• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.33 no.6_3
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• pp.1187-1196
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• 2017

Despite the continuing effort to estimate the value of function and services of ecosystem, most of the researches has used low and medium resolution satellite imagery such as MODIS or Landsat. It means that the researches to measure the ecosystem service value using VHR (Very High Resolution) satellite imagery have not been performed much, while the source of available VHR imagery is increasing. Thus, the aim of this study is to estimate and compare the result of ecosystem service value over Sejong city, S. Korea, which is one of the rapidly changed city, through the pixel-based and object-based classification analysis using VHR KOMPSAT-3 images, for more specific and precise information. In the result of the classification, forest and grassland were underestimated while agriculture and urban were overestimated in the pixel-based result compared to the object-based result. Furthermore, bare soil area was presented contrasting result that was increased in the pixel-based result, however, decreased in the object-based result. Using those results, ecosystem service values were estimated. The annual ecosystem service values in 2014 were $8.18 million USD(pixel-based) and $8.63 million USD(object-based), however, decreased to $7.80 million USD(pixel-based) and $8.62 million USD(object-based) in 2016. It is expected to use those results as a preliminary data when to make sustainable development plan and policy to improve the quality of life in the local level.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.61-93
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• 2019

This study is to apply Hedonic Price Method in analyzing residents' preferences for three types of urban green space (UGS, rivers, urban parks, and forests) near the apartment complexes in Seoul. Based on hedonic price function estimation results, residents in Seoul preferred for the urban amenity that was provided by the view and accessibility (in terms of both within 10 minutes and distance) of rivers and urban parks near the apartment complexes, but not forests. The annual benefits calculated using the shadow prices are about 550~600 thousand won for the urban park views and about 800 thousand won for the accessibility, which is 2-3 times higher than river views and accessibility. On the other hand, forest views and accessibility did not have significant effects on apartment prices, except the view of Bukhan mountain for the residents of Gangbuk area. Based on the empirical results, Seoul residents' preferences for urban parks would have important implications for the urban park sunset program that will be initiated from July 2020.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.6_1
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• pp.1277-1290
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• 2020

Water resources which is formed of surface and groundwater, are considered as one of the pivotal natural resources worldwide. Since last century, the rapid population growth as well as accelerated industrialization and explosive urbanization lead to boost demand for groundwater for domestic, industrial and agricultural use. In fact, better management of groundwater can play crucial role in sustainable development; therefore, determining accurate location of groundwater based groundwater potential mapping is indispensable. In recent years, integration of machine learning techniques, Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) are popular and effective methods employed for groundwater potential mapping. For determining the status of the integrated approach, a systematic review of 94 directly relevant papers were carried out over the six previous years (2015-2020). According to the literature review, the number of studies published annually increased rapidly over time. The total study area spanned 15 countries, and 85.1% of studies focused on Iran, India, China, South Korea, and Iraq. 20 variables were found to be frequently involved in groundwater potential investigations, of which 9 factors are almost always present namely slope, lithology (geology), land use/land cover (LU/LC), drainage/river density, altitude (elevation), topographic wetness index (TWI), distance from river, rainfall, and aspect. The data integration was carried random forest, support vector machine and boost regression tree among the machine learning techniques. Our study shows that for optimal results, groundwater mapping must be used as a tool to complement field work, rather than a low-cost substitute. Consequently, more study should be conducted to enhance the generalization and precision of groundwater potential map.

• Journal of Ginseng Culture
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• v.6
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• pp.105-115
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• 2024

Wild ginseng, grown in undisturbed forest environments, has been maintained for centuriesthrough human intervention and knowledge, leading to the development of current ginseng agriculture. The practice of ginseng farming has long been established in various regions of Korea. However, the ginseng farming specifically in Geumsan was recognized as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2018. This designation was granted after a thorough evaluation, which confirmed that Geumsan's ginseng farming met the necessary criteria, including historical importance, traditional knowledge system, agrobiodiversity, and agricultural landscape. Traditional ginseng farming in Geumsan practices the 'rotating agriculture system', a sustainable land use approach that has been developed over several cycles of long duration (10-15 years). It contains the knowledge to choose locations for cultivation that prioritize the direction of sunlight and wind circulation. Furthermore, it received significant recognition for its agricultural heritage value based on its maintenance of several traditional knowledge systems, including ancestral wisdom and knowledge regarding pre-planting field management techniques. As of December 2023, there are currently 86 locations in 26 nations that have been designated as GIAHS. Among these sites, Geumsan stands out as the first and only site in the world specifically recognized for the cultivation of ginseng crops. This historical record serves as a significant reminder of Korea's prominent position as a major producer of ginseng on a global level. This article first provides an overview of the concept of agricultural heritage, the designation criteria, and the status of the designation. It then identifies, among the GIAHS designation criteria, the agricultural heritage value of traditional ginseng farming in the Geumsan region from the perspective of local traditional knowledge systems.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.358-383
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• 2015

The concept of 'carbon footprint' has been developed as a means of quantifying the specific emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that cause global warming. Although there are still neither clear definitions of the term nor rules for units or the scope of its estimation, it is broadly accepted that the carbon footprint is the total amount of GHGs, expressed as $CO_2$ equivalents, emitted into the atmosphere directly or indirectly at all processes of the production by an individual or organization. According to the ISO/TS 14067, the carbon footprint of a product is calculated by multiplying the units of activity of processes that emit GHGs by emission factor of the processes, and by summing them up. Based on this, 'carbon labelling' system has been implemented in various ways over the world to provide consumers the opportunities of comparison and choice, and to encourage voluntary activities of producers to reduce GHG emissions. In the agricultural sector, as a judgment basis to help purchaser with ethical consumption, 'low-carbon agricultural and livestock products certification' system is expected to have more utilization value. In this process, the 'cradle to gate' approach (which excludes stages for usage and disposal) is mainly used to set the boundaries of the life cycle assessment for agricultural products. The estimation of carbon footprint for the entire agricultural and forestry sector should take both removals and emissions into account in the "National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report". The carbon accumulation in the biomass of perennial trees in cropland should be considered also to reduce the total GHG emissions. In order to accomplish this, tower-based flux measurements can be used, which provide a direct quantification of $CO_2$ exchange during the entire life cycle. Carbon footprint information can be combined with other indicators to develop more holistic assessment indicators for sustainable agricultural and forestry ecosystems.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.107-117
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• 2004

If doubtlessly contributes much to agriculture and rural development. The roles can be summarized as; 1. to activate rural areas and to provide more comfortable and safe rural life with equivalent services to those in urban areas, facilitating distance education, tole-medicine, remote public services, remote entertainment etc. 2. To initiate new agricultural and rural business such as e-commerce, real estate business for satellite officies, rural tourism and virtual corporation of small-scale farms. 3. To support policy-making and evaluation on optimal farm production, disaster management, effective agro-environmental resource management etc., providing tools such as GIS. 4. To improve farm management and farming technologies by efficient farm management, risk management, effective information or knowledge transfer etc., realizing competitive and sustainable farming with safe products. 5. To provide systems and tools to secure food traceability and reliability that has been an emerging issue concerning farm products since serious contamination such as BSE and chicken flu was detected. 6. To take an important and key role for industrialization of farming or lam business enterprise, combining the above roles.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.224-238
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• 2022

North Korea has actively participated in the international community related to environmental agreements. It has proposed various environmental policies internally since the Kim Jong-un regime. In particular, it emphasizes activities related to climate change response, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the conservation of ecosystems including forests and wetlands. In this study, a new security cooperation plan was proposed with an understanding of the climate crisis and environmental regime as a starting point. To this end, trends and recent activities for climate-environment cooperation in the international community and on the Korean Peninsula were analyzed. In addition, North Korea's conditions for cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, technology demand, and the projected future environment of the Korean Peninsula were dealt with. Ultimately, through advice of experts, we were able to discover cooperation agendas by sector and propose short-term and long-term environmental cooperation strategies for the Korean Peninsula based on them. In this study, conditions and directions for cooperation in fields of climate technology, biological resources, air/weather, water environment, biodiversity, renewable energy, bioenergy, and so on were considered comprehensively. Among 21 cooperation agendas discovered in this study, energy showed the largest number of areas. Renewable energy, forest resources, and environmental and meteorological information stood out as agendas that could be cooperated in the short term. As representative initiatives, joint promotion of 'renewable energy' that could contribute to North Korea's energy demand and carbon neutrality and 'forest cooperation' that could be recognized as a source of disaster reduction and greenhouse gas sinks were suggested.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.264-272
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• 2015

Understanding bird status is essential for the systematic and sustainable management of the Nakdong River Estuary, taking into consideration the relationship between ecosystems and the bird species. In this study, bird status in the Nakdong River Estuary Bird Sanctuary prior to the Four Major Rivers Project was analyzed using the bird monitoring data (2003-2011) from surveys conducted by the Busan Development Institute. The high percentage of winter visitors in terms of both species diversity (38.36%) and individual bird numbers (63.14%) suggest that the Nakdong River Estuary is an important wintering site for migratory birds. Cumulative numbers of individual birds were higher in Myungji (208,601), West Nakdong River (202,444), Eulsukdo (153,232), and Baekhap Doyodeung (150,595). The total numbers of migratory species were higher in Eulsukdo (171), Ilungdo (124), Myungji (132), and Samrak (121). Among the 232 species found in the Nakdong River Estuary, Anas platyrhynchos (17.71%) was the most common species, followed by Anas poecilorhyncha (8.85%), Larus crassirostris (6.48%), Anser fabalis (6.09%), Anas penelope (5.16%), and Calidris alpina (4.22%). Most bird taxa, except shelducks, showed annual fluctuations in individual numbers, with increasing frequency during survey periods. Of these, cormorants, swans, and gulls showed higher fluctuations than other taxa. Swans decreased drastically in numbers in 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 compared to previous years. Shore birds, gulls, wagtails, and other forest birds were also less common in 2010-2011. These results suggest that there were some environmental changes that might have affected the birds in the Nakdong River Estuary. Overall, the results suggest that habitat types affect the distribution of dominant species.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.467-473
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• 2007

Although the dominant land use at the Imha-dam watershed is forest areas, soil erosion has been increasing because of intensive agricultural activities performed at the fields located along the stream for easy-access to water supply and relatively favorable topography. In addition, steep topography at the Imha-dam watershed is also contributing increased soil erosion and sediment loads. At the Imha-dam watershed, outflow has increased sharply by the typhoons Rusa and Maemi in 2002, 2003 respectively. In this study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was evaluated for simulation of flow and sediment behaviors with long-term temporal and spatial conditions. The precipitation data from eight precipitation observatories, located at Ilwol, Subi and etc., were used. There was no significant difference in monthly rainfall for 8 locations. However, there was slight differences in rainfall amounts and patterns in 2003 and 2004. The topographical map at 1:5000 scale from the National Geographic Information Institute was used to define watershed boundaries, the detailed soil map at 1:25,000 scale from the National Institute of Highland Agriculture and the land cover data from the Korea Institute of Water and Environment were used to simulate the hydrologic response and soil erosion and sediment behaviors. To evaluate hydrologic component of the SWAT model, calibration was performed for the period from Jan. 2002 to Dec. 2003, and validation for Jan. 2004 to Apr. 2005. The $R^2$ value and El value were 0.93 and 0.90 respectively for calibration period, and the $R^2$ value and El value for validation were 0.73 and 0.68 respectively. The $R^2$ value and El value of sediment yield data with the calibrated parameters was 0.89 and 0.84 respectively. The comparisons with the measured data showed that the SWAT model is applicable to simulate hydrology and sediment behaviors at Imha dam watershed. With proper representation of the Best Management Practices (BM Ps) in the SWAT model, the SWAT can be used for pre-evaluation of the cost-effective and sustainable soil erosion BMPs to solve sediment issues at the Imha-dam watershed. In Korea, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) has been used to estimate the soil loss for over 30 years. However, there are limitations in the field scale mdel, USLE when applied for watershed. Also, the soil loss changes temporarily and spatially, for example, the Imha-dam watershed. Thus, the SW AT model, capable of simulating hydrologic and soil erosion/sediment behaviors temporarily and spatially at watershed scale, should be used to solve the muddy water issues at the Imha-dam watershed to establish more effective muddy water reduction countermeasure.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.57-65
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• 2016

Maeul-soop(Village forest) is a key element of Korean traditional village landscape historically and culturally. However, a number of Maeul-soops have been lost or declined due to various influences since the modern age. For this Maeul-soop that has a variety of conservation values including historical, cultural and ecological ones, attention and efforts for a systematic conservation and restoration of Maeul-soop are needed. The purpose of the present study is to provide information on ecological restoration and sustainable use and management of Maeul-soops based on component plant species, habitat and location characteristics of 499 Maeul-soops spread throughout Korea. Major six categories of threat factors to Maeul-soop ecosystem were identified and the influence of each factor was evaluated. For the evaluation of weight by threat factors for the influence on the vulnerability of Maeul-soop ecosystem, more three-dimensional analysis was conducted using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis method. In the results of evaluation using AHP analysis method, reduction of area, among six categories, was spotted as the biggest threat to existence of Maeul-soops. Next, changes in topography and soil environment were considered as a threat factor of qualitative changes in Maeul-soop ecosystem. Influence of vegetation structure and its qualitative changes on the loss or decline of Masul-soop was evaluated to be lower than that of changes in habitat. Based on weight of each factor, the figures were converted with 100 points being the highest score and the evaluation of vulnerability of Maeul-soop was conducted with the converted figures. In the result of evaluation of vulnerability of Maeul-soops, grade III showed the highest frequency and a normal distribution was formed from low grade to high grade. 38 Maeul-soops were evaluated as grade I which showed high naturality and 10 Maeul-soops were evaluated as grade V as their maintenance was threatened. Also in the results of evaluation of vulnerability of each Maeul-soop, restoration of Maeul-soop's own area was found as top priority to guarantee the sustainability of Maeul-soops. It was confirmed that there was a need to prepare a national level ecological response strategy for each vulnerability factor of Maeul-soop, which was important national ecological resources.