• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.97-99
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• 2006

A chitinase-producing bacterium strain KCTC10714 was isolated from sea sand around the King Sejong Station, King George Island in Antarctica. It was identified as Sanguibacter sp., based on the biochemical properties and 16S rRNA gene sequence. KCTC10714 chitinase showed enzyme activity in broad range of temperature from 0 to $70^{\circ}C$. At $0^{\circ}C$, it showed 70.9% of relative activity in comparison with 100%. The chitinase gene of KCTC10714 was cloned using inverse PCR cloning method. KCTC10714 chitinase gene was designated as chi21702. The ORF of chi21702 consisted of 1,449 bp (482 amino acid), and contained ChtBD3 (a chitin/cellulose binding domain) and an active site for chitinase family 18.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.133-143
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• 2004

For the purpose of understanding the cloud scattering effect of UV radiation at King Sejong station In West Antarctica, we analyzed the data measured by UV-Biometer at surface and compared its result with solar radiation model. The parameterization of UV radiation by cloud ice crystal was applied to solar radiation model and the sensitivity of this model for the variation of ice crystal was tested. The cloud optical thickness was calculated by using this solar radiation model. It was compared the result from calculation with CERES satellite data. In solar radiation model, the UV radiation was less scattered with increase of ice crystal size in cloud and this scattering effect was more important to UV-A radiation than Erythemal UV-B radiation. But scattering effects by altitude of cloud was not serious. The calculated cloud optical thicknesses in Erythemal UV-B and UV-A region were compared with CERES satellite data and the result by UV-A was more accurate than Erythemal UV-B region.

• Atmosphere
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.333-342
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• 2006

The long-term trends of global solar irradiance, air temperature, specific humidity and cloudiness measured at King Sejong station, Antarctica, during the period of 1988-2004, have been investigated. A statistically insignificant decrease, -0.21 $Wm^{-2}yr^{-1}$ (-0.26 %$yr^{-1}$, P<0.5) in global solar irradiance was found in an analysis from the time series of the monthly mean values, except for the increasing trends only in two months of January and June. The trends in irradiance are directly and inversely associated with the cloudiness trends in annual and monthly means. The trends in surface air temperature show a slight warming, $0.03^{\circ}Cyr^{-1}$ (1.88 %$yr^{-1}$, P<0.5) on the annual average, with cooling trend in the summer months and the warming in the winter. The exact relationship, if any, between the irradiance and temperature trends is not known. No significant tendency was found in specific humidity for the same periods. Recent (1996-2004) erythermal ultraviolet irradiance shows decreasing trend in annual mean, -0.15 $mWm^{-2}yr^{-1}$ (-1.18 %$yr^{-1}$, P<0.1) which is about five times the trends of global solar irradiance. The ratio of erythermal ultraviolet to global solar irradiance shows remarkable seasonal variations with annual mean value of 0.01 % and a peak in October and November, showing the increase of ultraviolet irradiance resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole. The sensitivity of global solar irradiance to the change in cloudiness is roughly $13%oktas^{-1}$ which is about twice of the value at the South Pole due to the difference in the average surface reflectance between the two stations. Much more sensitive values of $59%oktas^{-1}$ was found for erythermal UV irradiance than for the global solar irradiance.

• Atmosphere
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.111-124
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• 2006

This study examines seasonal variability of the surface energy balance at the King Sejong Station, Antarctica, using measurements and estimates of the components related to the balance for the period of 1996 to 2004. Annual average of downward shortwave radiation at the surface is 81 $Wm^{-2}$ which is 37% of the extraterrestrial value, with the monthly maximum of 188 $Wm^{-2}$ in December and the minimum of 8 $Wm^{-2}$ in June. These values are relatively smaller than those at other stations in Antarctica, which can be attributed to higher cloudy weather conditions in Antarctic front zone. Surface albedo varies between ~0.3 in the austral summer season and ~0.6 in the winter season. As a result, the net shortwave radiation ranges from 117 $Wm^{-2}$ down to 3 $Wm^{-2}$ with annual averages of 43 $Wm^{-2}$. Annual average of the downward longwave radiation shows 278 $Wm^{-2}$, ranging from 263 $Wm^{-2}$ in August to 298 $Wm^{-2}$ in January. The downward longwave radiation is verified to be dependent strongly on the air temperature and specific humidity, accounting for 74% and 79% of the total variance in the longwave radiation, respectively. The net longwave radiation varies between 25 $Wm^{-2}$ and 40 $Wm^{-2}$ with the annual averages of 30 $Wm^{-2}$. Accordingly, the annual average energy balance is dominated by radiative warming of a positive net all-wave radiation from September to next March and radiative cooling of a negative net all-wave radiation from April to August. The net all-wave radiative energy gain and loss at the surface is mostly balanced by turbulent flux of sensible and latent heat. The soil heat flux is of negligible importance in the surface energy balance.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2010.04a
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• pp.29.4-30
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• 2010

A VHF meteor radar at King Sejong Station ($162.22^{\circ}S$, $58.78^{\circ}W$), Antarctica has been observing meteors during a period of March 2007-July 2009. We analyzed the height profiles of the observed meteor decay times between 70 and 95 km by classifying strong and weak meteors according to their estimated electron line densities. The height profiles of monthly averaged decay times show a peak whose altitude varies with season in the range of 80~85 km: higher peak in southern spring and summer than in fall and winter. The higher peak during summer is consistent with colder temperatures that cause faster chemical reactions of electron removal, as effective recombination rates measured by rocket experiments. The height profiles of 15-min averaged decay times show a clear increasing trend with decreasing altitude from 95 km to the peak altitude, especially for weak meteors. This feature for weak meteors is well explained by ambipolar diffusion of meteor trails, allowing one to estimate atmospheric temperatures and pressures, as in previous studies. However, the strong meteors show not only significant scatters but also different slope of the increasing trend from 95 km to the peak altitude. Therefore, atmospheric temperature estimation from meteor decay times should be applied for weak meteors only. In this study, we present the simple model decay times to explain the height profiles of the observed decay times and discuss the additional removal processes of meteor trail electrons through the empirical recombination and by icy particles.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.235-242
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• 2018

A Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) for mesospheric observations was installed at King Sejong Station ($62.2^{\circ}S$, $58.9^{\circ}W$) in Antarctica in 2017. For the initial validation of the FPI measurements, we compare neutral wind data recorded with the FPI with those from a Meteor Radar (MR) located nearby. The overall characteristics of the FPI and MR winds of both OH 892.0 nm (87 km) and OI 557.7 nm (97 km) airglow layers are similar. The FPI winds of both layers generally match the MR winds well on the observed days, with a few exceptions. The correlation analysis of the FPI and MR wind data shows that the correlation coefficients for the zonal winds at 87 and 97 km are 0.28 and 0.54, respectively, and those for the meridional winds are 0.36 and 0.54, respectively. Based on the assumption that the distribution of the airglow emissions has a Gaussian function with respect to the altitude, we calculated the weighted mean winds from the MR wind profile and compared them with the FPI winds. By adjusting the peak height and full width at half maximum of the Gaussian function, we determined the change of the correlation between the two winds. The best correlation for the OH and OI airglow layers was obtained at a peak height of 88-89 km and 97-98 km, respectively.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.413-423
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• 2020

Over the wide area, King Sejong Station and the nearby land are uncovered with snow and ice conditions. Therefore, the active layer on the permafrost has been formed to be much thicker than the other Antarctica region. Electrical resistivity survey of Wenner and dipole-dipole arrays was undertaken at a series of time in the freezing season at the King Sejong Station to delineate subsurface structure and to monitor active layer in permafrost terrain. Time-lapse resistivity structures are well in terms of the vegetation distribution, ground surface temperature, and snow depth. Horizontal high resistivity belt(>1826 Ωm) at very shallow depth is thickening with the lapse of time, probably caused by the freezing of the water in the pore spaces with decrease of ground temperature. Subsurface structures for the area of low snow-cover and vegetated zone area are comprised of 0~0.5 m deep high-resistive gravel-rich soil, 0.5~3 m deep low-resistive active layer, and the underlying permafrost. In contrast, the unvegetated area and high snow-buildup is characterized with high resistivities larger than approximately 2000 Ωm due to freezing of the soil throughout the year. Data interpretation and correlation schemes explored in this paper can be applied to confirm the active layer, which is expected to get thinner in additional survey during the thawing season.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.201-205
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• 2005

Turbulent fluxes of heat, water vapor, and CO2 have been measured since August, 2003 at Dasan Station (78o 55’ N, 11o50’E) in the Arctic. These data can allow us to better understand the interactions between the Polar ecosystems and the atmosphere together with those at King Sejong Station in the Antarctic. Due to the buildings and measurement platforms around the flux tower, it is required to evaluate how they influence measured flux data. By using one-year turbulence statistics data and footprint model, flux footprint climatology was analyzed together with data availability. The upwind distance of source area ranged from 150 to 300 m, where the buildings and measurement platforms existed. However, flow distortion due to them may be not a major factor to reduce the data availability significantly. Based on, the dominant wind direction of SW and footprint climatology, the location of flux tower is considered suitable for flux measurement.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2001

As part of a long-term program for polar upper atmospheric studies, temperatures and intensities of the OH(3-1) bands were derived from spectrometric observations of airglow emissions over King Sejong station($62.22^{circ}S,\;301.25^{circ}E$). These measurements were made with a Michelson interferometer to cover wavelength regions between 1000nm and 2000 nm. A spectral analysis was performed to individual nights of data to acquire information on the waves in the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere. It is assumed that the measured fluctuations in the intensity and temperature of the OH (3-1) airglow were caused by gravity waves propagating through the emission layer. Correlation of intensity and temperature variation revealed oscillations with periods ranging from 2 to 9 hours. We also calculated Krassovsky’s parameter and compared with published values.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.25-28
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• 2016

The Schmidt hammer test is one of the best nondestructive tests to measure the strength without breaking structures, which has been used to measure the strength of concrete structures in a simple way at construction sites. However, the future research is needed to apply Schmidt hammer in cold regions. This study is intended to investigate the correlation between unconfined compression test result of the oil storage facilities foundation taken at the King Sejong Antarctic Station and Schmidt hammer test result at the sample-taking site. Also, the equation for uniaxial compression strength using Schmidt hammer rebound value is proposed.