• Atmosphere
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2007

We developed a simple regression model for predicting the intesity change (central pressure) of major tropical cyclones (TCs) for 24 hours after landfall using 51 TC cases which landed over the Korean Peninsula for 1951-2004. Clusters 1 and 4 with a relatively strong intensity of TC after landfall classified by Choi and Kim (2007) are used to develop a statistical model for the prediction of TC intensity change. Predicting parameters (falling constants) in the regression models $(P_t=P_0+alnt)$ are 6.46 and 10.11 for clusters 1 and 4, respectively. It might be mentioned that there is some feasibility in employing a simple regression model developed in this study for TC intensity change after landfall for operational purpose of TC forecasting compared with RSMC-Tokyo best-track in both TC cases of Clusters 1 and 4 and Ewiniar (0603) case, but the room for improvement of model still remains for further study.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.749-760
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• 2020

This study investigates the characteristics of diurnal, seasonal, and weekly roadside and residential concentrations of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 in Busan, as well as relationship with meteorological phenomenon. Annual mean PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations in Busan were 44.2 ㎍/㎥ and 25.3 ㎍/㎥, respectively. The PM_2.5/PM₁₀ concentration ratio was 0.58. Diurnal variations of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations in Busan were categorized into three types, depending on the number of peaks and times at which the peaks occurred. Roadside PM₁₀ concentration was highest on Saturday and lowest on Friday. Residential PM₁₀ concentration was highest on Monday and lowest on Friday. Residential PM_2.5 concentration was highest on Monday and Tuesday and lowest on Friday. PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations were highest on Asian dust and haze, respectively. The results indicate that understanding the spaciotemporal variation of fine particles could provide insights into establishing a strategy to control urban air quality.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.22 no.2 s.57
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• pp.185-188
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• 2007

PM10 and PM2.5 in ambient air were collected in Seongbuk-gu area of Seoul for one year, from April 2005 to February 2006, and the concentration of PM-bound mercury was monitored. The annual concentrations of particles were $66.4{\pm}43.2{\mu}g/m^3\;(47.6{\pm}19.1{\mu}g/m^3-106.1{\pm}78.0{\mu}g/m^3)$ in PM10 and $37.2{\pm}20.4{\mu}g/m^3\;(28.0{\pm}23.4{\mu}g/m^3{\sim}42.7{\pm}21.4{\mu}g/m^3)$ in PM2.5, which is about 56% of PM10 concentration. The annual average concentrations of mercury were $0.125{\pm}0.078ng/m^3\;in\;PM10\;and\;0.141{\pm}0.080ng/m^3$ in PM2.5, respectively. In April of Asian dust season in Korea, mercury showed the highest concentration in both PM10 and PM2.5.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.105-110
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• 2009

Yellow sand (or Asian dust) occurs mainly in spring in East Asia. Yellow sand from China and its surrounding regions transports air pollutants, such as aerosols, ozone, and heavy metals. The outdoor workers are frequently exposed to heavy metals during yellow sand phenomenon. This study was carried out to investigate the heavy metal levels in blood among 75 outdoor workers (exposed group) and 86 indoor workers (controled group) in Gyeonggi province from March 2008 to May 2009. Heavy metal levels in blood were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Mean blood lead levels in exposed group and controled group were $5.19{\pm}1.64{\mu}g/dL$, $4.24{\pm}1.34{\mu}g/dL$, respectively. Mean blood cadmium levels in exposed group and controled group were $1.28{\pm}0.89{\mu}g/dL$, $0.90{\pm}0.59{\mu}g/dL$, respectively. Lead and Cadmium levels in blood of exposed group were significantly higher than those of controled group. In the comparison of smoking status, lead and cadmium levels of smokers were significantly higher than those of non-smokers. In conclusion, the heavy metal levels of outdoor workers were significantly higher than those of indoor workers. And smoking was hazardous factor to elevate heavy metal levels in blood.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.245-253
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• 2004

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), where the southeast and northeast trade winds converge, is the effective climatological barrier that separates the southern and northern hemispheres in dust budget. Asian and N. American dusts dominate in fhe Pacific north of the ITCZ, while Central and S. American dust prevails south of the ITCZ. In order to understand the nature of latitudinal and depth-related variations of mineral composition in terms of relative position to the ITCZ, deep-sea core sediments were collected from $9^{\circ}N$ to $17^{\circ}N$ at a $2^{\circ}N$ interval along the $131.5^{\circ}W$ meridian and analyzed for mineral composition. The amount of illite in surface sediments decreases gradually from 65% at $17^{\circ}N\;to\;31^{\circ}N$ to 31% at 9f. In contrast, smectite increases from 11% to 56% southward. The observed mineralogical variation toward the ITCZ is attributed to the increased supply of volcaniclastic material transported via the southeast trade winds from the Central and South America source regions. Smectite-illite transition, a phenomenon that the amount of smectite increases over illite, occurs at around $10^{\circ}N$, the northern margin of the ITCZ. This result indicates that the change in latitudinal position of the ITCZ in geologic past could be recorded as a form of smectite-illite transition in deep-sea cores. The studied cores show down-core variation of mineral composition from illite-rich at the surface to smectite-rich clay suit at depths, similar to the latitudinal variation. The smectite-illite transitions observed in these cores are likely the records of changes in latitudinal position of the ITCZ. The depth and age of smectite-illite transition is getting shallower and younger toward equator, implying that the ITCZ was located farther north during late Tertiary and has shifted southward to the present position of $5^{\circ}N-10^{\circ}N$.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.197-211
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• 2004

Visibility impairment was known as an indicator of the increased air pollution. In many previous studies, it is known that both directly emitted fine particles mainly from vehicles and secondary aerosols from photochemical reactions could contribute to this visibility impairment in addition to the meteorological condition. Furthermore, the visibility showed different change patterns according to the geographical condition. In order to research into the influence of these factors on visibility, this study analyzed the visibility at 15:00, observed from 1990 to 2001 in Seoul, Ganghwa, Susan, Gwangju, Jeju. As a result, the visibility was increased in Seoul except the rainfall period, but in Susan, Gwangju, Jeju, it decreased with the relative humidity (RH). Especially, in Seoul, the number of low visibility days was larger than other sites and variations of the visibility were sensitive to the concentration of air pollutants, such as TSP, $NO_2$, $O_3$. The visibility impairment was mainly observed in meteorological condition of RH<50% and relatively stationary front. Therefore it is inferred that photochemical smog could lead to the low visibility in Seoul. On the other hands, in Ganghwa and Susan, when RH was 60~70%, the low visibility observed under the influence of the transports of air pollutants from nearby cities as well as humid air mass from coastal region. And in Jeju, sea fog and humid air mass caused the visibility impairment when the RH was larger than 80%. Finally, during the observational period, some cases of low visibility phenomena were simultaneously observed in the vast region including Seoul, Susan, Ganghwa. It not only includes the visibility aggravation by Asian Dust, but also could be caused by the movement and diffusion of flying dust or secondary aerosols. Moreover, the result shows that these phenomena could be mainly influenced by meteorological factors covering the wide regions.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.585-597
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• 2007

The characteristics of the rainfall events on the Korean peninsula have been investigated by means of regional and global observational data collected from 1954 to 2004 with an emphasis on extreme cases $80\;mm\;day^{-1}$. According to our analysis, long-term annual rainfall anomalies show an increasing trend. This trend is pronounced in the month of August, when both the amount of monthly rainfall and the frequency of extreme events increase significantly. Composite maps on August during the 8 wet years reveal warm SST anomalies over the eastern Philippine Sea which are associated with enhanced convection and vertical motion and intensified positive SLP over central Eurasia during August. The rainfall pattern suggests that the most significant increase in moisture supply over the southern parts of China and Korea in August is associated with positive SLP changes over Eurasia and negative SLP changes over the subtropical western Pacific off the east coast of south China. The frequent generation of typhoons over the warm eastern Philippine Sea and their tracks appear to influence the extreme rainfall events in Korea during the month of August. The typhoons in August mainly passed the western coast of Korea, resulting in the frequent occurrence of extreme rainfall events in this region. Furthermore, anomalous cyclonic circulations over the eastern Philippine Sea also promoted the generation of tropical cyclones. The position of pressure systems - positive SLP over Eurasia and negative SLP over the subtropical Pacific - in turn provided a pathway for typhoons. The moisture is then effectively transported further north toward Korea and east toward the southern parts of China during the extreme rainfall period.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.80-89
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• 1998

Three cores were taken from the northwest Pacific Ocean (Shikoku Basin) to determine the accumulation rates of both biogenic and terrigeneous fractions since the last penultimate interglacial period. The sediment is characterized by large amounts of terrigenous materials with low biogenic fractions and intermittent volcanic-ash layers, suggesting a hemipelagic origin. Composition of major elements shows no significant differences among sites. Relatively small variation of TiO$_2$/Al$_2$O$_3$ ratios with respect to SiO$_2$ content is the strong evidence for the common origin of terrigenous materials. The fraction of biogenic carbonates varies from near 0% in ash layers to about 35%, with a gradual increase toward the south (St. 4 through St. 6 to St. 20). However, carbonate contents show step-wise increasing tendency from St. 4 through St. 6 to St. 20, which suggests a southward increase of carbonate production. The color reflectance indicates that the sediment of the southern sites contains relatively higher amounts of biogenic carbonates. The mass accumulation rate of terrigenous fractions during the glacial period was 2-3 times higher than that of interglacial period. This enhanced mass accumulation rate of terrigenous materials was concomitant with the high accumulation rate of biogenic fractions. The total sediment accumulation rate is considered as the most important factor controlling mass accumulation rates of the biogenic and terrigenous materials. The enhanced sediment accumulation during the glacial periods is interpreted as a consequence of climate-induced change in the supply of eolian dust from the Asian continent. Enhanced wind strength during the glacial time may have increased transportation of terrigenous materials to the ocean. Thus, variation of sediment accumulation is highly linked with climatic variations.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.329-341
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to study the $PM_{2.5}$ source characteristics affecting the Seoul area using a chemical mass balance (CMB) receptor model. This study was also to evaluate the $PM_{2.5}$ source profiles, which were directly measured and developed. Asian Dust Storm usually occurred in the spring, and very high $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations were observed in the fall among the sampling periods. So the ambient data collected in the spring and fall were evaluated. The CMB model results as well as the $PM_{2.5}$ source profiles were validated using the diagnostic categories, such as: source contribution estimate, t-statistic, R-square, Chi-square, and percent of total mass explained. In the spring months, the magnitude of $PM_{2.5}$ mass contributors was in the following order: Chinese aerosol $(31.7\%)>$ secondary aerosols ($22.3\%$: ammonium sulfate $13.4\%$ and ammonium nitrate $8.9\%)>$ vehicles ($16.1\%$: gasoline vehicle $1.4\%$ and diesel vehicles $14.7\%)>$biomass burning $(15.5\%)>$ geological material $(10.5\%)$. In the fall months, the general trend of the $PM_{2.5}$ mass contributors was the following: biomass burning $(31.1\%)>$ vehicles ($26.9\%$: gasoline vehicle $5.1\%$ and diesel vehicles $21.8\%)>$ secondary aerosols ($23.0\%$: ammonium sulfate $9.1\%$ and ammonium nitrate $13.9\%)>$ Chinese aerosol $(10.7\%)$. The results show that the $PM_{2.5}$ mass in the Seoul area was mainly affected by the Chinese area.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.215-224
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• 2004

We report the high concentration episodes for PM$_{10}$, SO$_2$, NO$_2$, and $O_3$ in many urban areas Korea during 2002. The high concentration episodes are identified based on the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and the observations obtained from the Regional Air Monitoring Network composed of approximately 160 air pollution monitoring stations located in a number of major or big cities in South Korea including Seoul, Pusan, Daegu, and Incheon cities. The results show that the twenty cases of high concentration episodes in 2002 consists of both ozone warning episodes (6 cases) and high PM$_{10}$ concentration cases (14 cases), and one half of the latter are found to occur in association with the Yellow Sand (Asian Dust) phenomena. The most outstanding characteristics of the reported episodes are the excessively high levels of maximum PM$_{10}$ concentrations during the Yellow Sand period (i.e., exceeding 3,000$\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ in April, 2002) and their variable occurrence frequencies across seasons. The high ozone concentration episode days are mainly resulting from both the high photochemical reactions and poor ventilations. The high PM$_{10}$ concentration days during non Yellow Sand periods, however, mostly occurred under the influence of synoptic meteorological conditions such as stagnant or slowly passing high pressure centers, and consequently prevailing weak wind speeds over the Korean peninsula. The overall results of our study thus suggest the importance of both synoptic and local meteorological factors for high concentration levels in the major and/or big cities in Korea.n Korea.