• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2019

Recently, it was realized that a significant portion of pollution from urban areas originates from non-point sources such as construction sites, washoff from impervious surfaces, and sewage input from unsewered areas and combined sewer overflows. Especially, Urban stormwater runoff is one of the most extensive cause of the deterioration of the water quality in streams located in urban area. The objective of this study was to investigate runoff characteristics of non-point pollutants source at the urban area in the Suyeong River. Water quality variations were investigated at two points of Suyeong River during a period of 10 rainfall events. Concentration difference of non-point pollution source appeared big by precedent number of days of no rainfall. In addition, Event mean Concentration (EMCs) that well represents runoff characteristics of storm water during rainfall, was calculated, and runoff pollutants loading was also examined. The probability distribution of EMCs of BOD, COD, TOC, T-N, T-P, and TSS were analyzed and the mean values of observed EMC and the median values of estimated EMCs compared through probability distribution. Other objectives of this study were the characterization of discharge from non-point source, the analysis of the pollutant loads and an establishment of a management plan for non-point source of Suyeong River. Also, It was established that the most important thing for the administration of non-point pollution source is to come up with the solution for the reduction of effluent at the beginning.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.525-539
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• 2020

A site containing buried solid waste and treated water and oil storage containers from a leather manufacturing plant was studied through soil and groundwater pollution and electrical resistivity surveys with the aim of identifying areas polluted by leachate generated by landfilling with leather waste and leakage wastewater. It was found that TPH and Zn exceeded environmental standards for soil pollution and, for leachate and groundwater, Cr(VI) concentrations exceeded standard levels for groundwater quality. An electrical resistivity survey was used to elucidate soil and groundwater pollution characteristics and diffusion pathways. Ten survey lines were set up with an electrode spacing of 5 m in a dipole-dipole array. The hydraulic characteristics of soil determined by groundwater contamination surveys matched well the low-resistivity-anomaly zones. Electrical resistivity surveys of areas containing contaminated soil and groundwater that have irregular strata due to waste reclamation are thus useful in highlighting vertical and horizontal pollutant diffusion pathways and in monitoring contaminated and potentially contaminated areas.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.701-716
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• 2022

This study investigated the distribution behaviors of PM2.5 and PM10 at two air quality monitoring sites, Go-eup (GO) and Backseokeup (BS), located in Yangju City, South Korea. The amounts of emissions sources of pollutants were analyzed based on the Clean Air Policy Support System (CAPSS), and the contribution rates of neighboring cities were enumerated in Yangju. Yangju has a geological basin structure, and it is a city with mixed urban and rural characteristics. The emission concentration of particulate matter was affected by geological and seasonal factors for all sites observed in this study. Therefore, these factors should be considered when establishing policies related to particulate matter. Because the official GO and BS station sites in Yangju are both situated in the southern part of the city, the representativeness of both stations was checked using correlation analysis for the measurement of PM2.5 and PM10 by considering two more sites-those of Bongyang-dong (BY) and the Gumjun (GJ) industrial complex. The data included discharge amounts for business types 4 and 5, which were not sufficiently considered in the CAPSS estimates. Because the 4 and 5 types of businesses represent over 92.6% of businesses in this city, they are workplaces in Yangju that have a significant effect on the total air pollutant emission. These types of businesses should be re-inspected as the main discharge sources in industry, and basic data accumulation should be carried out. Moreover, to manage the emission of particulate matter, attainable countermeasures for the main sources of these emissions should be prepared in a prioritized fashion; such countermeasures include prohibition of backyard burning, supervision of charcoal kilns, and management of livestock excretions and fugitive dust in construction sites and on roads. The contribution rates by neighboring cities was enumerated between 6.3% and 10.9% for PM2.5. Cooperation policies are thought to be required with neighboring cites to reduce particulate matter.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.318-325
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• 2023

The detection of antibiotics in treated wastewater is a global concern as it enters water bodies and causes the development of antibiotic resistance genes in humans and marine life. The study specifically aims to explore the potential of ferrate (VI) in eliminating tetracycline (TCL). The degradation of TCL is optimized with parametric studies, viz., the effect of pH and concentration, which provide insights into TCL elimination. The increase in pH (from 7.0 to 10.0) favors the percentage removal of TCL; however, the increase in TCL concentrations from 0.02 to 0.3 mmol/L caused a decrease in percentage TCL removal from 97.4 to 29.1%, respectively, at pH 10.0. The time-dependent elimination of TCL using ferrate (VI) followed pseudosecond-order rate kinetics, and an apparent rate constant (kapp) was found at 1978.8 L² /mol² /min. Coexisting ions, i.e., NaNO₃, Na₂HPO₄, NaCl, and oxalic acid, negligibly affect the oxidation of TCL by ferrate (VI). However, EDTA and glycine significantly inhibited the elimination of TCL using ferrate (VI). The mineralization of TCL using ferrate (VI) was favored at higher pH, and it increased from 18.57 to 32.52% when the solution pH increased from pH 7.0 to 10.0. Additionally, the real water samples containing a relatively high level of inorganic carbon spiked with TCL revealed that ferrate (VI) performance in the removal of TCL was unaffected, which further inferred the potential of ferrate (VI) in real implications.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Heavy metals discharged from various sources contaminate the soil and water and the residuals can persistently be accumulated. In this study, the concentration of soil heavy metals was assessed over the whole regions of Korea based on the contamination factor and the geoaccumulation index. METHODS AND RESULTS: The data of averaged concentrations of heavy metals and fluorine were collected from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) and the research papers published. In order to classify the levels of heavy metal concentration, the contamination index, including the contamination factor and the geoaccumulation index, based on the relative ratio of the actual concentration of heavy metals in the soil to the background concentration was calculated. In addition, the distribution of heavy metals in soils was visualized by using the geographic information system (GIS). As a result, the Cd contamination in the soils was the most concerned. CONCLUSION(S): This study very roughly indicated the outline of heavy metal concentration over the whole regions of Korea. The change in heavy metals' concentration over the time should further be monitored and the larger data of heavy metal contamination are needed for better understanding in the future.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2016

The increase of impervious area in cities caused the unbalanced water cycle system and the accumulated various contaminants, which make troubles as introducing into watershed. In Korea, most of rainfall in a year precipitate in a summer season. This indicate that non-point source pollution control should be more important in summer and careful rainfall reuse strategy is necessary. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to monitor the characteristics of rainfall contaminants harvested in roofs and to develop the rainfall treatment system which are designed to fit well in a typical domestic household including rain garden. The rain garden consists of peatmoss, gravel and san to specially treat the initial rainfall contaminants. For this purpose, lab scale experiments with synthetic rainfall had been conducted to optimize the removal efficiency of TN, TP and CODcr. After lab scale experiments, field scale rainfall treatment system installed as a pilot scale in a field. This system has been monitored during June to July in 2015 in four time rainfall events as investigating the function of time, rainfall, and pollutant concentrations. As results, high loading of pollutants were introduced to the rainfall treatment system and its removal efficiency is increased as increase of pollutant concentrations. Since it is common that the mega-size of rainfall treatment system is not attractive in urban area, small scale rainfall treatment system is promising to treat the non-point source contaminants from cities. In addition, this small scale rainfall treatment system could have a potential to water resue system in islands, which usually suffer the shortage of water.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.420-431
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• 2010

Simple material budget models were developed to predict the dry season water quality for a river-type reservoir in Paldang, Republic of Korea. Of specific interest were the total phosphorus (TP), chlorophyll ${\alpha}$ (Chl. ${\alpha}$), 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The models fit quite well with field data collected for 20 years and have enabled the identification of the origins of organic materials in the reservoir. The critical hydraulic load that determines the usability of phosphorus for algal production appeared to be about $1.5m\;d^{-1}$. When a hydraulic load was smaller than the critical value, the concentrations of $Chl.{\alpha}$, COD, and BOD in the reservoir water became sensitive to internal algal reactions such as growth, degradation, and settling. In spite of the recent intensive efforts for organic pollutant removal from major point sources by central and local governments, the water quality in the reservoir had not been improved. Instead, the concentration of COD increased. The model analysis indicated that this finding could be attributed to the continuing increase of the algal production in the reservoir and the allochthonous load from non-point sources. In particular, the concentrations of COD and BOD of algal origin during 2000~2007, each of which is comprised of approximately one half of the total, were approximately 2.5 times higher than those observed during 1988~1994 and approximately 1.3 times higher than those between 1995~1999. The results of this study suggested that it is necessary to reduce the algal bloom so as to improve the water quality of the reservoir.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.745-759
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• 2013

The characteristics of meteorological conditions and air pollution were investigated in a valley city (Yangsan) on bad visibility days (from 05:00 to 09:00 LST) of the cold half year (November 2008 to April 2009). This analysis was performed using the hourly observed data of meteorological variables (temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, and 2 m and 10 m temperature) and air pollutants ($NO_2$, $SO_2$, $PM_{10}$, and $O_3$). In addition, visibility data based on visual measurements and a visibility meter were used. The bad visibility days were classified into four types: fog, mist, haze, and the mixture (mist+haze). The results showed that the bad visibility days of the four types in the valley city were observed to be more frequently (about 50% of the total study period (99 days except for missing data)) than (27%) those near coastal metropolitan city (Busan). The misty days (39%) in the valley city were the most dominant followed by the hazy (37%), mixture (14%), and foggy days (10%). The visibility degradation on the misty days in Yangsan was closely related to the combined effect of high-level relative humidity due to the accumulation of water vapor from various sources (e.g. river, stream, and vegetation) and strong inversion due to the development of surface radiative cooling within the valley. On the hazy days, the visibility was mainly reduced by the increase in air pollutant (except for $O_3$) concentrations from the dense emission sources under local conditions of weaker winds from the day before and stronger inversion than the misty days. The concentrations of $NO_2$, $PM_{10}$, and $SO_2$ (up to +36 ppb, $+25{\mu}g/m^3$, and +7 ppb) on the hazy days were a factor of 1.4-2.3 higher than those (+25 ppb, $+14{\mu}g/m^3$, and +3 ppb) on the misty days.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.480-490
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• 2001

The soil-air exchange processes of Hg were investigated from the Hari area of Kang Hwa Island during the late March 2001. In the course of our study, we determined the concentration gradients of Hg and combined these gradient data with micrometeorological components to derive its fluxes. Results of our study indicate that the concentration levels of Hg in the study area are notably lower than those typically found in urbanized areas of Korea. However, the computed fluxes were seen to be significantly larger for relatively remote areas, reaching over 200 ng/m$^2$/hr. Comparison of environmental conditions shows that the concentrations of most pollutant species including NO$_X$ and PM were significantly higher during emission, while meteorological conditions were characterized by high temperature and low humidity. Results of correlation analysis also indicate that such pollutants as hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and PM generally exhibit strong positive correlations with Hg-related parameters during emission events, while such relationships were reversed during dry deposition events. The results of our present study suggest the possibility that the concentrations and fluxes of total gaseous Hg observed during deposition events can be influenced by the processes that are also important for the fine, rather than coarse, size fraction of particles.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2001

To evaluate the influence of meteorological conditions on the performance of DOAS (Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) system, we analyzed the concentrations of three criteria pollutants and relevant environmental parameters measured during 14 month periods between Jun. 1999 and Oct. 2000. According to our study, the performance of DOAS can be sensitively influenced via various manners (such as among different chemicals and/or between different time periods). It turns out that O$_3$ exhibits most frequently the weakest agreement between two systems. When comparison was made among different meteorological parameters, the strongest variability was seen from such ones as windspeed, wind direction, and irradiance. In addition, the absolute differences in measured concentrations between two systems were compared against various environmental parameters by means of linear regression analysis. Results of this analysis indicated that the differences between the two tend to decrease with the increase of such parameters as windspeed. It is thus concluded on the basis of our study that the simultaneous evaluation of meteorological data should be an essential step toward the accurate assessment of pollutant concentration data obtained by DOAS measurement system.