• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.57-67
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• 2014

The vigor condition of trees is an important indicator for the management of urban forested area. But difficulties in how to assess the tree vigor condition still remain. Previous efforts were limited in the 1) measurement of single indicator rather than using multiple indices, 2) purpose-oriented measurement such as for air-pollution effect or specific pathological symptom, and 3) ordinal-scale evaluations by field crews 4) despite human errors based on his/her experiences or prior knowledge. Therefore, this study attempted to develop a quantitative and objective methodology for assessing tree vigor condition, by measuring multiple modules and building the profile inventory. Furthermore, the possibility and limitations were discussed in terms of schematic frames describing tree vigor condition. The vigor condition of 56 flowering cherry plants in urban park were assessed by in-situ measurements of following eight items; growth of crown(Gc), growth of shoots, individual tree volume(Vol), plant area index, woody area index, leaf area index, leaf chlorophyll content(Lc) and leaf water content(Lw). For validation, these measurements were compared with the ranks of holistic tree vigor condition, which were visually assessed using a 4-point grading scale based on the expert's knowledge. As a result, the measures of each evaluation item successfully highlighted a variety of aspects in tree vigor condition, including the states of both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic parts. The variation in the results depending on evaluated parts was shown within an individual tree, even though the broad agreement among the results was found. The result of correlation analysis between the tested measurements and 4-point visual assessment, demonstrated that the state of water-stressed foliage of the season (Lw) or the development of plant materials since sapling phase (Vol) could be better viewed from the outer appearance of trees than other symptoms. But only based on the visual assessment, it may be difficult to detect the quality of photosynthesis (Lc) or the recent trend in growth of trees (Gc). To make this methodology simplified for the broad-scale application, the tested eight measurements could be integrated into two components by principal component analysis, which was labelled with 'the amount of plant materials' and 'vigor trend', respectively. In addition, the use of these quantitative and multi-scale indicators underlies the importance of assessing various aspects of tree vigor condition, taking into account the response(s) on different time and spatial scale of pressure(s) shown in each evaluated module. Future study should be advanced for various species at diverse developing stages and environment, and the application to wide areas at a periodic manner.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.29-38
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• 2008

This study intends to analyze the value of school forests, one type of urban forest. For this purpose, four attributes of school forests were investigated, considering ecological, educational, social and economic values using a conjoint model as the stated preference. Based on literature reviews, the levels of the four attributes were selected, and a questionnaire survey was given to 279 urban residents divided into 2 groups: those impacted by school forests and those not. The study results suggest that the most important attribute of school forests is economic value, and next is ecological, social and educational value according to the part-worth model. The fitness level of the model is 0.900(total group) which is very significant. As for the economic value, free and 1,000 won are more critical factors than the other 2 levels, 5,000 won and 10,000 won and air pollution purification and making the school landscape are more critical factors than small habitats and microclimate factors. In addition, regarding the social value related to residents' leisure activities，the utility of nature observation is higher than walking and exercising. Finally, for educational value, understanding nature's importance is more critical than the emotions and learning of students. The estimated WTP per household/month is 3,580 won, the group related to school forestsis 3,650 won and the non-related group is 3,540 won. Based on these results, the estimated total economic value of all households per year is 6,820 hundred million won. The group related to school forests is 6,970 hundred million won and the non-related group is 6,750 hundred million won.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.1035-1039
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• 2010

For 65 national forest areas in 1993 to 2008, the ambient sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$) concentrations were measured monthly using passive samplers and compared to the those of urban areas in order to investigate the characteristics of temporal and spatial distribution. In the forest areas, annual average concentration of sulfur dioxide gradually decreased from the beginning year of monitoring to 1997 and then had no significant change, such as the annual trend in urban areas monitored by Ministry of Environment. For the monitoring term, average concentration of sulfur dioxide in the forest areas was 5.6ppb, which was lower than the 10.1ppb in the urban areas and the EC ecological standard level (7.6 ppb). Seasonally, both in forest areas and urban areas the monthly average concentrations were much higher in winter and spring due to much more heating fuel consumption, and lowest in summer. Regional comparison to other regions of Gyeongbuk and Gyeonggi province showed that the concentration of sulfur dioxide was the highest during year. A significant positive correlation between sulfur oxides' emissions and sulfur dioxide concentration by province was observed, reflecting that the size and proximity of sources of atmospheric sulfur oxides could be important factors in determination.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_1
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• pp.481-493
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• 2023

In high-density urban areas, the urban heat island effect increases urban temperatures, leading to negative impacts such as worsened air pollution, increased cooling energy consumption, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. In urban environments where it is difficult to secure additional green spaces, rooftop greening is an efficient greenhouse gas reduction strategy. In this study, we not only analyzed the current status of the urban heat island effect but also utilized high-resolution satellite data and spatial information to estimate the available rooftop greening area within the study area. We evaluated the mitigation effect of the urban heat island phenomenon and carbon sequestration capacity through temperature predictions resulting from rooftop greening. To achieve this, we utilized WorldView-2 satellite data to classify land cover in the urban heat island areas of Busan city. We developed a prediction model for temperature changes before and after rooftop greening using machine learning techniques. To assess the degree of urban heat island mitigation due to changes in rooftop greening areas, we constructed a temperature change prediction model with temperature as the dependent variable using the random forest technique. In this process, we built a multiple regression model to derive high-resolution land surface temperatures for training data using Google Earth Engine, combining Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellite data. Additionally, we evaluated carbon sequestration based on rooftop greening areas using a carbon absorption capacity per plant. The results of this study suggest that the developed satellite-based urban heat island assessment and temperature change prediction technology using Random Forest models can be applied to urban heat island-vulnerable areas with potential for expansion.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.617-622
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• 2018

Air is essential for human beings to survive, but urban air is polluted with soot and harmful gases, due to the increase in industrial development and the population. Thus, air pollution in large cities is of increasing interest in the research community. One of the plausible solutions to this problem is supplying sufficient oxygen to indoor spaces. The main principle of the oxygen generator is to separate oxygen from air using synthetic zeolite. Various synthetic zeolites have been applied to public indoor spaces with the focus being placed on the oxygen exchange quality. Among the characteristics of zeolites which can be applied to oxygen generators is their ability to adsorb nitrogen from the air and, in this way, generate only oxygen. Thus, we investigated the degree of nitrogen adsorption by five kinds of natural zeolite and LTA zeolite 3A, 4A, and 5A (two different sizes). Using the PSA method, the higher the degree of nitrogen adsorption, the higher the oxygen saturation concentration, it was found that the nitrogen adsorption degree of the 5A zeolite was the highest. 6% on average. It was also found that the size of the zeolite had a significant effect on the degree of nitrogen adsorption.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.10-26
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• 2013

To understand the traffic emissions with high temporal and spatial resolutions on road, a mobile laboratory was developed. The objective of this study is to characterize on-road air pollution on Naebu express way surrounding the northern area of Seoul, Korea. We measured the number concentration of ultrafine particles larger than 5 nm and particle size distribution using a condensation particle counter and a fast mobility particle sizer, respectively on 3, 7, and 8 December 2009. The average ultrafine particle number concentration on the Naebu express way excluding tunnels was 126,000 particles/$cm^3$ and 4.2 times higher than that on internal road at Korea Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, and more than twice higher than that measured on and at the arterial roads of Seoul in previous studies. The maximum ultrafine particle number concentration was observed at the tunnel sections. It was 232,000 particles/$cm^3$ and 1.8 times higher than average ultrafine particle number concentration for the other sections on Naebu express way. The ultrafine particle number concentration on the wider roads with higher traffic volume along the Han River was similar to that in the residential section, probably because of enhanced dilution effect in widely open environment. The size distribution of particles on the Naebu express way was highly fluctuated for a short duration. Ultrafine particles measured at the tunnel showed a bimodal size distribution with mode diameters of ~10 nm and ~50 nm. At the Han riverside section, ~10 nm particles appeared significantly compared with size distribution at the tunnel. This on-road measurement approach can be utilized to manage vehicle-related air pollution in urban area.

• Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2017

The decrease of green space according to the urbanization has caused many environmental problems as the destruction of habitat, air pollution, heat island effect. With interest growing in natural view recently, proper management of evergreen tree which is lived even the winter season has been on the rise importantly. This study analyzed the distribution area of evergreen tree using vegetation index based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Firstly, RGB and NIR+RG camera were loaded in fixed-wing UAV and image mosaic was achieved using GCPs based on Pix4d SW. And normalized differences vegetation index (NDVI) and soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) was calculated by band math function from acquired ortho mosaic image. validation points were applied to evaluate accuracy of the distribution of evergreen tree for each range value and analysis showed that kappa coefficient marked the highest as 0.822 and 0.816 respectively in "NDVI > 0.5" and "SAVI > 0.7". The area of evergreen tree in "NDVI > 0.5" and "SAVI > 0.7" was $11,824m^2$ and $15,648m^2$ respectively, that was ratio of 4.8% and 6.3% compared to total area. It was judged that UAV could supply the latest and high resolution information to vegetation works as urban environment, air pollution, climate change, and heat island effect.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.249-258
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• 2015

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the correlations between the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) and cytokines among elementary school children in an industrial city, Ulsan, South Korea, and to identify major environmental risk factors associated with AR prevalence. Methods: We conducted a case-control study in June 2009 and February 2010 in order to evaluate the relationship between AR and related cytokines. Data on physician-treated prevalence over the past 12 months and potential risk factors for AR were compiled through a questionnaire from a survey of 339 schoolchildren living in different urban environments. Logistic regression analysis was carried out with propensity score matched data (n=180) to assess the influences of cytokines (IL-13, IL-33, IL-4 and IL-5) on AR prevalence and to determine which environmental factors affected AR. Results: In univariate analysis, the AR prevalence was influenced by family history of AR (mother and siblings), environmental factors (odor condition and irritated symptoms of air pollution), and indoor allergens (D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus). The t-test demonstrated that eosinophils, Immunoglobulin E (IgE), and interleukins (IL-13 and IL-5) were statistically significantly different according to treatment of allergic rhinitis over the preceeding 12 months. The results of the multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a statistically significant association between several factors (such as irritated symptoms of air pollution (OR 4.075, CI 1.735-9.568), IL-13 (OR 0.825, CI 0.734-0.928), odor condition (OR 2.409, CI 0.908-6.389), and AR history of siblings (OR 2.217, CI 0.999-4.921)) and the prevalence of AR was found after adjusting for confounders. Conclusion: These results suggest that AR prevalence is significantly associated with cytokine level, genetic background, and outdoor environmental factors. Although living in a polluted area and genetic background can contribute to an increased risk of childhood AR, cytokine level should be considered as an important factor in the treatment of AR in the last 12 months.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.189-201
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• 1999

Lead (Pb) is ubiquitous in the urban environment and is a well-known toxic element. It may cause adverse health effects on hematopoietic system, peripheral and central nervous systems, kidney functions, and others. In recent decades, lead concentration in blood has been widely used one of indicators for lead exposure and risk evaluation. In this study, we determined the blood-lead levels in general populations of Korea, and investigated the relationship among blood-lead levels, sociobehavioral factors, and lead concentrations in the contacted environments such as ambient air, drinking water, and foods. The study subjects consisted of volunteers who had lived in the residential or industrial area in Korea. Information about gender, age, living area, occupation, smoking, heat system, and dietary habits, etc was collected using a self-reported questionnaires. The lead concentrations of environments were collected by literature search to the study area. Participated subjects in industrial area were 726 and their blood-lead levels were 8.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for males and 6.26 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for female in average. The other subjects in residential area were 317 and their blood-lead levels were 4.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for males and 3.49 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for female in average. The distribution of blood-lead level in the industrial subjects was well fitted to the log -normal distribution and that in the residential subjects was well fitted to the normal distribution. Blood-lead levels in both area were affected by gender, smoking habit, age and residence duration except age in industrial area and residence duration in residential area. It was identified that 30% of blood-lead level was contributed from the inhalation of ambient air in the industrial area, and 8.4% of blood-lead level was from that in the residential area. from this study, it would be suggested for the health risk assessment and management of lead pollution concerns in urban, industrial and rural areas.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.16-27
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• 2022

Due to climate change, temperature is rising worldwide. Since rapid growth has been achieved focused on cities, South Korea is experiencing serious environmental problems such as heat island and air pollution in urban areas. To solve this problem, the central and each local government are actively promoting tree planting campaigns. This study quantitatively calculated changes in green areas and vegetation of Gumi by the tree planting campaign, and analyzed the temperature changes accordingly. For the target area, the green area, vegetation index, and ground temperature were calculated for 4 different time periods using the given Landsat satellite images. As a result of the study, the green area of was increased by 7.24km² and 4.93km² for two regions, respectively. Accordingly, the vegetation index increased by 0.14 to 0.16, and the temperature decreased by 0.8 to 1.2℃. The Tree planting campaign not only plays a role in lowering the temperature of the city but also does various roles such as air purification, carbon absorption, and providing green rest areas to citizens. Therefore the campaign should be carried out continuously.