• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.542-553
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• 2018

Since many previous studies reported the health effect of air pollution and indicated traffic as a major pollution source, significant policy efforts have been made to control traffic to reduce air pollution. However, there have been few studies that evaluated such policy implementation. In Seoul, Korea, the exclusive median bus lane system was implemented in 2004, and the metropolitan government applied air pollution reduction policies such as conversion of diesel buses to compressed natural gas buses and installation of emission control devices. This paper aimed to investigate the impact of the exclusive median bus lane system on air pollution reduction. Using hourly concentrations of particulate matter ($PM_{10}$) and nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$) measured at 131 regulatory monitoring sites in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do for 2001-2014, we calculated annual and daily average concentrations at each site. We assessed the impact of the policy using differences-in-differences analysis by annual and daily average models after adjusting for geographic and/or meteorological variables. This method divides population into treatment and control groups with and without policy application, and compares the difference between the two time periods before and after the policy implementation in the treatment group with the difference in the control group. We classified all monitoring sites into treatment and control groups using two definitions: 1) Seoul vs. Gyeonggi-do; 2) within vs. outside 300 meters from the median bus lane. Pre- and post-policy periods were defined as 2001-2005 and 2006-2014, and 2004 and 2014 in the annual and daily models, respectively. The decrease in $PM_{10}$ concentrations between the two periods across monitoring sites in the treatment group was larger by $1.73-5.88{\mu}g/m^3$ than in the control group. $NO_2$ also showed the decrease without statistical significance. Our findings suggest that an efficient public transport policy combined with pollution abatement policies can contribute to reduction in air pollution.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2011

The seasonal characteristics of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) were evaluated through the measurement of $PM_{10}$ (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 ${\mu}m$) and $PM_{2.5}$ (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 ${\mu}m$) collected in the downtown area of Iksan city over roughly two weeks in each season of 2004. During the sampling period, 54 samples of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ were collected and then measured for mass concentrations of PM and its water-soluble inorganic ion species. The concentrations of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ were highly variable on a daily time scale in all seasons, especially in fall. Annual concentrations of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ were $54.7{\pm}21.6\;{\mu}g/m^3$ and $34.0{\pm}13.4\;{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The daily concentrations of the analyzed ions similarly showed a pronounced variation, although a difference between seasons existed. Among them, $SO_4^{2-}$, $NO_3^-$ and $NH_4^+$ were the most abundant ions in all seasons, contributing up to 32% of $PM_{10}$ and 39% of $PM_{2.5}$. The contribution of $SO_4^{2-}$ and $NO_3^-$ showed a seasonal variation, as $SO_4^{2-}$ was the highest during spring and summer and $NO_3^-$ was the highest during fall and winter. Non-seasalt $SO_4^{2-}$ and $NO_3^-$ were found to exist mainly as neutralized chemical components of $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ and $NH_4NO_3$ due to the high concentration of $NH_4^+$ in PM samples, which were a major form of airborne PM in all seasons. Seasonal characteristics of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ in Iksan were described in relation to the temporal variations of daily concentration of PM and its inorganic ion species including inter-particle reactions.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.323-331
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• 2018

This study was conducted to examine the effects of constructing streetside urban forests on particulate matter (PM) content in pedestrian paths and open spaces created between the main streets and buildings in a high-rise, high-density urban area. The study site is a 70m-wide open space between Busan City Hall and Jungang-street in Busan, Korea. The results showed that the density of PM differences between the open space and the adjacent main street were small in regions without linear trees and shrub rows during both the weekdays and weekend. On the other hand, the areas with linear trees and shrub rows were found to have significantly higher concentrations of PM compared to the roadway. In particular, sections with linear trees and shrub rows had higher PM levels both on roads and in adjacent open space, indicating that the composition of linear trees and shrub rows increased the concentration of PM in the off-street open space in areas with wide space between the roadway and building. The impact was more significant in the open space than the roadway. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that PM generated by vehicles flows through the roadside shrubs by rapid wind flow but does not disperse widely in the pedestrian paths where the wind flow was reduced. In this study, we found that the roadside tree and shrub walls slowed the flow of wind, causing vehicle-emitted PM to accumulate if a wide open space was created between the road and building, resulting in higher concentration of PM in the open space. We confirmed that the distance between the road and building was a critical factor for constructing linear trees and shrub rows to reduce PM generated by vehicle traffic.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.269-276
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• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide policy directions for air pollution reduction by analyzing the variation in the characteristics of air contaminants around the Gyeonggi Province area. Methods: The data used in the study was obtained from air quality monitoring stations operated by the Gyeonggi Provincial Government. The target area was the air quality management area of the Gyeonggi Province region. Results: The concentration of $PM_{10}$ (particles measuring $10{\mu}m$ or less) in 2009 was $60{\mu}g/m^3$, which has been reduced by about 2.7% per year after improvement countermeasures were emplaced. The air pollution control policy was especially more effective for coarse particulate matter (CPM, $PM_{10-2.5}$). The improvement of $NO_2$ pollution was generally very low, especially in cities which had considerable automobile traffic. The concentration of $SO_2$ pollution was rapidly improved in industrial areas, but did not show any difference for multiple and general cities. The predicted concentration of $PM_{10}$ for 2014 based on the trend over 2001-2009 was $53.4{\mu}g/m^3$, which fails to meet the target concentration of $40{\mu}g/m^3$. The predicted concentration of $NO_2$ shows a very low probability of achieving the target concentration of 22 ppb, and thus the current improvement of air quality has proven unsatisfactory. Conclusion: Air pollution control policy should be enforced according to regional pollution characteristics in order to obtain maximum effectiveness in improvement.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.501-507
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• 2008

The concentrations of HCHO(formaldehyde), $PM_{10}$(particulate matter), $CO_2$(carbon dioxide) and TBC(total bacteria counter) distribution in schools(Chung-Nam Area) were examined, and the results were compared with the recommended criterion of the administration law of indoor air. The subjects were an elementary school, a middle school and a high school in Chung-Nam area, and the concentration of TBC was examined by Single Stage Air Cascade Sampler, which applied the inertia collision catching method of 28.29L/min(flux) during 5 months from March, 2007 to July, 2007. The instrument(LD-3B, SIBATA Company)was used to examine $PM_{10}$, by a light scattering method and a light transmission method. The instrument(Airboxx(KD Engineering) was used to examine $CO_2$. The instrument(Z300XP(Environmental sensor)was used to examine HCHO. The result indicated that the $PM_{10}$ average concentrations of the surveyed classrooms were $49{\mu}g/m^3$ in Spring and $59{\mu}g/m^3$ in Summer. The $CO_2$ average concentration of the surveyed schools were 576 ppm in the classroom and 527 ppm in the stateroom. The average concentration of TBC were $729CFU/m^3$ in an elementary school, $401CFU/m^3$ in a middle school, $381CFU/m^3$ in a high school. The HCHO average concentration of the surveyed schools were 0.03 ppm in the classroom, 0.02 ppm in the stateroom.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1029-1042
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• 2016

The initial and boundary conditions are important factors in regional chemical transport modeling systems. The method of generating the chemical boundary conditions for regional air quality models tends to be different from the dynamically varying boundary conditions in global chemical transport models. In this study, the impact of real time Copernicus atmosphere monitoring service (CAMS) re-analysis data from the modeling atmospheric composition and climate project interim implementation (MACC) on the regional air quality in the Korean Peninsula was carried out using the community multi-scale air quality modeling system (CMAQ). A comparison between conventional global data and CAMS for numerical assessments was also conducted. Although the horizontal resolution of the CAMS re-analysis data is not higher than the conventionally provided data, the simulated particulate matter (PM) concentrations with boundary conditions for CAMS re-analysis is more reasonable than any other data, and the estimation accuracy over the entire Korean peninsula, including the Seoul and Daegu metropolitan areas, was improved. Although an inland area such as the Daegu metropolitan area often has large uncertainty in PM prediction, the level of improvement in the prediction for the Daegu metropolitan area is higher than in the coastal area of the western part of the Korean peninsula.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.220.2-220.2
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• 2011

Biodiesel and biodiesel blend fuel are receiving increasing attention as alternative fuels for diesel engines without substantial modifications. Biodiesel fuels and blending have been widely studied and applied in diesel engine because of biodiesel's lower sulfur, lower aromatic hydrocarbon and higher oxygen content. Biodiesels have the potential to be oxidized in different condition. It has reported that oxidation deterioration of biodiesel is different in the condition of storage and oxidation causes chemical property change of methyl esters. Sunlight intensity, temperature, material of container and contact surface with oxygen are key dominant factors accelerating oxidation deterioration. In this study, we chose temperature among key oxidation conditions and metal container filled with biodiesel was heated at about $110^{\circ}C$ for 10 days in order to accelerate oxidation deterioration. To better understand the effect of biodiesel blends on emission, steady state tests were conducted on a heavy duty diesel engine. The engine was fueled with Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel(ULSD), a blend of 10% and 20%(BD10, BD20) on volumetric basis, equipped with a common rail direct injection system and turbocharger, lives up to the requirements of EURO 3. The experimental results show that the blend fuel of normal biodiesel with BD10 and BD20 increased NOx. The result of PM was similar to diesel fuel on BD10, but the result of PM on BD20 was increased about 63% more than its of diesel. The blend fuel of Oxidation biodiesel with BD10 and BD20 increased NOx as the results of normal biodiesel. But PM was all increased on BD10 and BD20. Especially THC was extremely increased when test fuel contains biodiesel about 140% more than its of diesel. Through this study, we knew that oxidation deterioration of biodiesel affects emission of diesel engine.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.274-288
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• 2018

Quantitative data of 50 non-polar organic compounds constituting $PM_{2.5}$ were continuously collected and analyzed from June 2016 to October 2017 (approximately 17 months) at Ichihara, one of the largest industrial areas in Japan. Target non-polar organic compounds including 21 species of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 24 species of n-alkanes and 5 species of phthalate esters(PAEs) were simultaneously measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Basically, the average concentrations of the total PAHs, n-alkanes and PAEs in each season remained nearly level, and seasonal variations were little throughout the study period. These results suggest that the emission sources, which are not influenced by the seasons, are the dominant inputs for the target organic compounds. Diagnostic ratios of PAHs, assessment of n-alkane homologue distributions, carbon preference index, and the contribution of wax n-alkanes from plants were used to estimate source apportionments. These results indicate that anthropogenic sources were the main contributor for most PAHs and n-alkanes throughout the study period. The concentrations of PAEs selected in this study were low because emission amounts of these chemicals were little within the source areas of the sampling site. To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to simultaneously measure a high number of non-polar organic compounds in $PM_{2.5}$ collected from the ambient air of Japan, and the resultant data will provide valuable data and information for environmental researchers.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.181-187
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• 2008

Recently, alternative fuels are drawing more attentions due to the increasing need for lower emission characteristics and fuel consumption rate in automotive engines. The GTL(gas to luquid) is the one of most favored candidates. It has higher cetane number(more than 75) and almost negligible sulphur and aromatic contents. Therefore, enhanced emission characteristics are expected even in the application in diesel engines without any modification. In this study, the cylinder pressure and heat release, emission characteristics with fuel injection timings are compared between diesel and GTL fuel in the single cylinder diesel engine. Noticeable reduction in PM, THC and CO emission are observed due to lower sulphur and aromatic contents in GTL. Also, the ignition delay decreased due to higher cetane number of GTL, which slightly decreased the amount of NOx emissions. With the retards of main injection timing, NOx decreases more for the case of GTL, while the level of THC and CO emissions still remains lower than the case of diesel. Therefore, there is much room for the control of injection timing for NOx reduction without sacrificing THC and CO emissions. With the retards of main injection timing, Small size distribution of PM became lager and there amount increased. But from all conditions, size distribution of PM for the case GTL was lower than Diesel.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.294-305
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• 2018

Quantitative assessment on the impact from North Korean emissions to surface particulate matter(PM) concentration in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), South Korea is conducted using a 3-dimensional chemistry transport model. Transboundary transport of air pollutants and their precursors are important to understand regional air quality in East Asian countries. As North Korea locates in the middle of main transport pathways of Chinese pollutants, quantifiable estimation of its impact is essential for policy making in South Korean air quality management. In this study, the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System is utilized to simulate regional air quality and its sensitivity, using the Comprehensive Regional Emissions inventory for Atmospheric Transport Experiment 2015 and the Clean Air Policy Support System 2013 emissions inventories for North and South Korea, respectively. Contributions were estimated by a brute force method, perturbing 50% of North and South Korean emissions. Simulations demonstrate that North Korean emissions contribute $3.89{\mu}g/m^3$ of annual surface PM concentrations in the SMA, which accounts 14.7% of the region's average. Impacts are dominant in nitrate and organic carbon (OC) concentrations, attributing almost 40% of SMA OC concentration during January and February. Clear seasonal variations are also found in North Korean emissions contribution to South Korea (and vice versa) due to seasonal characteristics of synoptic weather, especially by the change of seasonal flow patterns.