• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.475-488
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• 2017

Geotechnical data contributes substantially to the cost of engineering projects due to increasing cost of site investigations. Existing information in the form of soil maps can save considerable time and expenses while deciding the scope and extent of site exploration for a proposed project site. This paper presents spatial interpolation of data obtained from soil investigation reports of different construction sites and development of soil maps for geotechnical characterization of Multan area using ArcGIS. The subsurface conditions of the study area have been examined in terms of soil type and standard penetration resistance. The Inverse Distance Weighting method in the Spatial Analyst extension of ArcMap10 has been employed to develop zonation maps at different depths of the study area. Each depth level has been interpolated as a surface to create zonation maps for soil type and standard penetration resistance. Correlations have been presented based on linear regression of standard penetration resistance values with depth for quick estimation of strength and stiffness of soil during preliminary planning and design stage of a proposed project in the study area. Such information helps engineers to use data derived from nearby sites or sites of similar subsoils subjected to similar geological process to build a preliminary ground model for a new site. Moreover, reliable information on geometry and engineering properties of underground layers would make projects safer and economical.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.32-49
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• 2010

Site characterization on geological and geotechnical conditions was performed for evaluating the earthquake ground motions associated with seismic site effects at a small urbanized area, Hongseong, where structural damages were recorded by an earthquake of magnitude 5.0 on October 7, 1978. In the field, various geotechnical site investigations composed of borehole drillings and seismic tests for obtaining shear wave velocity profile were carried out at 16 sites. Based on the geotechnical data from site investigation and additional collection in and near Hongseong, an expert system on geotechnical information was implemented with the spatial framework of GIS. For practical application of the GIS-based geotechnical information system to assess the earthquake motions in a small urban area, spatial seismic zoning maps on geotechnical parameters, such as the bedrock depth and the site period ($T_G$), were created over the entire administrative district of Hongseong town, and the spatial distributions of seismic vulnerability potentials were intuitively examined. Spatial zonation was also performed to determine site coefficients for seismic design by adopting a site classification system based on $T_G$. A case study of seismic zonation in the Hongseong area verified that the GIS-based site investigation was very useful for regional prediction of earthquake ground motions in a small urbanized inland area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.563-574
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• 2008

Most of earthquake-induced geotechnical hazards have been caused by the site effects relating to the amplification of ground motion, which are strongly influenced by the local geologic conditions such as soil thickness or bedrock depth and soil stiffness. In this study, an integrated GIS-based information system for geotechnical data, called geotechnical information system (GTIS), was constructed to establish a regional counterplan against earthquake-induced hazards at an urban area, Daejeon, which is represented as a hub of research and development in Korea. To build the GTIS for the area of interesting, pre-existing geotechnical data collections were performed across the extended area including the study area and a walk-over site survey was additionally carried out to acquire surface geo-knowledge data. For practical application of the GTIS used to estimate the site effects at the area of interesting, seismic microzoning map of the characteristic site period was created and presented as regional synthetic strategy for earthquake-induced hazards prediction. In addition, seismic zonation for site classification according to the spatial distribution of the site period was also performed to determine the site amplification coefficients for seismic design and seismic performance evaluation at any site in the study area. Based on the case study on seismic zonations at Daejeon, it was verified that the GIS-based GTIS was very useful for the regional prediction of seismic hazards and also the decision support for seismic hazard mitigation.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2013

The western coast of Anmyeondo is open toward the Yellow sea and the northern and southern coasts are sandy and have simple coastlines. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution and community structure of the macrobenthos that inhabit the sandy shore of Anmyeondo. For the study, we chose 8 sites encompassing 44 stations. In total, we have recorded 62 species, and collected 747 inds./$m^2$ on average. Zonation pattern did not appear because the mean grain size and organic contents of the study sites were similar among the macrobenthos. Polychaetes were most frequently recorded, but amphipods appeared in higher mean density. Macrobenthic community is classified into 3 groups largely based on the density difference among the dominant species and the groups were not influenced by environmental factors. The aggregated distribution of macrobenthos did not show a clear regional spatial difference but exhibited classification pattern emphasizing the density difference of the dominant species. The sandy shores of Anmyeondo are relatively more influenced by waves compared to other regions and the sediment moves more due to strong winds, etc. at low tide. We presume that the movement of sediment resulted in a relatively even sedimentary environment and consequently weakened environmental variables that change with the tide level. We concluded that the macrobenthic community does not show the zonation pattern in the sandy shores of Anmyeondo due to such influences.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.5-19
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• 2009

Most of earthquake-induced geotechnical hazards have been caused by the site effects relating to the amplification of ground motion, which is strongly influenced by the local geologic conditions such as soil thickness or bedrock depth and soil stiffness. In this study, an integrated GIS-based information system for geotechnical data, called geotechnical information system (GTIS), was constructed to establish a regional counterplan against earthquake-induced hazards at an urban area of Daejeon, which is represented as a hub of research and development in Korea. To build the GTIS for the area concerned, pre-existing geotechnical data collections were performed across the extended area including the study area and site visits were additionally carried out to acquire surface geo-knowledge data. For practical application of the GTIS used to estimate the site effects at the area concerned, seismic zoning map of the site period was created and presented as regional synthetic strategy for earthquake-induced hazards prediction. In addition, seismic zonation for site classification according to the spatial distribution of the site period was also performed to determine the site amplification coefficients for seismic design and seismic performance evaluation at any site in the study area. Based on this case study on seismic zonations in Daejeon, it was verified that the GIS-based GTIS was very useful for the regional prediction of seismic hazards and also the decision support for seismic hazard mitigation.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.17-35
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• 2016

Earthquake-induced disasters are often more severe in locations with soft soils than firm soils or rocks due to differences in ground motion amplification. On a regional scale, such differences can be estimated by spatially predicting subsurface soil thickness over the entire target area. In general, soil deposits are generally deeper in coastal or riverside areas than in inland regions. In this study, a coastal metropolitan area, Incheon, was selected to assess site effects and provide information on seismic hazards. Spatial prediction of geotechnical layers was performed for the entire study area within the GIS framework. Approximately 7,000 existing borehole drilling data in the Incheon area were gathered and archived into the GIS Database (DB). In addition, surface geotechnical data were acquired from a walkover survey. Based on the built geotechnical DB, spatial zoning maps of site-specific seismic response parameters were created and presented for use in a regional seismic strategy. Site response parameters were performed to determine site coefficients for seismic design over the entire target area and compared with each other. Site classifications and subsequent seismic zoning were assigned based on site coefficients. From this seismic zonation case study in Incheon, we verified that geotechnical GIS-DB can create spatial zoning maps of site-specific seismic response parameters that are useful for seismic hazard mitigation particularly in coastal metropolitan areas.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.15-17
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• 2003

One of the most serious problems that the world is facing is the loss of biodiversity and habitats as a result of environmental degradation. There are several strategies to protect the habitats and biodiversity within a certain region such as establishing protected areas; monitoring the remaining forests and managing the landscape within limits have been employed. In this study, Predicted Habitat Distribution Model (simple spatial modeling) was developed using vegetation types, land use and land cover, DEM, slope, drainage, roads, human settlement areas and minimum habitat requirements of each species. Then, based on the checklist of presence and absence of each species, the final habitat maps for selected endangered species are generated. Integration of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) has proven a very effective tool to generate wildlife habitat maps at various levels. An effecting mapping could be performed based on satellite remote sensing and modeling biodiversity indicators in GIS.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.35-49
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• 2001

An ichthyofauna analysis of the East Sea using quantitative investigation procedures for latitudinal variations of the species richness and clustering of the species list is presented to illustrate the application of the adopted geographical scaling (less than 1:10,000,000) which provides a principal opportunity for common benthic and pelagic biogeographical zonation. The distribution of both pelagic and benthic marine fish biota at a scale of biosphere (or its major sections) was highly influenced by spatial nonuniformity of hydrological structure associated with the various water circulations and frontal zones. Following zoogeographical zonations were established for the East Sea: Osaka, East Korea, Primorye, North Primorye, Northern East Sea, Uetsu, Tsugaru, Soya and West Sakhalin.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.38-50
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• 2008

The site-specific seismic responses and corresponding seismic hazards are influenced mainly by the subsurface geologic and geotechnical dynamic characteristics. To estimate reliably the seismic responses in this study, a geotechnical information system (GTIS) within GIS framework was developed by introducing new concepts, which consist of the extended area containing the study area and the additional site visit for acquiring surface geo-knowledge data. The GIS-based GTIS was built for Gyeongju area, which has records of abundant historical seismic hazards reflecting the high potential of future earthquakes. At the study area, Gyeongju, intensive site investigations and pre-existing geotechnical data collections were performed and the site visits were additionally carried out for assessing geotechnical characteristics and shear wave velocity ($V_S$) representing dynamic property. Within the GTIS for Gyeongju area, the spatially distributed geotechnical layers and $V_S$ in the entire study area were reliably predicted from the site investigation data using the geostatistical kriging method. Based on the spatial geotechnical layers and $V_S$ predicted within the GTIS, a seismic zoning map on site period ($T_G$) from which the site-specific seismic responses according to the site effects can be estimated was created across the study area of Gyeongju. The spatial $T_G$ map at Gyeongju indicated seismic vulnerability of two- to five-storied buildings. In this study, the seismic zonation based on $T_G$ within the GIS-based GTIS was presented as regional efficient strategy for seismic hazard prediction and mitigation.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.190-208
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• 2016

This study was carried out to understand the spatial distribution and conservation, restoration plan for vegetation in the Hwaeom wetland protected area. Total 29 phytosociological releves consisted of 117 plant species (unidentified species contained) was made during field studies conducted at 2008 and 2013 applying Braun-Branquet method. The collected vegetations were arranged 8 plant communities and thus divided hydric types (Drosera rotundifolia-Eleocharis congesta community, Carex forficula-Molinia japonica community) and xeric types (Miscanthus sinensis community, Rhododendron yedoense var. poukhanense community, Tripterygium regelii community, Carex gifuensis-Quercus mongolica community) under moisture conditions. The hydric types growing in hydric conditions distributed along hollowed out ground or the water channel that have a key qualification to protect. In the wetland protected area, the hydric vegetation types were mostly covered about 3.8% and the xeric types dominating by Miscanthus sinensis were most wildly distributed about 51.5%. Various woody plant species invaded the place. In 2008, invasion plants observed with total 14 species - 8 tree species (227 individual), 6 shrub species (51 individual) and alders (Aluns japonica) found in 2013. We suggested finding out that the sustainable conservation and management in Hwaeom wetland should be setting up plan focused on activity and variability such as continuous monitoring (changing vegetation types, spatial distribution, invasion plants) and zonation management (core zone, buffer zone, transition zone).