• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.198-221
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• 2021

After large-scale reforestation in the 1960s and 1970s, forests in Korea have gradually been aging. Net ecosystem CO₂ exchange of old-growth forests is theoretically near zero; however, it can be a CO₂ sink or source depending on the intervention of disturbance or management. In this study, we report the CO₂ budget dynamics of the Gwangneung deciduous old-growth forest (GDK) in Korea and examined the following two questions: (1) is the preserved GDK indeed CO₂ neutral as theoretically known? and (2) can we explain the dynamics of CO₂ budget by the common mechanisms reported in the literature? To answer, we analyzed the 15-year long CO₂ flux data measured by eddy covariance technique along with other biometeorological data at the KoFlux GDK site from 2006 to 2020. The results showed that (1) GDK switched back-and-forth between sink and source of CO₂ but averaged to be a week CO₂ source (and turning to a moderate CO₂ source for the recent five years) and (2) the interannual variability of solar radiation, growing season length, and leaf area index showed a positive correlation with that of gross primary production (GPP) (R²=0.32~0.45); whereas the interannual variability of both air and surface temperature was not significantly correlated with that of ecosystem respiration (RE). Furthermore, the machine learning-based model trained using the dataset of early monitoring period (first 10 years) failed to reproduce the observed interannual variations of GPP and RE for the recent five years. Biomass data analysis suggests that carbon emissions from coarse woody debris may have contributed partly to the conversion to a moderate CO₂ source. To properly understand and interpret the long-term CO₂ budget dynamics of GDK, new framework of analysis and modeling based on complex systems science is needed. Also, it is important to maintain the flux monitoring and data quality along with the monitoring of coarse woody debris and disturbances.

• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.198-205
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• 2010

Two sets of thermal reaction experiment for chlorinated hydrocarbons were performed using an isothermal tubular-flow reactor in order to investigate thermal decomposition, including product distribution of chlorinated hydrocarbons. The effects of $H_2$ or Ar as the reaction atmosphere on the thermal decomposition and product distribution for dichloromethane($CH_2Cl_2$) was examined. The experimental results showed that higher conversion of $CH_2Cl_2$ was obtained under $H_2$ atmosphere than under Ar atmosphere. This phenomenon indicates that reactive-gas $H_2$ reaction atmosphere was found to accelerate $CH_2Cl_2$ decomposition. The $H_2$ plays a key role in acceleration of $CH_2Cl_2$ decomposition and formation of dechlorinated light hydrocarbons, while reducing PAH and soot formation through hydrodechlorination process. It was also observed that $CH_3Cl,\;CH_4,\;C_2H_6,\;C_2H_4$ and HCl in $CH_2Cl_2/H_2$ reaction system were the major products with some minor products including chloroethylenes. The $CH_2Cl_2$/Ar reaction system gives poor carbon material balance above reaction temperature of $750^{\circ}C$. Chloroethylenes and soot were found to be the major products and small amounts of $CH_3Cl$ and $C_2H_2$ were formed above $750^{\circ}C$ in $CH_2Cl_2$/Ar. The thermal decomposition reactions of chloroform($CHCl_3$) with argon reaction atmosphere in the absence or the presence of $CH_4$ were carried out using the same tubular flow reactor. The slower $CH_3Cl$ decay occurred when $CH_4$ was added to $CH_3Cl$/Ar reaction system. This is because :$CCl_2$ diradicals that had been produced from $CHCl_3$ unimolecular dissociation reacted with $CH_4$. It appears that the added $CH_4$ worked as the :$CCl_2$ scavenger in the $CHCl_3$ decomposition process. The product distributions for $CHCl_3$ pyrolysis under argon bath gas were distinctly different for the two cases: one with $CH_4$ and the other without $CH_4$. The important pyrolytic reaction pathways to describe the important features of reagent decay and intermediate product distributions, based upon thermochemistry and kinetic principles, were proposed in this study.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.16-37
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• 2018

In this study, difference in chemical composition of $PM_{2.5}$ observed between the year 2013 and 2015 at six air quality intensive monitoring stations (Bangryenogdo (BR), Seoul (SL), Daejeon (DJ), Gwangju (GJ), Ulsan (US), and Jeju (JJ)) was investigated and the possible factors causing their difference were also discussed. $PM_{2.5}$, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), and water-soluble ionic species concentrations were observed on a hourly basis in the six stations. The difference in chemical composition by regions was examined based on emissions of gaseous criteria pollutants (CO, $SO_2$, and $NO_2$), meteorological parameters (wind speed, temperature, and relative humidity), and origins and transport pathways of air masses. For the years 2013 and 2014, annual average $PM_{2.5}$ was in the order of SL ($${\sim_=}DJ$$)>GJ>BR>US>JJ, but the highest concentration in 2015 was found at DJ, following by GJ ($${\sim_=}SJ$$)>BR>US>JJ. Similar patterns were found in $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $NH_4{^+}$. Lower $PM_{2.5}$ at SL than at DJ and GJ was resulted from low concentrations of secondary ionic species. Annual average concentrations of OC and EC by regions had no big difference among the years, but their patterns were distinct from the $PM_{2.5}$, $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $NH_4{^+}$ concentrations by regions. 4-day air mass backward trajectory calculations indicated that in the event of daily average $PM_{2.5}$ exceeding the monthly average values, >70% of the air masses reaching the all stations were coming from northeastern Chinese polluted regions, indicating the long-range transportation (LTP) was an important contributor to $PM_{2.5}$ and its chemical composition at the stations. Lower concentrations of secondary ionic species and $PM_{2.5}$ at SL in 2015 than those at DJ and GJ sites were due to the decrease in impact by LTP from polluted Chinese regions, rather than the difference in local emissions of criteria gas pollutants ($SO_2$, $NO_2$, and $NH_3$) among the SL, DJ, and GJ sites. The difference in annual average $SO{_4}^{2-}$ by regions was resulted from combination of the difference in local $SO_2$ emissions and chemical conversion of $SO_2$ to $SO{_4}^{2-}$, and LTP from China. However, the $SO{_4}^{2-}$ at the sites were more influenced by LTP than the formation by chemical transformation of locally emitted $SO_2$. The $NO_3{^-}$ increase was closely associated with the increase in local emissions of nitrogen oxides at four urban sites except for the BR and JJ, as well as the LTP with a small contribution. Among the meterological parameters (wind speed, temperature, and relative humidity), the ambient temperature was most important factor to control the variation of $PM_{2.5}$ and its major chemical components concentrations. In other words, as the average temperature increases, the $PM_{2.5}$, OC, EC, and $NO_3{^-}$ concentrations showed a decreasing tendency, especially with a prominent feature in $NO_3{^-}$. Results from a case study that examined the $PM_{2.5}$ and its major chemical data observed between February 19 and March 2, 2014 at the all stations suggest that ambient $SO{_4}^{2-}$ and $NO_3{^-}$ concentrations are not necessarily proportional to the concentrations of their precursor emissions because the rates at which they form and their gas/particle partitioning may be controlled by factors (e.g., long range transportation) other than the concentration of the precursor gases.