• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.137-150
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• 2010

Traditionally, like many people in mountain region of the Himalaya, the Lwang communities depend on mix of subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, and seasonal migrant labor for their livelihoods. These traditional systems are characterized by low productivity, diverse use of available natural resources (largely for home consumption), limited markets, and some aversion for innovation. The potential to generate wealth through commerce has largely been untapped by these mountain residents and thus is undervalued in local and national economies. Introduction of organic tea farming is a part of Lwang community's several initiatives to break the vicious poverty cycle Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) played facilitating roles in all their efforts since beginning. In five years, the tea plantation emerged as a new means for secured a livelihood. This study aims to analyze the current practices in tea farming both in terms of farm management and soil nutrient status(technical) and the prosperity of the tea farmers (social). The technical aspect covers the soil and tea leaf analysis of various nutrients contents in the soil and tea leaf. Originally, the technical aspect of the study was not planned but later during the consultation with the advisor it was taken into consideration which added value to the research study. The sample were collected from different locations and analyzed on the field itself. The other part of the study i.e. the social aspect was done through questionnaire survey and focus group discussion. the tea farming provided them not only a new opportunity but also earned an identity in the region. This initiative was undertaken as a piloting measure. Now that the tea is in production with processing unit established locally, more serious consideration has to be given for better yield and economic prosperity. This research finding will help the community to analyze their efforts and make correction measures in tea garden management and application of fertilizer. It is also expected to fill up the gaps of knowledge and information required to reduce economic stresses and enhance capacity of farmers to make the tea farming a sustainable and beneficial business. The findings are expected to Sustainability of organic tea farming has direct impacts on biodiversity conservation compared to the other traditional farming practices that are more resource intensive. The study will also contribute to identify key action points required for reducing poverty while conserving environment and enhancing livelihoods

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.129-137
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• 2008

Alien apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata, Pomacea insularus) used in environmentally-friendly agriculture are different from indigenous snails found in Korea. Due to high herbicidal effects and cost-effectiveness, the number of farmers using the snails has been growing every year since 2000. Moreover, in 2008, because of the outbreaks of avian influenza throughout the country from March to May, 2008, central and local governments recommended the use of alien apple snails in agriculture as an alternative to the ducks-oriented environmentally-friendly agriculture. Therefore, it is expected that the use of alien apple snails in agriculture should be expanded in a near future. Since alien apple snails lay eggs with 95.8% of eclosion rate, they are considered to be potential pests unlike indigenous snails. In addition, Japan, Taiwan and most of the southeast Asian countries had already experienced severe ecological and agricultural damage by the alien apple snails. Subsequently, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) designated P. canaliculata as one of "the 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species". It seems highly likely that the alien apple snails in Korea pose a potential threat to conservation of ecosystem and biodiversity since the snails were either found or invaded into the natural environments in some regions of Gangwon-Do and southern parts of Korean Peninsula. However, just recently, agricultural authorities and farmers using alien apple snails in agriculture opposed a proposition of designating the alien apple snails as an ecosystem-disturbing animal described by the Wildlife Protection Act. This is because there has been no concrete evidence of the ecological risk imposed by the alien snails up to now in Korea. Subsequently, in this paper, we analysed the ecological and agricultural risks imposed by the alien snails from the studies done in domestic and abroad. In addition, we proposed an urgent need and reasoning for ecological risk management of the alien snails at the national level as well as using the snails in agriculture.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.435-445
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• 2023

A delta is a depositional landform that is formed when sediment transported by a river is deposited in a relatively low-energy environment, such as a lake, sea, or a main channel. Among these, a delta formed at the confluence of rivers has a great importance in river management and research because it has a significant impact on the hydraulic and sedimentological characteristics of the river. Recently, the equilibrium state of the confluence area has been disrupted by large-scale dredging and construction of levees in the Nakdong River. However, due to the natural recovery of the river, the confluence area is returning to its pre-dredging natural state through ongoing sedimentation. The time-series data show that the confluence delta has been steadily growing since the dredging, but once it reaches a certain size, it repeats growth and retreat, and the overall size does not change significantly. In this study, we developed a model to explain the sedimentation-erosion processes in the confluence area based on the assumption that the confluence delta reaches a dynamic equilibrium. The model is based on two fundamental principles: sedimentation due to supply from the tributary and erosion due to the main channel. The erosion coefficient that represents the Nakdong River confluence areas, was obtained using data from the tributaries of the Nakdong River. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using the developed model to understand how the confluence delta responds to changes in the sediment and water discharges of the tributary and the main channel, respectively. We then used annual average discharge of the Nakdong River's tributaries to predict the dynamic equilibrium positions of the confluence deltas. Finally, we conducted a simulation experiment on the development of the Gamcheon-Nakdong River delta using recorded daily discharge. The results showed that even though it is a simple model, it accurately predicted the dynamic equilibrium positions of the confluence deltas in the Nakdong River, including the areas where the delta had not formed, and those where the delta had already formed and predicted the trend of the response of the Gamcheon-Nakdong River delta. However, the actual retreat in the Gamcheon-Nakdong River delta was not captured fully due to errors and limitations in the simplification process. The insights through this study provide basic information on the sediment supply of the Nakdong River through the confluence areas, which can be implemented as a basic model for river maintenance and management.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.139-146
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• 2010

The survey was done in order to find what kinds of birds visit Taeanhaean National Park during breeding season, where we fixed up 10 coastal areas and islands within the National Park. Three groups concurrently performed the field research from 5th to 9th of July in 2009. Total 58 species and 7,323 individuals were recorded in Taeanhaean National Park. 48 species including 6,187 individuals were observed in coastal areas and 33 species including 1,136 individuals in island areas. The most dominant species in the National Park are Larus crassirostris which accounts for 60% of the birds inhabiting there, and they seem to have been bred in the islands near the National Park. The birds observed only around the coastal areas include Anas poecilorhyncha, Fulica atra, Egretta intermedia and the others which consist of 25 species and amount to 318 individuals, and the birds found exclusively in island areas include Phalacrocorax filamentosus, Apus pacificus¸ Locustella pleskei and other birds, which consist of 10 species and the number of those individuals observed was 308. The inhabited islands areas such as Gauido were characterized by high ratio of waterbird population, which seems to be correlated with the factors such as the extent of island, the richness of water resources, and the diversity of habitats. Based on the data collected during the research and other data from the previous observations, the kinds of dominant species remain nearly unchanged. And in spite of the oil spill accident in 2007, the increase in the number of waterbirds compared to 2004 may be the evidence that the area is recovering from the environmental pollution. At present, the tidal power plants are being built or scheduled to be built and large-scale reclamation is also under way. What is worse, those areas are seeing the increase of pension construction, which is likely to be the potential cause of damage and disturbance against some key habitats for the waterbirds. Therefore, it is a major priority that we build the bird information system to efficiently manage the knowledge-based asset collected from bird-watching groups and to better monitor the areas that need enhanced database through which the National Park can be appropriately administered.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.33-41
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to analyse the state of the energy industry and to determine the efficiency of its functioning on the basis of energy conservation principle and application of innovative technologies aimed at improving the ecological modernisation of agricultural sectors of Kazakhstan. The research methodology is based on an integrated approach of financial and economic evaluation of the effectiveness of the investment project, based on calculation of elasticity, total costs and profitability, as well as on comparative, graphical and system analysis. The current stage is characterised by widely spread restructuring processes of electric power industry in many countries through introduction of new technical installations of energy facilities and increased government regulation in order to enhance the competitive advantage of electricity market. Electric power industry features a considerable value of creating areas. For example, by providing scientific and technical progress, it crucially affects not only the development but also the territorial organisation of productive forces, first of all the industry. In modern life, more than 90% of electricity and heat is obtained by Kazakhstan's economy by consuming non-renewable energy resources: different types of coal, oil shale, oil, natural gas and peat. Therefore, it is significant to ensure energy security, as the country faces a rapid fall back to mono-gas structure of fuel and energy balance. However, energy resources in Kazakhstan are spread very unevenly. Its main supplies are concentrated in northern and central parts of the republic, and the majority of consumers of electrical power live in the southern and western areas of the country. However, energy plays an important role in the economy of industrial production and to a large extent determines the level of competitive advantage, which is a promising condition for implementation of energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies. In these circumstances, issues of modernisation and reforms of this sector in Kazakhstan gain more and more importance, which can be seen in the example of economically sustainable solutions of a large local monopoly company, significant savings in capital investment and efficiency of implementation of an investment project. A major disadvantage of development of electricity distribution companies is the prevalence of very high moral and physical amortisation of equipment, reaching almost 70-80%, which significantly increases the operating costs. For example, while an investment of 12 billion tenge was planned in 2009 in this branch, in 2012 it is planned to invest more than 17 billion. Obviously, despite the absolute increase, the rate of investment is still quite low, as the total demand in this area is at least more than 250 billion tenge. In addition, industrial infrastructure, including the objects of Kazakhstan electric power industry, have a tangible adverse impact on the environment. Thus, since there is a large number of various power projects that are sources of electromagnetic radiation, the environment is deteriorated. Hence, there is a need to optimise the efficiency of the organisation and management of production activities of energy companies, to create and implement new technologies, to ensure safe production and provide solutions to various environmental aspects. These are key strategic factors to ensure success of the modern energy sector of Kazakhstan. The contribution of authors in developing the scope of this subject is explained by the fact that there was not enough research in the energy sector, especially in the view of ecological modernisation. This work differs from similar works in Kazakhstan in the way that the proposed method of investment project calculation takes into account the time factor, which compares the current and future value of profit from the implementation of innovative equipment that helps to bring it to actual practise. The feasibility of writing this article lies in the need of forming a public policy in the industrial sector, including optimising the structure of energy disbursing rate, which complies with the terms of future modernised development of the domestic energy sector.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2009

Detailed information on soil characteristics is of great importance for the use and conservation of soil resources that are essential for human welfare and ecosystem sustainability. This paper introduces soil inventory of Korea focusing on national soil database establishment, information systems, use, and future direction for natural resources management. Different scales of soil maps surveyed and soil test data collected by RDA (Rural Development Administration) were computerized to construct digital soil maps and database. Soil chemical properties and heavy metal concentrations in agricultural soils including vulnerable agricultural soils were investigated regularly at fixed sampling points. Internet-based information systems for soil and agro-environmental resources were developed based on 'National Soil Survey Projects' for managing soil resources and for providing soil information to the public, and 'Agroenvironmental Change Monitoring Project' to monitor spatial and temporal changes of agricultural environment will be opened soon. Soils data has a great potential of further application in estimation of soil carbon storage, water capacity, and soil loss. Digital mapping of soil and environment using state-of-the-art and emerging technologies with a pedometrics concept will lead to future direction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.4
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• pp.382-389
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• 2020

Soil properties in opencast mines are a key factor in reclamation (revegetation) of mining areas. In this study we determined the soil physical and chemical properties of kaolinite tailings, reclaimed areas, and adjacent natural red pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) forests in kaolinite opencast mines in Sancheong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Six sites were chosen for collection of soil samples to determine soil physical and chemical properties at a soil depth of 10 cm. Soil bulk density was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the kaolinite tailings (1.51 g·cm-3) than in the reclaimed areas (1.19 g·cm-3) and red pine forests (0.93 g·cm-3), whereas air phase in the kaolinite tailings (14.2%) was significantly lower than in the red pine forests (32.6%). Clay content in the red pine forests was significantly higher than in the reclaimed areas (18.7%) or kaolinite tailings (14.8%), whereas soil structural stability index was significantly lower in the reclaimed areas (1.61%) and kaolinite tailings (0.87%) than in the red pine forests (7.75%). Soil pH was significantly higher in the kaolinite tailings (pH 6.68) and reclaimed areas (pH 6.27) than in the red pine forests (pH 5.31). Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen were significantly higher in the red pine forests (C: 36.03 mg·g-1; N: 2.08 mg·g-1) than in the reclaimed areas (C: 5.00 mg·g-1; N: 0.31 mg·g-1) than in the kaolinite tailings (C: 2.12 mg·g-1; N: 0.07 mg g-1). The amount of available phosphorus was not significantly different among the three treatments. The concentration of exchangeable potassium was significantly lower in the kaolinite tailings (0.08 cmolc·kg-1) than in the reclaimed areas (0.21 cmolc·kg-1) and red pine forests (0.30 cmolc·kg-1). These results indicate that, because of high soil bulk density and low soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium in kaolinite tailings and reclaimed mining areas, soil nutrient management is needed in order to reclaim the vegetation in these type of areas.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.169-178
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• 2020

The reductions of troops/human resources, and improvement in combat power have made Korean Department of Defense actively adapt 4th Industrial Revolution technology (Artificial Intelligence, Big Data). The defense information system has been developed in various ways according to the task and the uniqueness of each military. In order to take full advantage of the 4th Industrial Revolution technology, it is necessary to improve the closed defense datamanagement system.However, the establishment and usage of data standards in all information systems for the utilization of defense big data and artificial intelligence has limitations due to security issues, business characteristics of each military, anddifficulty in standardizing large-scale systems. Based on the interworking requirements of each system, data sharing is limited through direct linkage through interoperability agreement between systems. In order to implement smart defense using the 4th Industrial Revolution technology, it is urgent to prepare a system that can share defense data and make good use of it. To technically support the defense, it is critical to develop Multi Repository Meta-Data Management (MRMM) that supports systematic standard management of defense data that manages enterprise standard and standard mapping for each system and promotes data interoperability through linkage between standards which obeys the Defense Interoperability Management Development Guidelines. We introduced MRMM, and implemented by using vocabulary similarity using machine learning and statistical approach. Based on MRMM, We expect to simplify the standardization integration of all military databases using artificial intelligence and bigdata. This will lead to huge reduction of defense budget while increasing combat power for implementing smart defense.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.236-250
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• 2016

This study was conducted to provide baseline data regarding functional cosmetics so that Inula. based cosmetics can increase its competitiveness in the market as well as to understand current trends to enable anticipation of demands for future product development. For this research, general consumers over the age of 20 residing in Seoul and the Gyeonggi district were surveyed. The results show consumers preferred serum-type products among various types of cosmetics, and that they purchased these once every 1-3 months. Consumers also preferred these products in less than 10-30ml capacity, and at costs of less than 30,000-50,000 KRW. For whitening, functional cosmetics consumers also preferred the serum type, in less than 30-50ml capacity and priced less than 30,000-50,000 KRW. Consumers preferred to purchase functional cosmetics in single units. The major purchasing location, with a high preference rate, was cosmetic stores, and the major sources of information, also with high preference rates, were 'experienced reviews from family, friends and acquaintances' and 'TV advertisements'. Respondents selected 'over 50,000 KRW' the most for all items when responding to 'Purchase Intent for Functional Cosmetics containing Inula', and responded that they were willing to pay 10%-30% more for functional cosmetics containing Inula compared to standard functional cosmetics. These results show that businesses in the cosmetics industry need to take consumer demand into account when developing new functional cosmetic products, as well as establish plans to create specialized spaces that provide better quality service and increase word of mouth effect through better utilization of various types of offline media, social media, and blogs. The study also shows a need for businesses to develop products fully utilizing the Inula flower, which has been shown to be effective as a natural skin whitener, wrinkle reducer and skin moisturizer, to appeal to the increasing number of customers interested in health and beauty.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.33 no.5_3
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• pp.867-878
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• 2017

Recent interest in geological heritage has been increased in that it can be used as a basic data onto predicting the global environmental change of its containing information about past global environment. In addition, due to the characteristics of the geological heritage, it is easy to damage and difficult to recover without continuous preservation and management. However, there are more damages occurring because of the sporadic spatial distribution and ambiguous management authority of geological heritage. Therefore, an integrated management system is needed by determining the spatial distribution of geological heritage preferentially. In this study, the detailed criteria for assessment of value from the preliminary studies were applied and the geological heritage grade distribution map was generated by using geospatial data in Seoul metropolitan area. For this purpose, the list of geological heritage sites in the Seoul metropolitan area, which is the study area, were complied through a literature review. The geospatial database was designed and constructed by applying the detailed criteria for assessment of value from the preliminary studies. After the construction of the spatial database, a grade map of the geological heritage was created. As a result of the geological heritage grade map in the Seoul metropolitan area, there were more than 35% of the geological heritage in northern Gyeonggi provinces such as Yeoncheon city (18.8%), Pocheon city (10.6%) and Paju city (6.3%). It is followed by 18.1% in Incheon and 8.1% in Ansan, which is approximately 26.2% in western Gyeonggi Province. The geological age of the geological heritage was the highest at in the fourth stage of the Cenozoic era of 16.9%. Through the results of this study, the geological heritage data of the Seoul metropolitan area were extracted from existing literature data and converted into spatial information. It enables comparing the geological features with the spatial distribution of geological heritage. In addition, a management system has been established based on spatial information of constantly building geological heritage data. This provides the integrated management system of the geological heritage to manage authority so that it can be used as a basis for the development of the geological park. Based on the results of this study, it is considered to be possible to systematically construct and utilize the geological heritage across the country.