• Title/Summary/Keyword: anthropogenic events

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Aerosol Size Distributions and Optical Properties during Severe Asian Dust Episodes Measured over South Korea in Spring of 2009-2010 (2009-2010년 봄철 심한 황사 사례에 대한 에어러솔 크기 분포와 광학적 특성)

  • Kang, Dong-Hun;Kim, Jiyoung;Kim, Kyung-Eak;Lim, Byung-Sook
    • Atmosphere
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.367-379
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    • 2012
  • Measurements of $PM_{10}$ mass concentration, aerosol light scattering and absorption coefficients as well as aerosol size distribution were made to characterize the aerosol physical and optical properties at the two Korean WMO/GAW regional stations, Anmyeondo and Gosan. Episodic cases of the severe Asian dust events occurred in spring of 2009-2010 were studied. Results in this study show that the aerosol size distributions and optical properties at both stations are closely associated with the dust source regions and the transport routes. According to the comparison of the $PM_{10}$ mass concentration at both stations, the aerosol concentrations at Anmyeondo are not always higher than those at Gosan although the distance from the dust source region to Anmyeondo is closer than that of Gosan. The result shows that the aerosol concentrations depend on the transport routes of the dust-containing airmass. The range of mass scattering efficiencies at Anmyeon and Gosan was 0.50~1.45 and $0.62{\sim}1.51m^2g^{-1}$, respectively. The mass scattering efficiencies are comparable to those of the previous studies by Clarke et al. (2004) and Lee (2009). It is noted that anthropogenic fine particles scatter more effectively the sunlight than coarse dust particles. Finally, we found that the aerosol size distribution and optical properties at Anmyeondo and Gosan show somewhat different properties although the samples for the same dust_episodic events are compared.

Individual-Based Models Applied to Species Abundance Patterns in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities in Streams in Response to Pollution

  • Cho, Woon-Seok;Nguyen, Tuyen Van;Chon, Tae-Soo
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.45 no.4
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    • pp.420-443
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    • 2012
  • An Individual-Based Model (IBM) was developed by employing natural and toxic survival rates of individuals to elucidate the community responses of benthic macroin-vertebrates to anthropogenic disturbance in the streams. Experimental models (dose-response and relative sensitivity) and mathematical models (power law and negative exponential distribution) were applied to determinate the individual survival rates due to acute toxicity in stressful conditions. A power law was additionally used to present the natural survival rate. Life events, covering movement, exposure to contaminants, death and reproduction, were simulated in the IBM at the individual level in small (1 m) and short (1 week) scales to produce species abundance distributions (SADs) at the community level in large (5 km) and long (1~2 years) scales. Consequently, the SADs, such as geometric series, log-series, and log-normal distribution, were accordingly observed at severely (Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP<10), intermediately (BMWP<40) and weakly (BMWP${\geq}50$) polluted sites. The results from a power law and negative exponential distribution were suitably fitted to the field data across the different levels of pollution, according to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The IBMs incorporating natural and toxic survival rates in individuals were useful for presenting community responses to disturbances and could be utilized as an integrative tool to elucidate community establishment processes in benthic macroin-vertebrates in the streams.

Landslide Susceptibility Mapping for 2015 Earthquake Region of Sindhupalchowk, Nepal using Frequency Ratio

  • Yang, In Tae;Acharya, Tri Dev;Lee, Dong Ha
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.443-451
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    • 2016
  • Globally, landslides triggered by natural or human activities have resulted in enormous damage to both property and life. Recent climatic changes and anthropogenic activities have increased the number of occurrence of these disasters. Despite many researches, there is no standard method that can produce reliable prediction. This article discusses the process of landslide susceptibility mapping using various methods in current literatures and applies the FR (Frequency Ratio) method to develop a susceptibility map for the 2015 earthquake region of Sindhupalchowk, Nepal. The complete mapping process describes importance of selection of area, and controlling factors, widespread techniques of modelling and accuracy assessment tools. The FR derived for various controlling factors available were calculated using pre- and post- earthquake landslide events in the study area and the ratio was used to develop susceptibility map. Understanding the process could help in better future application process and producing better accuracy results. And the resulting map is valuable for the local general and authorities for prevention and decision making tasks for landslide disasters.

Past and Future Regional Climate Change in Korea

  • Kwon, Won-Tae;Park, Youngeun;Min, Seung-Ki;Oh, Jai-Ho
    • The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.161-161
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    • 2003
  • During the last century, most scientific questions related to climate change were focused on the evidence of anthropogenic global warming (IPCC, 2001). There are robust evidences of warming and also human-induced climate change. We now understand the global, mean change a little bit better; however, the uncertainties for regional climate change still remains large. The purpose of this study is to understand the past climate change over Korea based on the observational data and to project future regional climate change over East Asia using ECHAM4/HOPE model and MM5 for downscaling. There are significant evidences on regional climate change in Korea, from several variables. The mean annual temperature over Korea has increased about 1.5∼$1.7^{\circ}C$ during the 20th century, including urbanization effect in large cities which can account for 20-30% of warming in the second half of the 20th century. Cold extreme temperature events occurred less frequently especially in the late 20th century, while hot extreme temperature events were more common than earlier in the century. The seasonal and annual precipitation was analyzed to examine long-term trend on precipitation intensity and extreme events. The number of rainy days shows a significant negative trend, which is more evident in summer and fall. Annual precipitation amount tends to increase slightly during the same period. This suggests an increase of precipitation intensity in this area. These changes may influence on growing seasons, floods and droughts, diseases and insects, marketing of seasonal products, energy consumption, and socio-economic sectors. The Korean Peninsular is located at the eastern coast of the largest continent on the earth withmeso-scale mountainous complex topography and itspopulation density is very high. And most people want to hear what will happen in their back yards. It is necessary to produce climate change scenario to fit forhigh-resolution (in meteorological sense, but low-resolution in socio-economic sense) impact assessment. We produced one hundred-year, high-resolution (∼27 km), regional climate change scenario with MM5 and recognized some obstacles to be used in application. The boundary conditions were provided from the 240-year simulation using the ECHAM4/HOPE-G model with SRES A2 scenario. Both observation and simulation data will compose past and future regional climate change scenario over Korea.

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Dependence of Total and Carbonaceous Aerosol Concentrations on Transport Pathways in Seoul, Korea (공기 궤 유입경로에 따른 한반도 서울 상공의 전체 및 유기 에어로졸 농도 변화 분석)

  • Jeong, Ukkeo;Kim, Jhoon;Kim, Young J.;Jung, Jinsang
    • Atmosphere
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.141-148
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    • 2015
  • Recently increased anthropogenic aerosols change the radiative energy balance and affect human life. The management of air quality requires monitoring both the local emissions and transported pollutants. In order to estimate the quantitative contribution of long-range transport from remote sources on aerosol concentrations in Seoul, the airmasses were classified into five types with respect to their pathways. When airmass came from west over strong emission regions in China, high concentrations of $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC) were found, even higher than those for the stagnated airmass. High OC concentrations were found when airmass came from north while BC, EC, and $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations were lower than those of the stagnated airmasses. During dust events, the $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ concentrations increased significantly while carbonaceous aerosol concentrations did not increased. The temporal variations of aerosol concentrations in Seoul were affected by the seasonal variations of airmass pathways. The high $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations over $100{\mu}g\;m^{-3}$ appeared most frequently when the airmasses came from west.

Characteristics of Spacio-Temporal Variation for PM10 and PM2.5 Concentration in Busan (부산지역 PM10과 PM2.5농도의 시간 및 공간적 변화 특성)

  • Jeon, Byung-Il
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.19 no.8
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    • pp.1013-1023
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    • 2010
  • The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of spacio-temporal variation for $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ concentration in Busan. $PM_{10}$ concentration has been reduced for the past three year and exceeded $50\;{\mu}g/m^3$ of the national standard for $PM_{10}$. $PM_{2.5}$ concentration showed gradual decrease or stagnant trends and exceeded the U.S. EPA standard. Seasonal analysis of $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ suggested spring>winter>fall>summer(by Asian dust) and winter>spring>summerenlifall(by anthropogenic effect) in the order of high concentration, respectively. Characterization of diurnal variations suggests that $PM_{10}$ levels at all the three sites consistently exhibited a peak at 1000LST and $PM_{2.5}$ at Jangrimdong experienced the typical $PM_{2.5}$ diurnal trends such that a peak was observed in the morning and the lowest level at 1400LST. In the case of seasonal trends, the $PM_{2.5}/PM_{10}$ ratio was in the order of summer>winter>fall>spring at all the study sites, with a note that spring bears the lowest concentration. During AD events, $PM_{10}$ concentration exhibited the highest level at Jangrimdong and the lowest level at Joadong. And $PM_{2.5}/PM_{10}$ ratio in AD was 0.16~0.28.

Effect of Inorganic Nutrient Enrichment and Water Temperature Increment on the Zooxanthellae Density in the Scleractinian Coral Tissues (무기영양염 농도와 수온 상승이 산호 갈색공생조류의 밀도에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Taihun;Park, Heung-Sik
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.85-92
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    • 2013
  • The coral symbiotic algae zooxanthellae is often expelled from the host as the host coral is under physiological stress, causing the coral to turn completely white. Such coral bleaching events are occurring more frequently with the increase in the global warming, ocean acidification and increased level of anthropogenic impacts such as eutrophication. In the present study, we investigated the effects of inorganic nutrients including ammonium, nitrate, phosphate and elevated water temperature on the symbiotic zooxanthellae density in the fragment of branching coral Acropora nobilis. Zooxanthellae density in the host coral decreased 8 hrs after the experiment at a given elevated water temperature ($32^{\circ}C$, p < 0.05). In contrast, no clear coral bleaching or decrease in the symbiotic algae density was observed from the branching coral exposed to a normal water temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ and high levels of nutrients such as 20 ${\mu}M$ of $NH_4Cl$, 20 ${\mu}M$ of $NaNO_3$ and, 10 ${\mu}M$ $KH_2PO_4$. Accordingly, the data indicated high water temperature is one of the stressful factors to cause bleaching in A. nobilis, whereas the high levels of nutrients is not a factor. It is believed that the results obtained in the present study are useful as baseline information in the management of the coral reefs.

Physical Characteristics of Reservoir Sediment Cores with Depth (저수지 퇴적토 코어의 깊이에 따른 물리적 특성 변화)

  • Kim, Heung-Tae;Kim, Jae-Geun;Youn, Ho-Joong
    • Journal of Wetlands Research
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.57-65
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    • 2010
  • This study was conducted to present primary data on the change of the physical characteristics of reservoir sediments for understanding the sedimentation. The records of the annual summation of the precipitation of >50mm per day (AP50) were compared with changes of bulk density, organic matter, mean grain-size, and sand ratio in sediment cores sampled from three reservoirs without dredging record. Reservoir sediments, characterized by mineral soil, contained organic matters originated from the debris of terrestrial plants, and changes of organic matter were related to changes of grain-size flowing into reservoirs when sediments of fine sandy loam showed 10% of organic matter contents. Rapid changes of grain-size and sand ratio in the sediment cores were associated with the increase and decrease of precipitation, and fluctuation of water level and water flow in reservoirs might have influenced on the formation of sediments in reservoirs. Records of AP50 suggested that sediments could accumulate more than about 30 within the short period of 10 years. The accumulated sediments in a short time can reflect the effect of natural and anthropogenic events on the physical characteristics of sediments.

Statistical Back Trajectory Analysis for Estimation of CO2 Emission Source Regions (공기괴 역궤적 모델의 통계 분석을 통한 이산화탄소 배출 지역 추정)

  • Li, Shanlan;Park, Sunyoung;Park, Mi-Kyung;Jo, Chun Ok;Kim, Jae-Yeon;Kim, Ji-Yoon;Kim, Kyung-Ryul
    • Atmosphere
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.245-251
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    • 2014
  • Statistical trajectory analysis has been widely used to identify potential source regions for chemically and radiatively important chemical species in the atmosphere. The most widely used method is a statistical source-receptor model developed by Stohl (1996), of which the underlying principle is that elevated concentrations at an observation site are proportionally related to both the average concentrations on a specific grid cell where the observed air mass has been passing over and the residence time staying over that grid cell. Thus, the method can compute a residence-time-weighted mean concentration for each grid cell by superimposing the back trajectory domain on the grid matrix. The concentration on a grid cell could be used as a proxy for potential source strength of corresponding species. This technical note describes the statistical trajectory approach and introduces its application to estimate potential source regions of $CO_2$ enhancements observed at Korean Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory in Anmyeon-do. Back trajectories are calculated using HYSPLIT 4 model based on wind fields provided by NCEP GDAS. The identified $CO_2$ potential source regions responsible for the pollution events observed at Anmyeon-do in 2010 were mainly Beijing area and the Northern China where Haerbin, Shenyang and Changchun mega cities are located. This is consistent with bottom-up emission information. In spite of inherent uncertainties of this method in estimating sharp spatial gradients within the vicinity of the emission hot spots, this study suggests that the statistical trajectory analysis can be a useful tool for identifying anthropogenic potential source regions for major GHGs.

Induced Seismicity and Its Applications (유발지진 관측과 활용)

  • Kang, Tae-Seob;Rhie, Junkee;Choi, Nam-Soo
    • Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.21-30
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    • 2015
  • Induced seismicity has been observed in the relation with lots of anthropogenic influence and at variety of geological conditions over the last several decades. This paper reviews those induced earthquakes and compares with each other as well as with natural tectonic earthquakes. Hydraulic fracturing is commonly used to enhance the permeability through new cracks in the rock formation. The process triggers the induced seismicity, which can give crucial information on the fracture network and oil/gas migration. In the similar way, unintentionally induced events during the production procedure of the field, dam reservoir, minig activity, or wastewater injection can be used to give insight into various hydrodynamic processes and changes of reservoir properties at a various scales. The general conclusion summarizes the uncertainty or limitations of knowledge up to date and presents some issues to be dealt with in the future research.