• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.10
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• pp.619-629
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• 2023

Recent intensification of climate change has led to an increase in damages caused by droughts. Currently, in Korea, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is used as a criterion to classify the intensity of droughts. Based on the accumulated precipitation over the past six months (SPI-6), meteorological drought intensities are classified into four categories: concern, caution, alert, and severe. However, there is a limitation in classifying drought intensity solely based on precipitation. To overcome the limitations of the meteorological drought warning criteria based on SPI, this study collected emergency water supply damage data from the National Drought Information Portal (NDIP) to classify drought intensity. Factors of SPI, such as precipitation, and factors used to calculate evapotranspiration, such as temperature and humidity, were indexed using min-max normalization. Coefficients for each factor were determined based on the Genetic Algorithm (GA). The drought intensity based on emergency water supply was used as the dependent variable, and the coefficients of each meteorological factor determined by GA were used as coefficients to derive a new Drought Severity Classification Index (DSCI). After deriving the DSCI, cumulative distribution functions were used to present intensity stage classification boundaries. It is anticipated that using the proposed DSCI in this study will allow for more accurate drought intensity classification than the traditional SPI, supporting decision-making for disaster management personnel.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.11
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• pp.823-835
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• 2023

Recently, due to the increase in abnormal climate, rainfall intensity is increasing and drought periods are continuing. These environmental changes lead to prolonged drought conditions and difficulties in real-time recognition. In general, drought can be judged by the amount of precipitation and the number of days without rainfall. In determining the impact of drought, it is divided into meteorological drought, agricultural drought, and hydrological drought and evaluation is made using the drought index, but environmental drought evaluation is insufficient. The river water quality managed through the total water pollution cap system is vulnerable to the effects of such drought. In this study, we aim to determine the drought impact on river water quality and quantify the impact of prolonged drought on water quality. The impact of rain-free days and accumulated precipitation on river water quality was quantitatively evaluated. The Load Duration Curve (LDC), which is used to evaluate the water quality of rivers, was used to evaluate water pollution occurring at specific times. It has been observed that when the number of consecutive rainless days exceeds 14 days, the target water quality in the mid-basin is exceeded in over 60% of cases. The cumulative rainfall is set at 28 days as the criteria, with an annual average rainfall of 3%, which is 32.1 mm or less. It has been noted that changes in water quality in rivers occur when there are 14 or more rainless days and the cumulative rainfall over 28 days is 32.1 mm or less in the Gamcheon Mid-basin. Based on the results of this study, it aims to quantify the drought impact and contribute to the development of a drought water quality index for future environmental droughts.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to select and predict optimal heatwave indices for describing and predicting heat-related illnesses. Regression analysis was conducted using Heat-related illness surveillance system data for a number of heat-related illnesses and meteorological data from the Korea Meteorological Administration's Automatic Weather Station (AWS) for the period from 2021 to 2023. Daily average temperature, daily maximum temperature, daily average Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), and daily maximum WBGT values were calculated and analyzed. The results indicated that among the four indicators, the daily maximum WBGT showed the highest suitability with an R² value of 0.81 and RMSE of 0.98, with a threshold of 29.94 Celsius. During the entire analysis period, there were a total of 91 days exceeding this threshold, resulting in 339 cases of heat-related illnesses. Predictions of heat-related illness cases from 2021 to 2023 using the regression equation for daily maximum WBGT showed an accuracy with less than 10 cases of error annually, demonstrating a high level of precision. Through continuous research and refinement of data and analysis methods, it is anticipated that this approach could contribute to predicting and mitigating the impact of heatwaves.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.135-154
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• 2023

Urban wetlands provide various ecosystem services and are subject to restoration and creation projects due to their increased value in the context of climate change. However, the vegetation structure of wetlands is sensitive to environmental changes, including artificial disturbances, and requires continuous maintenance. In this study, we conducted a vegetation survey of three wetlands created as part of a project to restore urban degraded natural ecosystems and monitored the quantitative changes in wetland vegetation structure using an unmanned aerial vehicle. The vegetation survey revealed 73 species in Incheon Yeonhui wetland, and the change in vegetation composition based on wetland occurrence frequency was 11.5% on average compared to the 2018 vegetation survey results. The vegetation survey identified 44 species in Busan Igidae wetland, and the proportion of species classified as obligate upland plants was the highest at 48.8% among all plants, while the proportion of naturalized plants accounted for 15.9% of all plants. The open water surface area decreased from 10% in May 2019 to 6.7% in May 2020. Iksan Sorasan wetland was surveyed and 44 species were confirmed, and it was found that the proportion of facultative wetland plant decreased compared to the 2018 vegetation survey results, and the open water surface area increased from 0.4% in May 2019 to 4.1% in May 2020. The results of this study showed that wetlands with low artificial management intensity exhibited a tendency for stabilization of vegetation structure, with a decrease in the proportion of plants with high wetland occurrence frequency and a relatively small number of new species. Wetlands with high artificial management intensity required specific management, as they had a large change in vegetation structure and a partially high possibility of new invasion. We reaffirmed the importance of continuous monitoring of vegetation communities and infrastructure for wetlands considering the function and use of urban wetlands, and restoration stages. These research results suggest the need to establish a sustainable wetland maintenance system through the establishment of long-term maintenance goals and monitoring methods that consider the environmental conditions and vegetation composition of wetlands.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.48-71
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• 2024

Typhoons are representative oceanic and atmospheric phenomena that cause interactions within the Earth's system with diverse influences. In recent decades, the typhoons have tended to strengthen due to rapidly changing climate. The 2022 revised science curriculum emphasizes the importance of teaching-learning activities using advanced science and technology to cultivate digital literacy as a citizen of the future society. Therefore, it is necessary to solve the temporal and spatial limitations of textbook illustrations and to develop effective instructional materials using global-scale big data covered in the field of earth science. In this study, according to the procedure of the PDIE (Preparation, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) model, the inquiry activity data was developed to visualize the track of the typhoon using the image data of GK-2A. In the preparatory stage, the 2015 and 2022 revised curriculum and the contents of the inquiry activities of the current textbooks were analyzed. In the development stage, inquiry activities were organized into a series of processes that can collect, process, visualize, and analyze observational data, and a GUI (Graphic User Interface)-based visualization program that can derive results with a simple operation was created. In the implementation and evaluation stage, classes were conducted with students, and classes using code and GUI programs were conducted respectively to compare the characteristics of each activity and confirm its applicability in the school field. The class materials presented in this study enable exploratory activities using actual observation data without professional programming knowledge which is expected to contribute to students' understanding and digital literacy in the field of earth science.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.16-24
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• 2024

Background: Indoor PM_2.5 concentrations in residential houses can be affected by various factors depending on the season. This is because not only do the climate characteristics depend on the season, but the activity patterns of occupants are also different. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to compare factors affecting indoor PM_2.5 concentrations in apartments and detached houses in Daegu according to seasonal changes. Methods: This study included 20 households in Daegu, South Korea. The study was conducted during the summer (from July 10 to August 10, 2023) and the autumn (from September 11 to October 9, 2023). A sensor-based instrument for PM_2.5 levels was installed in the living room of each residence, and measurements were taken continuously for 24 hours at intervals of one minute during the measurement period. Based on the air quality monitoring system data in Daegu, outdoor PM_2.5 concentrations were estimated using ordinary kriging (OK) in Python. In addition, the indoor activities of the occupants were investigated using a time-activity pattern diary. The affecting factors of indoor PM_2.5 concentration were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results: Indoor and outdoor PM_2.5 concentrations of the residences during summer were 15.27±11.09 ㎍/m³ and 11.52±7.56 ㎍/m³, respectively. Indoor and outdoor PM_2.5 concentrations during autumn were 13.82±9.61 ㎍/m³ and 9.57±5.50 ㎍/m³, respectively. The PM_2.5 concentrations were higher in summer compared to autumn both indoors and outdoors. The primary factor affecting indoor PM_2.5 concentration in summer was occupant activity. On the other hand, during the autumn season, the primary affecting factor was outdoor PM_2.5 concentration. Conclusions: Indoor PM_2.5 concentration in residential houses is affected by occupant activity such as the inflow of outdoor PM_2.5 concentration, cooking, and cleaning, as found in previous studies. However, it was revealed that there were differences depending on the season.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.113 no.2
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• pp.239-258
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• 2024

In the face of complex crises such as a shrinking society, regional imbalance, and climate change, there is a need to seek sustainable development in local communities. In the forest sector, attempts are being made to link forest resources with local industries. However, the current support system, which is centered on the central government, has limitations in achieving sustainable forest management. On the other hand, the international community is actively promoting a shift in systems by introducing the concept of local forestry, which emphasizes local initiatives to achieve sustainable forest management. However, in the Republic of Korea, the concept of local forestry is still unclear, which hinders the promotion of a paradigm shift. In this paper, we applied the Delphi technique to conduct three surveys of 29 academics, administrators, and field experts in the Republic of Korea. The aim was to define the concept of local forestry that is suitable for domestic conditions and identify institutional measures to establish and revitalize it. The results showed that local forestry can be defined as a broad concept that is both consultative and systemic in nature and that an institutional approach that supports actors and their activities is necessary to revitalize local forestry.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.86-96
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• 2010

The oxygen utilization rate (OUR) is one of the crucial parameters for ocean carbon cycling and climate models. However, parameterization of OUR in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) is yet to be established. We estimated the basin-specific OURs in the East Sea and fitted them with exponential functions with depth by using pCFC- 12 age and apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) measured in summer 1999. The estimated OURs are higher in the upper water column and decrease with depth, in general. The vertical distributions of the estimated OURs in the Western and Eastern Japan Basins (WJB & EJB) are very similar. The OURs in the Ulleung Basin (UB) varied greatly depending on whether the surface layer (0~200 m) data are included in the OUR estimate or not. Apparently, weaker oxygen consumption occurs in the deep layer of Yamato Basin (YB). The ranges of the OURs between 200 m and 2000 m at WJB, EJB, UB, and YB are 8.15~0.83, 8.11~0.68, 5.29~0.73, and 7.31~0.06 ${\mu}mol$ $kg^{-1}$ $yr^{-1}$, respectively. Consideration of the wintertime surface water oxygen disequilibrium condition in estimating the OUR will be necessary in the future study.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.311-320
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• 2024

Climate change has been intensifying drought frequency and severity. Such prolonged droughts reduce reservoir levels, thereby exacerbating drought impacts. While previous studies have focused on optimizing reservoir operations using historical data to mitigate these impacts, their scope is limited to analyzing past events, highlighting the need for predictive methods for future droughts. This research introduces a novel approach for predicting minimum inflow at the Seomjingang dam which has experienced significant droughts. This study utilized the Stochastic Analysis Modeling and Simulation (SAMS) 2007 to generate inflow sequences for the same period of observed inflow. Then we simulate reservoir operations to assess firm yield and predict minimum inflow through synthetic inflow analysis. Minimum inflow is defined as the inflow where firm yield is less than 95% of the synthetic inflow in many sequences during periods matching observed inflow. The results for each case indicated the firm yield for the minimum inflow is on average 9.44 m³/s, approximately 1.07 m³/s lower than the observed inflow's firm yield of 10.51 m³/s. The minimum inflow estimation can inform reservoir operation standards, facilitate multi-reservoir system reviews, and assess supplementary capabilities. Estimating minimum inflow emerges as an effective strategy for enhancing water supply reliability and mitigating shortages.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.491-499
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• 2020

Increasing impervious surfaces can cause various physical and mental illnesses as well as further problems like deterioration of the thermal environment and disconnection of the water circulation system in the downtown area. This study is intended to suggest baseline data for the future creation or remodelation of large-scaled urban parks in consideration of human health on the aspect of climate by analyzing air ions condition and correlation analysis between air ions and meteorological elements depending on distances from the center in the urban park. The study site was divided into four types by distances from the center of Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, then classified as A and B. After selecting 80 points to record, land coverage and vegetation status were investigated, and then meteorological elements and air ions were measured. First, the green space rate by section is A section Center (90%)> Inner (70%)> Outer-inner (10%) = Outer (10%), B section Center (100%)> Inner (60%)> Outer- In order of inner (30%)> Outer (0%). Second, for weather factors, the temperature was analyzed by Outer (24.18℃) > Outer-inner (22.90℃) > Inner (22.43℃) > Center (21.719℃). For relative humidity, center (46.49%) > Inner (43.36%) > Outer-inner (42.41%) > Outer (38.53%) was analyzed. Third, In the case of cations in the air ions, Outer(435.71ea/㎤) > Outer-inner(415.16ea/㎤) > Inner (389.46ea/㎤) > Center (352.64ea/㎤). In the case of negative ions, Center (569.72ea/㎤) > Inner (499.83ea/㎤) > Outer-inner(410.58ea/㎤) > Outer (292.02ea/㎤). It was analyzed to increase toward Center, and analyzed to decrease with increasing distance from road. For the Air ion index, it was analyzed as Center (1.67) > Inner (1.31) > Outer-inner (1.08) > Outer (0.71). Negative irons was analyzed to increase when its measuring points close to the center and decrease with shortening distance to the road. Fourth, as a result of correlation analysis, positive(+) correlation is negative ions and ion index. These were measured to increase as the recording points closing to the center of the park from the road. The negative(-) correlation is temperature, solar radiation, and positive ions. These increased as getting closer to the road.