• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.499-507
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• 2018

Agricultural meteorological information is an important resource that affects farmers' income, food security, and agricultural conditions. Thus, such data are used in various fields that are responsible for planning, enforcing, and evaluating agricultural policies. The meteorological information obtained from automatic weather observation systems operated by rural development agencies contains missing values owing to temporary mechanical or communication deficiencies. It is known that missing values lead to reduction in the reliability and validity of the model. In this study, the hierarchical Bayesian spatio-temporal model suggests replacements for missing values because the meteorological information includes spatio-temporal correlation. The prior distribution is very important in the Bayesian approach. However, we found a problem where the spatial decay parameter was not converged through the trace plot. A suitable spatial decay parameter, estimated on the bias of root-mean-square error (RMSE), which was determined to be the difference between the predicted and observed values. The latitude, longitude, and altitude were considered as covariates. The estimated spatial decay parameters were 0.041 and 0.039, for the spatio-temporal model with latitude and longitude and for latitude, longitude, and altitude, respectively. The posterior distributions were stable after the spatial decay parameter was fixed. root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and bias were calculated for model validation. Finally, the missing values were generated using the independent Gaussian process model.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.164-171
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• 2011

This work focuses on the analysis of bioaerosols in the atmosphere at higher altitudes over Noto Peninsula, Japan. We carried out direct sampling via aircraft, separated cultures, and identified present isolates. Atmospheric bioaerosols at higher altitudes were collected using a Cessna 404 aircraft for an hour at an altitude of 3,500 m over the Noto Peninsula. The aircraft-based direct sampling system was devised to improve upon the system of balloon-based sampling. In order to examine pre-existing microorganism contamination on the surface of the aircraft body, bioaerosol sampling was carried out just before takeoff using the same method as atmospheric sampling. Identification was carried out by a homology search for 16S or 18S rDNA isolate sequences in DNA databases (GenBank). Isolate sampling just before takeoff revealed Stretpomyces sp., Micrococcus sp., and Cladosporium sp. One additional strain, Bacillus sp., was isolated from the sample after bioaerosol collection at high altitude. As the microorganism contamination on the aircraft body before takeoff differed from that while in the air, the presence of additional, higher atmosphere-based microorganisms was confirmed. It was found that Bacillus sp. was floating at an altitude of 3,500 m over Noto Peninsula.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.68-75
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• 2011

A vehicle fuel economy is very important issue in view of fuel cost and environmental regulation. It has been improved according to the performance improvement of the vehicle engine, power train and many components. It was evaluated at given mode (LA-4, FTP-75, etc) on an engine dynamometer or computer simulation program. In this paper, the fuel economy improvement cruise control algorithms as controling a vehicle velocity by road load calculated and predicted in a real expressway with gradient was studied. Firstly, the altitude and distance data which was measured with GPS sensor was already installed in the ECU of a vehicle. Then the vehicle equipped with GPS receiver is driven the same expressway. The ECU calculates the gradient angle and the in-/decreasing velocity using the gradient angle by comparing the current received distance and altitude data from GPS with the saved data ahead of the vehicle. Therefore the ECU can calculate and predict the vehicle velocity considering tolerance velocity of next position with running. Then the ECU controls the vehicle velocity to meet this predicted velocity in all section. Three cruise control algorithms with the different velocity profiles for the improvement of fuel economy are proposed and compared with the computer simulation results that the vehicle runs on Youngdong expressway. The proposed CVELCONT2 and CVELCONT3 algorithms were improved 3.7% and 4.8% of fuel economy compared with CONSTVEL which is steady cruising algorithm. These two algorithms are recommended as the Eco-cruise drive methodologies in this paper.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.71-81
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• 2012

This study for the understanding of the radiation environment according to the altitude in urban area in the summer observes the long and short wave radiation environment at the 4 urban areas with different height and the 1 suburban area. The results of this study are as follows. (1) When the altitude was high, the more short wave radiation was observed. (2) As the altitude was high, the temperature of atmosphere got lower. And because of that the downward long wave radiation was also lower. This general trend was confirmed through the study. (3) Through the observation of long wave radiation, the upper atmosphere of suburban area had the atmosphere characteristic which the temperature was rising and decreasing faster. Therefore, the difference radiation characteristics between the urban and suburban area were confirmed. (4) The result of the ratio of short wave radiation to long wave radiation(short wave radiation/long wave radiation) according to the altitude and location, the value was increased when the distance was far from the artificiality structure or a heat source, and the urban effect became smaller. Thus, it is expected that the ratio will be an evaluation index for evaluating urbanization effect.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.56-64
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• 2017

A high altitude long endurance aircraft which carries out missions of environmental research communication relay or ground surveillance, should have the capacity to cruise in the stratosphere at a relatively low speed for a long dwell time without the necessity of refueling. When one considers the propulsion system for such an aircraft, a reciprocating engine with a serial turbo-charger system to boost rarefied ambient air up to sea level condition, would represent an good, informed and practical choice regardless of the cruising altitude of the aircraft. In this paper, high altitude long endurance aircraft developed by overseas research groups and research trends, regarding multi-stage turbocharger systems, are introduced.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.21-37
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• 2022

The present study was carried out to evaluate the chemical properties of soil in relation to forest structure and composition at different altitudes (900-2,600 m asl) in a part of Western Himalaya. The composite soil samples were taken from three (viz. upper, middle and lower) depths. The soils of the whole study area were acidic in nature (pH=4.90-5.51). Contents of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Carbon (C) and soil organic matter (SOM) showed much fluctuation during different seasons of year. Nitrogen content showed significant positive correlations with altitude (r=0.924, p<0.05) and different community parameters like species diversity (r=0.892, p<0.01) and species richness (r=0.941, p<0.05). Phosphorus exhibited direct correlations with carbon (r=0.637) while weak negative correlations with different community parameters like species richness & diversity, total basal cover (TBC), density and canopy cover. Carbon content and hence SOM showed direct correlations with Nitrogen (r=0.821, p<0.01); Phosphorus (r=0.637, ns) and Potassium (r=0.540, ns). But no significant relationship was observed between K content and species richness (p=0.30, r=-0.504); between K content and species diversity (p=0.14, r=-0.672); between P content and species diversity (p=0.29, r=-0.513) and species richness (p=0.23, r=-0.575). Among the different soil nutrients, only N showed a significant positive correlation with altitude while all others exhibited negative (but non-significant) correlation with it. The study revealed that the chemical properties affect and are reciprocally affected by forest structure and composition and that N rich soils of higher altitudes are best for the growth and development of forests.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.694-701
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• 2012

This study set put to measure the environmental radiation for mountainous regions of National Parks where Integrated Environmental Radiation Monitoring Network is not installed. For the measurement method, the space dose was classified at 1 meter high from the surface and the index dose at the surface. The measured radiation energy measured gamma, alpha and beta rays. For selection of national parks, we selected 10 national parks which are within the same distribution in the southern part and central part of the nation. For measurement equipment, INTERCEPTOR$^{TM}$(Thermo, USA, 2006) was used for gamma rays. As for the results of the measurements, for the space gamma dose, a high level was measured at a sea level of 500 meter in national parks with an altitude of less than 1,000 meter. It was found that the value was more than $0.23{\mu}Svh^{-1}$ especially in Bukhan Mountain, Gyeryong Mountain and Wolchul Mountain. In national parks with an altitude of more than 1,000 meter, $1.77{\mu}Svh^{-1}$ was measured at 1,500 meter at Seorak Mountain. Therefore, this is 10 times greater than the background standard dose. The national parks were there were no significant changes in dose were Naejang Mountain, Sobaek and Jiri Mountains. For the measurement of the index dose, a high dose level was measured at middle altitudes of 500 meter and 1,000 meter. For measurement according to the composition types of crust, high doses were recorded at national parks composed of rocks and a lower environmental radiation level was measured at Hanra Mountain where volcanic activities have occurred.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2014

Caeneressa diaphana muirheadi (Felder) and Caeneressa brithyris (Druce) have been recorded for the first time from India. Further, a new combination viz. Caeneressa melaena (Walker) comb. nov., has also been proposed on the basis of external genitalic features. With these records, genus Caeneressa will be represented by five species from India, Caeneressa diaphana (Kollar), Caeneressa diaphana muirheadi (Felder), Caeneressa brithyris (Druce), Caeneressa melaena (Hampson) and Caeneressa swinhoei (Leech). The studied material was collected from North-Eastern states of India. Caeneressa brithyris (Druce) was collected near riverside at low altitude whereas the other two species were collected at high altitude.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.259-264
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• 2006

House dust mites play an important role in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. Many factors may influence mite growth. The presence of mites is related to mean temperature and humidity as well as altitude. The aim of this study was to analyze the mite fauna in 5 regions of western Anatolia, Turkey, that have similar climatic properties with low mean temperature and humidity, but differ in altitude. During the period October-November 2004, house dust was collected from 290 homes in 5 different cities. House dust mites were isolated in 67 (23.1 %) of 290 samples. The family Pyroglyphidae (Astigmata) was present in all positive samples. This study suggests that the selected western Anatolian regions that share similar environmental conditions host similar dust mite populations.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.30
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• pp.10.1-10.14
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• 2015

Recent cohort studies have relied on exposure prediction models to estimate individual-level air pollution concentrations because individual air pollution measurements are not available for cohort locations. For such prediction models, geographic variables related to pollution sources are important inputs. We demonstrated the computation process of geographic variables mostly recorded in 2010 at regulatory air pollution monitoring sites in South Korea. On the basis of previous studies, we finalized a list of 313 geographic variables related to air pollution sources in eight categories including traffic, demographic characteristics, land use, transportation facilities, physical geography, emissions, vegetation, and altitude. We then obtained data from different sources such as the Statistics Geographic Information Service and Korean Transport Database. After integrating all available data to a single database by matching coordinate systems and converting non-spatial data to spatial data, we computed geographic variables at 294 regulatory monitoring sites in South Korea. The data integration and variable computation were performed by using ArcGIS version 10.2 (ESRI Inc., Redlands, CA, USA). For traffic, we computed the distances to the nearest roads and the sums of road lengths within different sizes of circular buffers. In addition, we calculated the numbers of residents, households, housing buildings, companies, and employees within the buffers. The percentages of areas for different types of land use compared to total areas were calculated within the buffers. For transportation facilities and physical geography, we computed the distances to the closest public transportation depots and the boundary lines. The vegetation index and altitude were estimated at a given location by using satellite data. The summary statistics of geographic variables in Seoul across monitoring sites showed different patterns between urban background and urban roadside sites. This study provided practical knowledge on the computation process of geographic variables in South Korea, which will improve air pollution prediction models and contribute to subsequent health analyses.