• Title/Summary/Keyword: Polar environment

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Limitations of National Responsibility and its Application on Marine Environmental Pollution beyond Borders -Focused on the Effects of China's Three Gorges Dam on the Marine Environment in the East China Sea- (국경을 넘는 해양환경오염에 대한 국가책임과 적용의 한계 -중국의 산샤댐 건설로 인한 동중국해 해양환경 영향을 중심으로-)

  • Yang, Hee Cheol
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.341-356
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    • 2015
  • A nation has a sovereign right to develop and use its natural resources according to its policies with regard to development and the relevant environment. A nation also has an obligation not to harm other countries or damage environments of neighboring countries as consequences of such actions of developments or use of natural resources. However, international precedents induce a nation to take additional actions not to cause more damages from the specific acts causing environmental damages beyond national borders, when such acts have economic and social importance. That is to say that there is a tendency to resolve such issues in a way to promote the balance between the mutual interests by allowing such actions to continue. A solution to China's Three Gorges Dam dilemma based on a soft law approach is more credible than relying on a good faith approach of national responsibilities and international legal proceedings since the construction and operation of the dam falls within the category of exercising national sovereign rights. If a large scale construction project such as the Three Gorges Dam or operation of a nuclear power plant causes or may cause environmental damage beyond the border of a nation engaged in such an undertaking, countries affected by this undertaking should jointly monitor the environmental effects in a spirit of cooperation rather than trying to stop the construction and should seek cooperative solutions of mutual understanding to establish measures to prevent further damages. If China's Three Gorges Dam construction and operation cause or contain the possibility of causing serious damages to marine environment, China cannot set aside its national responsibility to meet international obligations if China is aware of or knows about the damage that has occurred or may occur but fail to prevent, minimize, reverse or eliminate additional chances of such damages, or fails to put in place measures in order to prevent the recurrence of such damages. However, Korea must be able to prove a causal relationship between the relevant actions and resulting damages if it is to raise objections to the construction or request certain damage-prevention actions against crucial adverse effects on the marine environment out of respect for China's right to develop resources and acts of use thereof. Therefore, it is essential to cumulate continuous monitoring and evaluations information pertaining to marine environmental changes and impacts or responses of affected waters as well as acquisition of scientific baseline data with observed changes in such baseline. As China has adopted a somewhat nonchalant attitude toward taking adequate actions to protect against marine pollution risks or adverse effects caused by the construction and operation of China's Three Gorges Dam, there is a need to persuade China to adopt a more active stance and become involved in the monitoring and co-investigation of the Yellow Sea in order to protect the marine environment. Moreover, there is a need to build a regular environmental monitoring system that includes the evaluation of environmental effects beyond borders. The Espoo Convention can serve as a mechanism to ease potential conflicts of national interest in the Northeast Asian waters where political and historical sensitivities are acute. Especially, the recent diplomatic policy advanced by Korea and China can be implemented as an important example of gentle cooperation as the policy tool of choice is based on regional cooperation or cooperation between different regions.

Plankton Community Response to Physico-Chemical Forcing in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea during Summer 2008 (2008년 하계 울릉분지에서 관측된 물리·화학적 외압에 대한 플랑크톤 군집의 반응)

  • Rho, Tae-Keun;Kim, Yun-Bae;Park, Jeong-In;Lee, Yong-Woo;Im, Dong-Hoon;Kang, Dong-Jin;Lee, Tong-Sup;Yoon, Seung-Tae;Kim, Tae-Hoon;Kwak, Jung-Hyun;Park, Hyun-Je;Jeong, Man-Ki;Chang, Kyung-Il;Kang, Chang-Keun;Suh, Hae-Lip;Park, Myung-Won
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.32 no.3
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    • pp.269-289
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    • 2010
  • In Summer 2008, a multidisciplinary survey was conducted onboard R/V Haeyang 2000 to understand plankton response to the three distinct physico-chemical settings that developed in the Ulleung Basin of the East Sea. Baseline settings of hydrographic conditions included the presence of the thin (<20 m) Tsushima Surface Water (TSW) on top of the Tsushima Middle Water (TMW). It extends from the Korea Strait to $37^{\circ}N$ along the $130^{\circ}E$ and then turns offshore and encompasses the relatively saline (T>$26^{\circ}C$, S>33.7) Ulleung Warm Eddy surface water centered at $36.5^{\circ}N$ and $131^{\circ}E$. A relatively colder and saline water mass appeared off the southeastern coast of Korea. It was accompanied by higher nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentrations, suggesting a coastal upwelling. Most of the offshore surface waters support low phytoplankton biomass (0.3 mg chl-a $m^{-3}$). A much denser phytoplankton biomass (1-2.3 mg $m^{-3}$) accumulated at the subsurface layer between 20-50 m depth. The subsurface chlorophyll-a maximum (SCM) layer was closely related to the nutricline, suggesting an active growth of phytoplankton at depth. The SCM developed at shallow depth (20-30 m) near the coast and deepened offshore (50-60 m). A fucoxanthin/zeaxanthin ratio was high in coastal waters while it was low in offshore waters, which indicated that diatoms dominate coastal waters while cyanobacteria dominate offshore waters. The community structure and biomass of phytoplanktonare closely related to nitrogen availability. Zooplankton biomass was higher in the coastal region than in the offshore region while species richness showed an opposite trend. Zooplankton community structure retained a coastal/offshore contrast. These suggest that summer hydrography is a stable structure, lasting long enough to allow a hydrography-specific plankton community to evolve.

Chemical Fluxes at the Sediment-Water Interface Below Marine Fish Cages on the Coastal Waters off Tong-Young, South Coast of Korea (남해안 통영지역 가두리양식장 해수-퇴적물 경계면에서의 chemical fluxes)

  • Shim, Jeong-Hee;Kang, Young-Chul;Choi, Jin-Woo
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.151-159
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    • 1997
  • Benthic respiration and chemical fluxes were measured at the sediment-water interface underlying the marine fish cages floating on the open coastal waters off Tong-Young, the South Coast of Korea. The effects of cage farming on coastal benthic environment and on mass balance of organic carbon in the benthic boundary layer under the marine fish cages are addressed. In a growing season of caged fishes of June, 1995, benthic chambers and sediment traps were deployed on the sediment-water interfaces of the two sites chosen for this study: 1) Cage Site, directly underlying the fish cages of the farm at 18 m water depth, and 2) Control Site, about 100 m away from the farm at 32 m water depth. Benthic respiration rates and chemical fluxes were calculated from the evolution of dissolved oxygen and chemicals in the chamber water, and mass balance of organic carbon in the benthic boundary layer was constructed based on the vertical flux of particulate organic matter (POM) and chemical fluxes out of the sediment. High organic dumping (6400 mg C $m^{-2}d^{-1}$) and high benthic respiration (230 mmol $O_2\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$) were observed at the Cage Site. Equivalent to 40% of vertical flux of organic carbon into the Cage Site seemed to be decomposed concurrently and released back to overlying waters (2400 mg C $m^{-2}d^{-1}$). Consequently, up to 4000 mg C $m^{-2}d^{-1}$ of organic carbon could be buried into the farm sediment (equivalent to 60% of organic carbon flux into the Cage Site). At the Control Site, relatively less input of organic carbon (4000 mg C $m^{-2}d^{-1}$) and low benthic respiration rate (75 mmol $O_2\;m^{-2}d^{-1}$) were observed despite short distance away from the cages. The influence of cage farming on benthic chemical fluxes might be restricted and concentrated in the sea bottom just below the fish cages in spite of massive organic dumping and high current regime around the fish cage farm.

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Bioleaching of Mn(II) from Manganese Nodules by Bacillus sp. MR2 (Bacillus sp. MR2에 의한 망간단괴의 생물용출)

  • Choi, Sung-Chan;Lee, Ga-Hwa;Lee, Hong-Keum
    • Korean Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.45 no.4
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    • pp.411-415
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    • 2009
  • Some microorganisms are capable of leaching Mn(II) from nonsulfidic manganese ores indirectly via nonenzymatic processes. Such reductive dissolution requires organic substrates, such as glucose, sucrose, or galactose, as a source of carbon and energy for microbial growth. This study investigated characteristics of Mn(II) leaching from manganese nodules by using heterotrophic Bacillus sp. strain MR2 provided with corn starch as a less-expensive substrate. Leaching of Mn(II) at 25.6 g Mn(II) $kg^{-1}$ nodule $day^{-1}$ was accompanied with cell growth, but part of the produced Mn(II) re-adsorbed onto residual $MnO_2$ particles after 24 h. Direct contact of cells to manganese nodule was not necessary as a separation between them with a dialysis tube produced similar amount [24.6 g Mn(II) $kg^{-1}$ nodule $day^{-1}$]. These results indicated an involvement of extracellular diffusible compound(s) during Mn(II) leaching by strain MR2. In order to optimize a leaching process we tested factors that influence the reaction, and the most efficient conditions were $25\sim35^{\circ}C$, pH 5~7, inoculum density of 1.5~2.5% (v/v), pulp density of 2~3 g/L, and particle size <75 ${\mu}m$. Although Mn(II) leaching was enhanced as particle size decrease, we suggest <212 ${\mu}m$ as a proper size range since more grinding means more energy consumption The results would help for the improvement of bioleaching of manganese nodule as a less expensive, energy-efficient, and environment-friendly technology as compared to the existing physicochemical metal recovery technologies.

Analysis of Annual Variability of Landfast Sea Ice near Jangbogo Antarctic Station Using InSAR Coherence Images (InSAR 긴밀도 영상을 이용한 남극 장보고기지 인근 정착해빙의 연간 변화 분석)

  • Han, Hyangsun;Kim, Yeonchun;Jin, Hyorim;Lee, Hoonyol
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.31 no.6
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    • pp.501-512
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    • 2015
  • Landfast sea ice (LFI) in Terra Nova Bay, East Antarctica where the Jangbogo Antarctic Research Station is located, has significant influences on marine ecosystem and the sailing of an icebreaker. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the spatio-temporal variation of the LFI in Terra Nova Bay. In this study, we chose interferometric pairs with the temporal baseline from 1 to 9 days out of a total of 62 COSMO-SkyMed synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images over Terra Nova Bay obtained from December 2010 to January 2012, and then constructed the coherence image of each pair. The LFI showed coherence values higher than 0.3 even in the interferometric SAR (InSAR) pairs of up to 9-days of temporal baseline. This was because the LFI was fixed at coastline and thus showed low temporal phase decorrelation. Based on the characteristics of the coherence on LFI, We defined the areas of LFI that show spatially homogeneous coherence values higher than 0.5. Pack ice (PI) and open water showed low coherence values due to large temporal phase decorreation caused by current and wind. Distinguishing PI from open water in the coherence images was difficult due to their similarly low coherence values. PI was identified in SAR amplitude images by investigating cracks on the ice. The extents of the LFI and PI were estimated from the coherence and SAR amplitude images and their temporal variations were analyzed. The extent of the LFI increased from March to July (maximum extent of $170.7km^2$) and decreased from October. The extent of the PI increased from February to May and decreased from May to July when the LFI increases dramatically. The extent of the LFI and air temperature showed an inverse correlation with a time lag of about 2 months, i.e., the extent of the LFI decreases after 2 months of the increase in the air temperature. Meanwhile the correlation between wind speed and the extent of the LFI was very low. This represents that the extent of LFI in Terra Nova Bay are influenced more by the air temperature than wind speed.

Classification of Transport Vehicle Noise Events in Magnetotelluric Time Series Data in an Urban area Using Random Forest Techniques (Random Forest 기법을 이용한 도심지 MT 시계열 자료의 차량 잡음 분류)

  • Kwon, Hyoung-Seok;Ryu, Kyeongho;Sim, Ickhyeon;Lee, Choon-Ki;Oh, Seokhoon
    • Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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    • v.23 no.4
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    • pp.230-242
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    • 2020
  • We performed a magnetotelluric (MT) survey to delineate the geological structures below the depth of 20 km in the Gyeongju area where an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 occurred in September 2016. The measured MT data were severely distorted by electrical noise caused by subways, power lines, factories, houses, and farmlands, and by vehicle noise from passing trains and large trucks. Using machine-learning methods, we classified the MT time series data obtained near the railway and highway into two groups according to the inclusion of traffic noise. We applied three schemes, stochastic gradient descent, support vector machine, and random forest, to the time series data for the highspeed train noise. We formulated three datasets, Hx, Hy, and Hx & Hy, for the time series data of the large truck noise and applied the random forest method to each dataset. To evaluate the effect of removing the traffic noise, we compared the time series data, amplitude spectra, and apparent resistivity curves before and after removing the traffic noise from the time series data. We also examined the frequency range affected by traffic noise and whether artifact noise occurred during the traffic noise removal process as a result of the residual difference.

Sequence Dependent Binding Modes of the ΔΔ- and ΛΛ-binuclear Ru(II) Complexes to poly[d(G-C)2] and poly[d(A-T)2]

  • Chitrapriya, Nataraj;Kim, Raeyeong;Jang, Yoon Jung;Cho, Dae Won;Han, Sung Wook;Kim, Seog K.
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.34 no.7
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    • pp.2117-2124
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    • 2013
  • The binding properties and sequence selectivities of ${\Delta}{\Delta}$- and ${\Lambda}{\Lambda}-[{\mu}-Ru_2(phen)_4(bip)]^{4+}$ (bip = 4,4'-biphenylene (imidazo [4,4-f][1,10]phenanthroline) complexes with $poly[d(A-T)_2]$ and $poly[d(G-C)_2]$ were investigated using conventional spectroscopic methods. When bound to $poly[d(A-T)_2]$, a large positive circular dichroism (CD) spectrum was induced in absorption region of the bridging moiety for both the ${\Delta}{\Delta}$- and ${\Lambda}{\Lambda}-[{\mu}-Ru_2(phen)_4(bip)]^{4+}$ complexes, which suggested that the bridging moiety sits in the minor groove of the polynucleotide. As luminescence intensity increased, decay times became longer and complexes were well-protected from the negatively charged iodide quencher compared to that in the absence of $poly[d(A-T)_2]$. These luminescence measurements indicated that Ru(II) enantiomers were in a less polar environment compared to that in water and supported by minor groove binding. An angle of $45^{\circ}$ between the molecular plane of the bridging moiety of the ${\Delta}{\Delta}-[{\mu}-Ru_2(phen)_4(bip)]^{4+}$ complex and the local DNA helix axis calculated from reduced linear dichroism ($LD^r$) spectrum further supported the minor groove binding mode. In the case of ${\Lambda}{\Lambda}-[{\mu}-Ru_2(phen)_4(bip)]^{4+}$ complex, this angle was $55^{\circ}$, suggesting a tilt of DNA stem near the binding site and bridging moiety sit in the minor groove of the $poly[d(A-T)_2]$. In contrast, neither ${\Delta}{\Delta}$-nor ${\Lambda}{\Lambda}-[{\mu}-Ru_2(phen)_4(bip)]^{4+}$ complex produced significant CD or $LD^r$ signal in the absorption region of the bridging moiety. Luminescence measurements revealed that both the ${\Delta}{\Delta}$- and ${\Lambda}{\Lambda}-[{\mu}-Ru_2(phen)_4(bip)]^{4+}$ complexes were partially accessible to the $I^-$ quencher. Furthermore, decay times became shorter when bis-Ru(II) complexes bound to $poly[d(G-C)_2]$. These observations suggest that both the ${\Delta}{\Delta}$- and ${\Lambda}{\Lambda}-[{\mu}-Ru_2(phen)_4(bip)]^{4+}$ complexes bind at the surface of $poly[d(G-C)_2]$, probably electrostatically to phosphate group. The results indicate that ${\Delta}{\Delta}$- and ${\Lambda}{\Lambda}-[{\mu}-Ru_2(phen)_4(bip)]^{4+}$ are able to discriminate between AT and GC base pairs.

Photolysis of the insecticide imidacloprid in water and water-paddy soil systems (살충제 imidacloprid의 물 및 물-토양계 중 광분해)

  • Ihm, Yang-Bin;Kyung, Kee-Sung;Kim, Chan-Sub;Choi, Byeong-Ryeol;Hong, Soo-Myung;Lee, Jae-Koo
    • The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.38-45
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    • 2004
  • To elucidate the photolysis characteristics of the insecticide imidacloprid in the environment, $[^{14}C]$imidacloprid was treated into water and paddy soil-water system. In water system, the amount of $^{14}C$-radioactivity distributed in aqueous phase was rapidly increased up to 80% of total $^{14}C$ in water during 7 days of exposure to sunlight. Also, the amounts of imidacloprid in water at day 0 and 3 days after treatment were 1.2461 and 0.8594 mg/kg, respectively, not being detected 7 days after treatment, indicating rapid degradation of imidacloprid in water by sunlight. One photodegradation product, imidacloprid urea, in which the $N-NO_2$ moiety of imidacloprid was replaced by oxygen, was detected from water in water and water-paddy systems. The amount of the metabolite detected from water in water system was 0.0112 mg/kg 1 day after treatment and reached the top concentration of 0.0391 mg/kg 7 days after treatment. In case of water-paddy system, its amount was 0.0117 mg/kg 1 day after treatment and reached the highest concentration of 0.0259 mg/kg 3 days after treatment. Rapid transformation of imidacloprid into polar compounds continued until 7 days after treatment, considering that 80% of $^{14}C$ in water distributed in aqueous phase 7 days after treatment, amount of imidacloprid was 1.6538 mg/kg at day 0 and 0.8785 mg/kg 1 day after treatment, not being detected after 15 days, indicating rapid degradation of imidacloprid in water-paddy soil system by sunlight. The direct degradation of imidacloprid to imidacloprid urea would be a major photodegradation pathway in water and water-paddy soil systems.

Generation and Growth of Long Ocean Waves along the West Coast of Korea in March 2007 (2007년 3월 한국 서해안에 발생한 해양장파의 형성과 성장과정)

  • Choi, Byoung-Ju;Park, Yong-Woo;Kwon, Kyung-Man
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.30 no.4
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    • pp.453-466
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    • 2008
  • In order to examine the generation mechanism of long ocean waves along the west coast of Korea and to understand the amplification process of the long ocean waves, sea level, atmospheric pressure and wind data observed every minute from 2007 March 29 to 2007 April 1 were analyzed and onedimensional numerical ocean model experiments were performed. An atmospheric pressure jump propagated southeastward from Backryungdo to Yeonggwang along the west coast of Korea with speed of $13{\sim}27\;m/s$ between 2007 March 30 23:00 and 2007 April 1 1:30. Average magnitude of pressure jump was 4.2 hPa. As a moving atmospheric jump propagated from north to south along the coast, long ocean waves were generated and the sea level abnormally rose or fell at Anheung, Kunsan, Wido and Yeonggwang. Average amplitude of sea level rise (or fall) was about 113.6 cm. In a one-dimensional numerical ocean model, nonlinear shallow water equations were numerically integrated and a moving atmospheric pressure jump with traveling speed of 24 m/s was used as an external force. While the atmospheric pressure jump travels over 60 m depth ocean, a long ocean wave is generated. Because the propagation speed of the atmospheric jump is almost equal to that of the long ocean wave, Proudman resonance occurs and the long ocean wave amplifies. As the atmospheric pressure jump moves into the coastal area shallower than 60 m, the speed of the long ocean wave decreases and Proudman resonance effect decreases. However, the amplitude of the long ocean wave increases and wave length becomes shorter because of shoaling effect. When the long ocean wave hits the land boundary, amplitude of the long ocean wave drastically amplifies due to reflection. Data analysis and numerical experiments suggest that the southeastward propagation of an atmospheric pressure jump over the shallow ocean, which is a necessary condition for Proudaman resonance, generated the long ocean waves along the west coast of Korea on 2007 March 31 and the ocean waves amplified due to shoaling effect in the coastal area and reflection at the shore.

Development of a Method for Calculating the Allowable Storage Capacity of Rivers by Using Drone Images (드론 영상을 이용한 하천의 구간별 허용 저수량 산정 방법 개발)

  • Kim, Han-Gyeol;Kim, Jae-In;Yoon, Sung-Joo;Kim, Taejung
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.34 no.2_1
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    • pp.203-211
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    • 2018
  • Dam discharge is carried out for the management of rivers and area around rivers due to rainy season or drought. Dam discharge should be based on an accurate understanding of the flow rate that can be accommodated in the river. Therefore, understanding the allowable storage capacity of river is an important factor in the management of the environment around the river. However, the methods using water level meters and images, which are currently used to determine the allowable flow rate of rivers, show limitations in terms of accuracy and efficiency. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes a method to automatically calculate the allowable storage capacity of river based on the images taken by drone. In the first step, we create a 3D model of the river by using the drone images. This generation process consists of tiepoint extraction, image orientation, and image matching. In the second step, the allowable storage capacity is calculated by cross section analysis of the river using the generated river 3D model and the road and river layers in the target area. In this step, we determine the maximum water level of the river, extract the cross-sectional profile along the river, and use the 3D model to calculate the allowable storage capacity for the area. To prove our method, we used Bukhan river's data and as a result, the allowable storage volume was automatically extracted. It is expected that the proposed method will be useful for real - time management of rivers and surrounding areas and 3D models using drone.