxic activities. Methanol fraction of seeds (MeS) stronly inhibited Escherichia coli strains, Salmonella Paratyphi A, Salmonella Typhi, Shigella dysenteriae, and Staphylococcus aureus except Vibrio cholerae at $500{\mu}g/disc$. All the fractions strongly inhibited castor oil induced diarrhoeal episodes and onset time in mice at 500 mg extract/kg body weight (P<0.001). At the same concentration, MeS had the strongest inhibitory activity on diarrhoeal episodes, whereas the n-hexane fraction (HS) significantly (P<0.05) prolonged diarrhoeal onset time as compared to positive control. Similarly, HS (P<0.005) inhibited acetic acid induced writhing in mice at 500 mg extract/kg, more than any other fraction. HS and diethyl ether fractions of seed strongly increased reaction time of mice in hot plate test at 500 mg extract/kg. All the fractions showed strong cytotoxic effects in brine shrimp lethality tests. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of HS led to the identification of 23 compounds. Linoleic acid (29.9%), palmitic acid (23.2%), ascorbyl palmitate (21.2%), and stearic acid (10.5%) were the major compounds in HS. These results suggest that seeds of S. apetala could be of great use as nutraceuticals.