• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.268-276
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• 2007

Urban atmosphere may play as a harbinger for the future climate change with respect to temperature and $CO_2$ concentration. The Seoul metropolitan area is unique in rapid urbanization and industrialization during the last several decades, providing a natural $CO_2$ dome with increased temperature. This study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of using the urban-rural environmental gradient in replacement of the IPCC mid-term scenario (after 30-50 years). For this, we measured atmospheric $CO_2$ concentration and air temperature at three sites with different degree of urbanization (Seoul, Suwon, and Icheon). Results from 11-month measurement can be summarized as follows: (1) The annual mean $CO_2$ concentration across 3 sites was in the order of Seoul (439 ppm) > Suwon (419 ppm) > Icheon (416 ppm), showing a substantial urban-rural environmental gradient. (2) The diurnal fluctuation in $CO_2$ concentration was greater in summer than in winter, showing the effect of photosynthesis on local $CO_2$ concentration. (3) The daily maximum $CO_2$ concentration was observed at 0500 LST in spring and summer, 0800 LST in autumn, and 0900 LST in winter, showing the sunrise-time dependence. (4) The observed hourly maximum $CO_2$ concentration averaged for the whole period was 446 ppm in Seoul at 0700 LST, while the minimum was 407 ppm in Suwon at 1500 LST. (5) Compared with the background atmospheric concentration of $CO_2$ in Anmyeon-do (377.4 ppm annual mean), $CO_2$ concentration of the study sites was higher by 14% in Seoul, by 10% in Suwon, and by 9% in Icheon. The observed $CO_2$ concentration in Seoul reached already 98% of the 2030-2040 projection (450 ppm) and 80% of the 2040-2050 projection (550 ppm) under the IPCC BAU scenario, showing a feasibility of using the $CO_2$ dome of Seoul as a natural experimental setting for the mid-term climate change impact assessment.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2023

In Korea, excessive vegetation in rivers made up of sand and gravel is emerging as a nationwide problem, which is attributed to increased spring precipitation and decreased annual precipitation. Therefore, this study was conducted for the purpose of identifying the effect of changes in precipitation patterns on river vegetation in Namcheon, Gyeongju, and analyzing the area of vegetation and ecological characteristics. As a result of the study, the amount of monthly precipitation in the summer of Namcheon decreased after 2007, and the area of vegetation increased continuously compared to the area of the sandbank. The proportion of naturalized plants increased steadily when precipitation continued to a level that did not cause flooding, but the area occupied by naturalized plants was small. Also, when the water level is maintained, the species diversity is low due to the dominance of a single species, and the dominant species was mainly native plants. Dominance of native plants inhibited the growth of naturalized plants, but the vegetation area increased even more. Therefore, it is necessary to manage the spread of vegetation itself rather than the division of native plants and naturalized plants in order to eliminate the active growth and prosperity of river vegetation. High water levels and continuous flooding caused by torrential rains in summer disturbed the plant communities, and vegetation formed afterwards was mainly native plants. Such flooding in river ecosystems is a positive factor for the emergence of native plants and over-formed vegetation communities, so it should be considered when establishing a vegetation management plan.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.244-252
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• 2007

A long-term change in the evaporation rate have an influence on the hydrologic processes at the interface between the land surface-air and crop yield. Several previous studies have reported declines in pan evaporation rate, while actual evaporation rate is expected to increase due to anthropogenic global change in the future. The decreasing trend of pan evaporation rate might be involved with global warming and accordingly the trend of annual pan evaporation rate also needs to be checked here in Korea. In this study, 14 points of pan evaporation observation are intensively studied to investigate the trend of pan evaporation for the time period of 1970-2000. Annual pan evaporation is decreasing at the rate of 1.6mm/yr, which corresponds to approximately 50mm for 30 years. Annual pan evaporation rate is larger by $\sim10%$ at the coastal area and decreasing rate is faster as -2.46 mm/yr per year, while that is -0.82 mm/yr per year at the in-land area. The results of the Mann-Kendall trend test shows 4 points are decreasing and 10 points are unchanged with 95% confidence interval. But national annual average values show the decreasing trend of pan evaporation rate as a whole, which corresponds to general trend all over the world. This study will contribute to a variety of studies on water resources, hydrology, agricultural engineering, meteorology, and coastal engineering in association with future global climate change.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2019

High impervious surfaces increase the surface runoff during rainfall and reduces the underground infiltration thereby leading to water cycle distortion. The distortion of water cycle causes various urban environmental problems such as urban flooding, drought, water pollutant due to non-point pollution runoff, and water ecosystem damage. Climate change intensified seasonal biases in urban rainfall and affected urban microclimate, thereby increasing the intensity and frequency of urban floods and droughts. Low impact development(LID) technology has been applied to various purposes as a technique to reduce urban environmental problems caused by water by restoring the natural water cycle in the city. This study evaluated the contribution of hydrologic characteristics and water cycle recovery after LID application using long-term monitoring results of various LID technology applied in urban areas. Based on the results, the high retention and infiltration rate of the LID facility was found to contribute significantly to peak flow reduction and runoff delay during rainfall. The average runoff reduction effect was more than 60% at the LID facility. The surface area of the LID facility area ratio(SA/CA) was evaluated as an important factor affecting peak flow reduction and runoff delay effect.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.40 no.6 s.111
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• pp.730-747
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• 2005

This study examines relationships between climatic factors and spatial-temporal patterns and recent changes of tropical night phenomenon(TN) occurring through nighttime stages in South Korea. Frequencies of daily TN at different times of night are extracted from long term(1973-2004) 6 hourly nighttime(9PM and 3AM) temperature and daily minimum temperature data at 61 weather stations. Temporally, the occurrences of TN are more pronounced in the evening(9PM) and during the Changma Break period(late July - early August). Spatially, the TNs in the evening frequently occur in the urbanized inland cities at low latitudes due to urban heat islands, whereas the TNs in the middle of night(3AM) or at dawn frequently appeared along the coastal areas within 30km from ocean due to the thermal inertia of ocean. By contrast, the evening(dawn) TN is not seen in the highlands whose elevation is greater than 800m(300m) along the Taebaek and Sobaek mountain ridges due to temperature lapse rates with height Correlation and multivariate regression analyses reveal that the impacts of human or physical climatic factors, such as latitude, elevation, proximity to ocean, and population density, are diverse on the frequencies of TN according to nighttime stages. Recent temporal changes of the late Changma period and intensified urbanization during the 1990s have increased the occurances of TN in urban areas. Therefore, strategies to mitigate the increasing urban TN should be prepared in the near future.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.33 no.6_2
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• pp.1101-1118
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• 2017

Temperatures in urban areas are steadily rising due to rapid urbanization and on-going climate change. Since the spatial distribution of heat in a city varies by region, it is crucial to investigate detailed thermal characteristics of urban areas. Recently, many studies have been conducted to identify thermal characteristics of urban areas using satellite data. However,satellite data are not sufficient for precise analysis due to the trade-off of temporal and spatial resolutions.In this study, in order to examine the thermal characteristics of Daegu Metropolitan City during the summers between 2012 and 2016, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daytime and nighttime land surface temperature (LST) data at 1 km spatial resolution were downscaled to a spatial resolution of 250 m using a machine learning method called random forest. Compared to the original 1 km LST, the downscaled 250 m LST showed a higher correlation between the proportion of impervious areas and mean land surface temperatures in Daegu by the administrative neighborhood unit. Hot spot analysis was then conducted using downscaled daytime and nighttime 250 m LST. The clustered hot spot areas for daytime and nighttime were compared and examined based on the land cover data provided by the Ministry of Environment. The high-value hot spots were relatively more clustered in industrial and commercial areas during the daytime and in residential areas at night. The thermal characterization of urban areas using the method proposed in this study is expected to contribute to the establishment of city and national security policies.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.40 no.5 s.110
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• pp.584-593
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• 2005

The spatial and temporal variations of heating degree-days (HDDs) and cooling degree-days (CDDs) are closely related with the temperature field. The spatial distribution of 30-year mean HDDs shows that the higher values locates in the northern part of South Korea while the lower values locates in the southern part. The 30-year mean CDDs shows a more randomized distribution than the HDDs. The changing trends of HDDs and CDDs show a different feature: HDDs have a distinct decreasing trend while CDDs have an insignificant change. The decreasing trends of HDDs are consistent over South Korea and most of stations have experienced the statistically significant change. As significant changing areas of HDDs are much broader than those of annual mean temperature, HDDs can be more useful than annual mean temperature to detect the climate change impact on a regional level. In other words, an insignificant change on the mean temperature field can induce the significant change of thermal climatology in a region. The temporal pattern of climatic departure index (CDI) for South Korea HDDs series shows a general decreasing, but a sharp increase during recent years. The drastic decrease of HDDs induces higher CDI indicating larger variability among stations. However, the decrease of South Korea HDDs series cannot totally attribute to the global warming due to urban effects. By the early 1980s, there were no big differences of HDDs between urban and rural series, but later the differences are getting larger. This was expected to be with the intensification of urbanization in South Korea. However, still there is a decreasing trend of HDDs for rural stations.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.21-36
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• 2023

As a solution to environmental issues, such as climate change response, the carbon neutrality strategy, urban heat islands, fine dust, and biodiversity enhancement, the value of urban green spaces and trees are becoming important, and various studies dealing with the effects of trees for environmental improvement are being conducted. This study comprehensively considers the preceding studies on planting tree species, planting structure, planting density, and planting base to propose a direction for the planting renewal of green areas in urban parks and applies the findings to a renewal plan to improve the urban environment through landscaping trees. A field survey was conducted on the planting status of Seoul Children's Grand Park, a large-scale neighborhood park in Seoul, and based on the survey data, a planting function evaluation was conducted, and areas needing improvement in planting function were identified. The planting function evaluation was carried out considering the park function setting, planting concept according to spatial function, and planting status. As a result of the study, the direction of planting renewal according to functional change was derived for each stage of planting function evaluation. Increasing the green area ratio is a priority in setting up park functions, but user convenience should also be considered. As a concept of planting, visual landscape planting involves planting species with beautiful tree shapes, high carbon absorption, and fine dust reduction effects. Ecological landscape planting should create a multi-layered planting site on a slope. Buffer planting should be created as multi-layered forests to improve carbon absorption and fine dust reduction effects. Green planting should consist of broad-leaved trees and herbaceous layers and aim for the natural planting of herbaceous species. For plant species, species with high urban environment improvement effects, local native species, and wild bird preferred species should be selected. As for the planting structure, landscape planting sites and green planting sites should be composed of trees, shrubs, and trees and herbaceous layers that emphasize ecology or require multi-layered buffer functions. A higher standard is applied based on the planting interval for planting density. Installing a rainwater recycling facility and using soil loam for the planting base improves performance. The results of this study are meaningful in that they can be applied to derive areas needing functional improvement by performing planting function evaluation when planning planting renewal of aging urban parks and can suggest renewal directions that reflect the paradigm of functional change of created green areas.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.1625-1638
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• 2014

Recently, Low Impact Development (LID) has been emphasized as a critical strategy for improving urban water cycle and adapting to climate change. LID is needed to be incorporated in urban planning and development process for effective implementation in the real world. However, little research has examined the relationship between urban planning and LID in Korea. This study addresses this critical gap by 1) examining whether current urban planning institutional system considers LID or not and 2) assessing the extent to which local comprehensive plans integrate LID in seven large cities. Study results show that a few planning guidelines declaratively mention the need of LID but they don't include specific LID strategies. In addition, we found that 7 local comprehensive plans in the sample received a mean score of 11.71, which represents 19.52% of the total possible points and there are wide variations among cities. These findings indicate that there is still considerable room for improvement of local governments on LID. We propose the revision of planning guideline by incorporating LID principles and non-structural and structural LID technologies.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.109-126
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• 2018

This paper presents seasonal variation of $PM_{10}$ over five urban sites in Sabah, Malaysia for the period of January through December 2012. The variability of $PM_{10}$ along with the diurnal and weekly cycles of CO, $NO_2$, $SO_2$, and $O_3$ at Kota Kinabalu site were also discussed to investigate the possible sources for increased $PM_{10}$ concentration at the site. This work is crucial to understand the behaviour and possible sources of $PM_{10}$ in the urban atmosphere of Sabah region. In Malaysia, many air pollution studies in the past focused in west Peninsular, but very few local studies were dedicated for Sabah region. This work aims to fill the gap by presenting the descriptive statistics on the variability of $PM_{10}$ concentration in the urban atmosphere of Sabah. To further examine its diurnal and weekly cycle pattern, its responses towards the variations of CO, $NO_2$, $SO_2$, and ozone were also investigated. The highest mean value of $PM_{10}$ for the whole study period is seen from Tawau ($35.7{\pm}17.8{\mu}g\;m^{-3}$), while the lowest is from Keningau ($31.9{\pm}18.6{\mu}g\;m^{-3}$). The concentrations of $PM_{10}$ in all cities exhibited seasonal variations with the peak values occurred during the south-west monsoons. The $PM_{10}$ data consistently exhibited strong correlations with traffic related gaseous pollutants ($NO_2$, and CO), except for $SO_2$ and $O_3$. The analysis of diurnal cycles of $PM_{10}$ levels indicated that two peaks were associated during the morning and evening rush hours. The bimodal distribution of $PM_{10}$, CO, and $NO_2$ in the front and at the back of ozone peak is a representation of urban air pollution pattern. In the weekly cycle, higher $PM_{10}$, CO, and $NO_2$ concentrations were observed during the weekday when compared to weekend. The characteristics of $NO_2$ concentration rationed to CO and $SO_2$ suggests that mobile sources is the dominant factor for the air pollution in Kota Kinabalu; particularly during weekdays.