• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.638-646
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term habitat morphological alteration resulting from a large dam and weirs in the Tamjin River. To achieve this, we carried out a hydrograph analysis and a substrate size distribution analysis. We also estimated the channel width, bar area and vegetation encroachment using aerial photographs taken before and after the construction of the dam and weirs. The result of the hydrological analysis showed that flooding downstream was greatly reduced with small peaks occurrence after the dam construction. Interestingly, normal hydrographs in the main channel appeared just after tributary conjunction. There was a similar pattern in the substrate size analysis. Despite coarsened substrate just downstream of the dam site, more sand appeared again after introduction of the tributary. However, there was an increase in the bar area downstream of the dam's channels with most bars covered with vegetation. The channel width increased at the upper area of weirs through impoundment, but decreased downstream because of vegetation encroachment. This study indicate that unregulated tributary plays an important role in restoring hydro-physical habitat conditions in mainstream channels below a large dam. However, numerous weirs could be a causal factor to accelerate habitat deterioration in the dam downstream channels.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.985-998
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• 2021

In general, the upstream dam changes downstream flow regime dramatically, i.e., from natural flow regime to hydropeaking flows. This study investigates the impact of the natural flow pattern on downstream fish habitat in a regulated river in Korea using the physical habitat simulation. The study area is a 13.4 km long reach of the Geum-gang River, located downstream from the Yongdam Dam, Korea. A field monitoring revealed that three fish species are dominant, namely Zacco platypus, Coreoleuciscus splendidus, and Opsariichthys bidens, and they account for 70% of the total fish community. Specially, Opsariichthys bidens is an indigenous species in the Geum-gang River. The three fish species are selected as target fish species for the physical habitat simulation. The Nays2D model, a 2D shallow water equation solver, and the HSI (Habitat Suitability Index) model are used for hydraulic and habitat simulations, respectively. To assess the impact of the natural flow pattern, this study uses the annual natural flow regime and hydropeaking flows from the dam. It is found that the natural flow regime increases significantly the Composite Suitability Index (CSI) in the study reach. Then, using the Building Block Approach (BBA), the scenarios for the modifying dam operations are presented in the study reach. Both Scenario 1 and scenario 2 are proposed by using the hydrological method considering both magnitude and duration of the inflow and averaging the inflow over each month, respectively. It is revealed that the natural flow regime embodied in scenario 1 and scenario 2 increases the Weighted Usable Area (WUA) significantly, compared to the hydropeaking flows. In conclusion, the modifying the dam operations by restoring to the natural flow pattern is advantageous to fish community.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.969-983
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• 2021

Evapotranspiration, one of the hydrometeorological components, is considered an important variable for water resource planning and management and is primarily used as input data for hydrological models such as water balance models. The FAO56 PM method has been recommended as a standard approach to estimate the reference evapotranspiration with relatively high accuracy. However, the FAO56 PM method is often challenging to apply because it requires considerable hydrometeorological variables. In this perspective, the Hargreaves equation has been widely adopted to estimate the reference evapotranspiration. In this study, a set of parameters of the Hargreaves equation was calibrated with relatively long-term data within a Bayesian framework. Statistical index (CC, RMSE, IoA) is used to validate the model. RMSE for monthly results reduced from 7.94 ~ 24.91 mm/month to 7.94 ~ 24.91 mm/month for the validation period. The results confirmed that the accuracy was significantly improved compared to the existing Hargreaves equation. Further, the evaporative demand drought index (EDDI) based on the evaporative demand (E₀) was proposed. To confirm the effectiveness of the EDDI, this study evaluated the estimated EDDI for the recent drought events from 2014 to 2015 and 2018, along with precipitation and SPI. As a result of the evaluation of the Han-river watershed in 2018, the weekly EDDI increased to more than 2 and it was confirmed that EDDI more effectively detects the onset of drought caused by heatwaves. EDDI can be used as a drought index, particularly for heatwave-driven flash drought monitoring and along with SPI.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.400-414
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• 2021

Under high-level radioactive waste repository conditions, bentonite as an engineered barrier material undergoes thermal, hydrological, mechanical, and chemical processes. We report the applications of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) imaging technique on the characterization and analysis of bentonite over the past decade to provide a reference of the utilization of this technique and the recent research trends. This overview of the X-ray CT technique applications includes the characterization of the bentonite either in pellets or powder form. X-ray imaging has provided a means to extract grain information at the microscale and identify crack networks responsible for the pellets' heterogeneity. Regarding samples of pellets-powder mixtures under hydration, X-ray CT allowed the identification and monitoring of heterogeneous zones throughout the test. Some results showed how zones with pellets only swell faster compared to others composed of pellets and powder. Moreover, the behavior of fissures between grains and bentonite matrix was observed to change under drying and hydrating conditions, tending to close during the former and open during the latter. The development of specializing software has allowed obtaining strain fields from a sequence of images. In more recent works, X-ray CT technique has served to estimate the dry density, water content, and particle displacement at different testing times. Also, when temperature was added to the hydration process of a sample, CT technology offered a way to observe localized and global density changes over time.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.70-82
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• 2023

Recently, Korean government has introduced Multi Metric Indices (MMI) using various biocommunity information for aquatic ecosystem monitoring and ecosystem health assessment at the national level. MMI is a key tool in national ecosystem health assessment programs. The MMI consists of indices that respond to different target environmental factors, including environmental disturbance (e.g. nutrients, hydrological and hydraulic situation of site etc.). We used zooplankton community information collected from Korean lakes to estimate the availability of candidate zooplankton MMI indices that can be used to assess lake ecosystem health. First, we modified the candidate indices proposed by the U.S. EPA to suit Korean conditions. The modified indices were subjected to individual index suitability analysis, correlation analysis with environmental variables, and redundancy analysis among indices, and 19 indices were finally selected. Taxonomic diversity was suggested to be an important indicator for all three taxonomic groups (cladoceran, copepod, rotifer), on the other hand, the indices using biomass for large cladocerans and copepods, while the indices using abundance were suggested for small cladocerans and rotifers.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.34-48
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• 2019

Naeseong Stream is a natural sand-bed river that flows through mountainous and cultivated area in northern part of Gyeongbuk province. It had maintained its inherent landscape characterized by white sandbars before 2010s. However, since then changes occurred, which include construction of Yeongju Dam and the extensive vegetation development around 2015. In this study, long-term monitoring was carried out on Naeseong Stream to analyze these changes objectively. This paper aims to provide a dataset of the investigation on channel morphology and vegetation for the period 2012-2018. Methods of investigation include drone/terrestrial photography, LiDAR aerial survey and on-site fieldwork. The main findings are as follows. Vegetation development in the channel of Naeseong Stream began around 1987. Before 2013 it occurred along the downstream reach and since then in the entire reach. Some of the sites where riverbed is covered with vegetation during 2014~2015 were rejuvenated to bare bars due to the floods afterwards, but woody vegetation was established in many sites. Bed changes occurred due to deposition of sediment on the vegetated surfaces. Though Naeseong Stream has maintained its substantial sand-bed characteristics, there has been a slight tendency in bed material coarsening. Riverbed degradation at the thalweg was observed in the surveyed cross sections. Considering all the results together with the hydrological characteristics mentioned in the precedent paper (I), it is thought that the change in vegetation and landscape along Naeseong Stream was mainly due to decrease of flow. The effect of Yeongju Dam on the change of the riverbed degradation was briefly discussed as well.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 2020

Land use in watersheds has been shown to be a major driving factor in determining the status of the water quality of streams. In this light, scientists have been investigating the roles of riparian vegetation on the relationships between land use in watersheds and the associated stream water quality. Numerous studies reported that riparian vegetation could alleviate the adverse effects caused by land use in watersheds and on stream water quality through various hydrological, biochemical and ecological mechanisms. However, this concept has been criticized as the true effects of riparian vegetation must be assessed by comprehensive models that mimic real environmental settings. This study aimed to estimate a comprehensive structural equation model integrating topography, land use, and characteristics of riparian vegetation. We used water quality data from the Nakdong River system monitored under the National Aquatic Ecosystem Monitoring Program (NAEMP) of the Korean Ministry of Environment (MOE). Also, riparian vegetation data and land use data were extracted from the Land Use/Land Cover map (LULC) produced by the MOE. The number of structural equation models (SEMs) were estimated in Amos of IBM SPSS. Study results revealed that land use was determined by elevation, and developed areas within a watershed significantly increased the concentration of Total Nitrogen (TN) in streams and LDI in riparian vegetation. On the contrary, developed areas significantly reduced LPI and PLAND. At the same time, PLAND and LDI significantly reduced the concentration of TN in streams. Thus, it was clear that developed areas in watersheds had both a direct and an indirect impact on the concentration of TN in streams, and spatial pattern and the amount of vegetation of riparian vegetation could significantly alleviate the negative impacts of developed areas on TN concentration in streams. To enhance stream water quality, reducing developed areas in a watershed is critical for long-term watershed management plans, restoration patterns for riparian vegetation could be immediately implemented since riparian areas were less developed than most other watersheds.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.201-213
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• 2007

In this study, the Batter Assessment Science Integrating point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS 3.0)/window interface to Hydrological Simulation Program-FPRTRAN (WinHSPF) was applied for assessment of Soyang Dam watershed. WinHSPF calibration was performed using monitoring data from 2000 to 2004 to simulate stream flow. Water quality (water temperature, DO, BOD, nitrate, total organic nitrogen, total nitrogen, total organic phosphorus and total phosphorus) was calibrated. Calibration results for dry-days and wet-days simulation were reasonably matched with observed data in stream flow, temperature, DO, BOD and nutrient simulation. Some deviation in the model results were caused by the lack of measured watershed data, hydraulic structure data and meteorological data. It was found that most of pollutant loading was contributed by nonpoint source pollution showing about $98.6%{\sim}99.0%$. The WinHSPF BMPRAC was applied to evaluate the water quality improvement. These scenarios included constructed wetland for controlling nonpoint source poilution and wet detention pond. The results illustrated that reasonably reduced pollutant loadin. Overall, BASINS/WinHSPF was found to be applicable and can be a powerful tool in pollutant loading and BMP efficiency estimation from the watershed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.2 s.116
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• pp.187-197
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• 2006

A mathematical modeling program called Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) was applied to the Yongdam Watershed to examine its applicability for loading estimates in watershed scale. It was run under BASINS (Better Assessment Science for Integrating point and Nonpoint Sources) program, and the model was validated using monitoring data of 2002 ${\sim}$ 2003. The model efficiency of runoff was high in comparison between simulated and observed data, while it was relatively low in the water quality parameters. But its reliability and performance were within the expectation considering complexity of the watershed and pollutant sources and land uses intermixed in the watershed. The estimated pollutant load from Yongdam watershed for BOD, T-N and T-P was 1,290,804 kg $yr{-1}$, 3,753,750 kg $yr{-1}$ and 77,404 kg $yr{-1}$,respectively. Non-point source (NPS) contribution was high showing BOD 57.2%, T-N 92.0% and T-P 60.2% of the total annual loading in the study area. The NPS loading during the monsoon rainy season (June to September) was about 55 ${\sim}$ 72% of total NPS loading, and runoff volume was also in a similar rate (69%). However, water quality was not necessarily high during the rainy season, and showed a decreasing trend with increasing water flow. Overall, the BASINS/HSPF was applied to the Yongdam watershed successfully without difficulty, and it was found that the model could be used conveniently to assess watershed characteristics and to estimate pollutant loading in watershed scale.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.6_2
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• pp.1819-1827
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• 2021

Land-use/cover change caused by rapid urbanization in South Korea is one of the concerns in flood risk management because groundwater recharge by precipitation hardly occurs due to an increase in impermeable surfaces in urban areas. This study investigated the hydrologic effects of land-use/cover on groundwater recharge in the Yeonje-gu district of Busan, South Korea. A statistical time series analysis was conducted with temporal variations of precipitation and groundwater level to estimate lag-time based on correlation coefficients calculated from auto-correlation function (ACF), cross-correlation function (CCF), and moving average (MA) at five sites. Landform and land-use/cover within 250 m radius of the monitoring wells(GW01, GW02, GW03, GW04, and GW05) at five sites were identified by land cover and digital map using Arc-GIS software. Long lag-times (CCF: 42-71 days and MA: 148-161 days) were calculated at the sites covered by mainly impermeable surfaces(GW01, GW03, and GW05) while short lag-times(CCF: 4 days and MA: 67 days) were calculated at GW04 consisting of mainly permeable surfaces. The results suggest that lag-time would be one of the good indicators to evaluate the effects of land-use/cover on estimating groundwater recharge. The results of this study also provide guidance on the application of statistical time series analysis to environmentally important issues on creating an urban green space for natural groundwater recharge from precipitation in the city and developing a management plan for hydrological disaster prevention.