• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.1109-1112
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• 2017

The precise prediction of radiation embrittlement of aged reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) is a prerequisite for the long-term operation of nuclear power plants beyond their original design life. The expiration of the operation licenses for Korean reactors the RPVs of which are made from SA533B-1 plates and welds is imminent. Korean regulatory rules have adopted the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's transition temperature shift (TTS) models to the prediction of the embrittlement of Korean reactor pressure vessels. The applicability of the TTS model to predict the embrittlement of Korean RPVs made of SA533B-1 plates and welds was investigated in this study. It was concluded that the TTS model of 10 CFR 50.61a matched the trends of the radiation embrittlement in the SA533B-1 plates and welds better than did that of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.99 Rev. 2. This is attributed to the fact that the prediction performance of 10 CFR 50.61a was enhanced by considering the difference in radiation embrittlement sensitivity among the different types of RPV materials.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.195-205
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• 2020

Oceanic conditions in walleye pollock habitat in the East Sea have shown decadal fluctuations between warm and cold periods in turn. Specifically, sea surface temperature (SST) has shown a dramatic increase between the late 1980s and the middle 2000s, and abrupt decreasing patterns after the late 2000s. Oceanic conditions in the Dong-han Bay (spawning ground) and middle eastern coastal waters (fishing ground), however, indicated different fluctuation trends in SST, increasing in the Dong-han Bay after the late 1980s, and decreasing after the late 2000s. These fluctuation patterns were especially clear in February and March. Sea surface temperature in the middle eastern coastal waters of Korea soared continuously after the late 1980s, but did not show a distinct decreasing pattern after the late 2000s compared with Dong han Bay, except for February SST values. These long term water temperature changes in both walleye pollock spawning and fishing ground are related to variation in walleye pollock landings. Especially, abrupt changes in spawning ground SST can be one of the factors influencing survival in the early ontogenesis of walleye pollock, including egg and yolk larval stages. During the 1980s, the area of suitable spawning temperature (2-5℃) was wider, and the length of Walleye pollock egg and larval stages greater compared with past and present oceanographic environments. However, such patterns did not correspond with the optimal spawning temperature range and greater length of development of walleye pollock during the late 1980s likely triggering a decline in pollock stock. In conclusion, it has been supposed that the dramatic decrease in walleye pollock landings in the East Sea since the late 1980s was caused by increasing water temperature leading to both early mortality and unsuitable spawning conditions.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.94-101
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• 2008

Warming trends during winter seasons in East Asian regions are expected to accelerate in the future according to the climate projection by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Warmer winters may affect short-term cold hardiness of deciduous fruit trees, and yet phenological observations are scant compared to long-term climate records in the regions. Dormancy depth, which can be estimated by daily temperature, is expected to serve as a reasonable proxy for physiological tolerance of flowering buds to low temperature in winter. In order to delineate the geographical pattern of short-term cold hardiness in grapevines, a selected dormancy depth model was parameterized for "Campbell Early", the major cultivar in South Korea. Gridded data sets of daily maximum and minimum temperature with a 270m cell spacing ("High Definition Digital Temperature Map", HDDTM) were prepared for the current climatological normal year (1971-2000) based on observations at the 56 Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) stations and a geospatial interpolation scheme for correcting land surface effects (e.g., land use, topography, and site elevation). To generate relevant datasets for climatological normal years in the future, we combined a 25km-resolution, 2011-2100 temperature projection dataset covering South Korea (under the auspices of the IPCC-SRES A2 scenario) with the 1971-2000 HD-DTM. The dormancy depth model was run with the gridded datasets to estimate geographical pattern of change in the cold-hardiness period (the number of days between endo- and forced dormancy release) across South Korea for the normal years (1971-2000, 2011-2040, 2041-2070, and 2071-2100). Results showed that the cold-hardiness zone with 60 days or longer cold-tolerant period would diminish from 58% of the total land area of South Korea in 1971-2000 to 40% in 2011-2040, 14% in 2041-2070, and less than 3% in 2071-2100. This method can be applied to other deciduous fruit trees for delineating geographical shift of cold-hardiness zone under the projected climate change in the future, thereby providing valuable information for adaptation strategy in fruit industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.203-218
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• 2011

Long-term trends and distribution patterns of water quality were investigated in the Yeoja Bay of South Sea, Korea from 1976 to 2010. Water samples were collected at 3 stations and physicochemical parameters were analyzed including water temperature, salinity, hydrogen ion concentration (pH), dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids (SS) and nutrients. Spatial distribution patterns of temperature, pH and DO were not clear among stations but the seasonal variations were distinct except ammonium. The trend analysis by principal component analysis (PCA) during 31 years revealed the significant variations in water quality in the study area. Spatial water qualities were discriminated into 2 clusters by PCA; station cluster 1 and 2~3. Annual water qualities were clearly discriminated into 4 clusters by PCA. By this multi-variate analysis, the annual trends were summarized as the followings; water temperature, COD and SS tended to increase from late 1970's, decreased salinity, and increased phosphate from 1991 to 2001 and increased dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Water quality was showed by the input of fresh water same as those of Kyoungin coastal area, Asan coastal area, Choensoo bay, Gunsan coastal and Mokpo coastal area in the Yeoja Bay.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.321-337
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• 2010

Long-term trends and distribution patterns of water quality were investigated in the Mokpo coastal areas of the Yellow Sea, Korea from 1979 to 2009. Water samples were collected at 5 stations and physicochemical parameters were analyzed including water temperature, salinity, suspended solids (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (DO) and nutrients. Spatial distribution patterns of temperature, pH and DO were not clear among stations but the seasonal variations were distinct except ammonium. The trend analysis by principal component analysis (PCA) during 30 years revealed the significant variations in water quality in the study area. Spatial water qualities were discriminated into 3 clusters by PCA; station cluster 1, 2~4, and 5. Annual water qualities were clearly discriminated into 4 surface water clusters and 2 bottom water clusters by PCA. By this multi-variate analysis, the annual trends were summarized as the followings; water temperature, pH and COD tended to increase from late 1980's, salinity to decrease, phosphate to increase from 1994 and dissolved inorganic nitrogen to increase, due to the input of fresh water same as shown in Kyoungin coastal area, Asan coastal area, Choensoo bay and Gunsan coastal area.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.1046-1054
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• 2013

Spatial and temporal variations of sea surface temperature (SST), abundances of copepods, euphausiids, amphipods, and chaetognaths were investigated in the western waters of the Korean Peninsula. Zooplankton and SST were monitored at 63 stations arrayed in six transects ($124^{\circ}00^{\prime}-126^{\circ}30^{\prime}E$, $34^{\circ}00^{\prime}-37^{\circ}00^{\prime}N$) in February, April, June, August, October, and December during 1978-2010. In general, SST increased $0.7-3.8^{\circ}C$ during the last three decades with spatio-temporal variations. SST was lowest in February and highest in August. SST was highest in the northernmost transect and declined gradually along transects to the south. The general pattern of interannual variations of SST was similar to the global pattern, which has been increasing. Trends of abundances of all zooplankton groups slightly increased interannually and peaked seasonally in June and August, except chaetognaths, which fluctuated around the long-term mean value with a seasonal peak in August and October. Abundances of zooplankton groups were highest in the northernmost transect while those of euphausiids were highest in the southern transect. We discuss the distribution patterns of SST and zooplankton groups in relation to oceanographic characteristics in the study area.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.281-290
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• 2011

This study examined the change in sea surface temperature (SST) around the Korean peninsula since industrialization at year 1880, and its possible causes using observation based data from the Hadley Center, the Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and National Climate Data Center. Since year 1880, There have been multi-decadal fluctuations with a gradual reduction from 1880 to around 1940, and from 1950-1980. There has then been a marked increase from 1940-1950, and from 1980 to the present. The ocean surface warming is larger during the boreal winter than summer, and greater in the south. The multi-decadal SST fluctuations around the Korean Peninsula are largely consistent with the negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which fluctuates with periods of about 20-50 years. Secondly, the El Ni$\tilde{n}$o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), whose long period component moves along with the PDO, appears to influence the SST near the Korean Peninsula, especially in recent decades. Overall, the SST around the Korean Peninsula has warmed since year 1880 by about $1^{\circ}C$, which is about twice the global-mean ocean surface warming. This long-term warming is aligned with an increase in greenhouse gas concentration, as well as local factors such as the PDO.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2012

Antarctica is very sensitive to climate change but the number of stations is not sufficient to accurately analyze climate change in this regoin. Model reanalysis data supplements the lack of observation and can be used as long term data to verify climate change. In this study, the 20CR (Twentieth Century Reanalysis) Project data from NCEP/NCAR and monthly mean data (temperature, solar radiation and longwave radiation) from 1871 to 2008, was used to analyze the temperature trend and change in radiation. The 20CR data was used to validate the observation data from Antarctica since 1950 and the correlation coefficients between these data were determined to be over 0.95 at all stations. The temperature increased by approximately $0.23^{\circ}C$/decade during the study period and over $0.20^{\circ}C$/decade over all of the months. This increasing trend was observed throughout the Antarctica and a slight increase was observed in the Antarctic Peninsula. In addition, solar radiation (surface) and longwave radiation (surface and top of atmosphere) trends correlated with the increase in temperature. As a result, outgoing longwave radiation at the surface is attenuated by atmospheric water vapor or clouds and radiation at the top of the atmosphere was reduced. In addition, the absorbed energy in the atmosphere increases the temperature of the atmosphere and surface, and then the heated surface emits more longwave radiation. Eventually these processes are repeated in a positive feedback loop, which results in a continuous rise in temperature.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.319-331
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• 2013

Recent climate change, which is mostly ascribed to anthropogenic activities, is believed to be a major factor leading to biodiversity decreases and ecosystem service deteriorations. I have reviewed recent studies on climate change effects for many ecological processes involved with plants, in order to improve our understanding of the nature of ecological complexity. Plants in general have better growth and productivity under high levels of $CO_2$, although the long term effects of such $CO_2$ fertilizers are still controversial. Over the last 30 years, the Earth has been greening, particularly at higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, perhaps due to a relaxation of climatic constraints. Human appropriation of net primary productivity (NPP), which corresponds up to 1/3 of global NPP, is ultimately responsible for climate change and biodiversity decreases. Climate change causes phenological variations in plants, especially in regards to spring flowering and fall leaf coloring. Many plants migrate polewards and towards higher altitudes to seek more appropriate climates. On the other hand, tree mortality and population declines have recently been reported in many continents. Landscape disturbance not only hinders the plant migration, but also makes it difficult to predict the plants' potential habitats. Plant and animal population declines, as well as local extinctions, are largely due to the disruption of species interactions through temporal mismatching. Temperature and $CO_2$ increase rates in Korea are higher than global means. The degree of landscape disturbances is also relatively high. Furthermore, long-term data on individual species responses and species interactions are lacking or quite limited in Korea. This review emphasizes the complex nature of species responses to climate change at both global and local scales. In order to keep pace with the direction and speed of climate change, it is urgently necessary to observe and analyze the patterns of phenology, migration, and trophic interactions of plants and animals in Korea's landscape.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Recently, semiconductor devices have been used in many fields owing to various applications of mobile electronics, wearable and flexible devices and substrates. During the semiconductor chip bonding process, the mismatch of coefficient of therm al expansion (CTE) between the substrate and the solder, and the excessive heat applied to the entire substrate and components affect the performance and reliability of the device. These problems can cause warpage and deterioration of long-term reliability of the electronic packages. In order to improve these issues, many studies on low-melting temperature solders, which is capable of performing a low-temperature process, have been actively conducted. Among the various low-melting temperature solders, such as Sn-Bi and Sn-In, Sn-58Bi solder is attracting attention as a promising low-temperature solder because of its advantages such as high yield strength, moderate mechanical property, and low cost. However, due to the high brittleness of Bi, improvement of the Sn-Bi solder is needed. In this review paper, recent research trends to improve the mechanical properties of Sn-Bi solder by adding trace elements or particles were introduced and compared.