• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.1B
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• pp.23-33
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• 2009

Climate change, abnormal weather, and unprecedented extreme weather events have appeared globally. Interest in their size, frequency, and changes in spatial distribution has been heightened. However, the events do not display regional or regular patterns or cycles. Therefore, it is difficult to carry out quantified evaluation of their frequency and tendency. For more objective evaluation of extreme weather events, this study proposed a rainfall extreme weather index (STARDEX, 2005). To compare the present and future spatio-temporal distribution of extreme weather events, each index was calculated from the past data collected from 66 observation points nationwide operated by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Tendencies up to now have been analyzed. Then, using SRES B2 scenario and 2045s (2031-2050) data from YONU CGCM simulation were used to compute differences among each of future extreme weather event indices and their tendencies were spatially expressed.The results shows increased rainfall tendency in the East-West inland direction during the summer. In autumn, rainfall tendency increased in some parts of Gangwon-do and the south coast. In the meanwhile, the analysis of the duration of prolonged dry period, which can be contrasted with the occurrence of rainfall or its concentration, showed that the dryness tendency was more pronounced in autumn rather than summer. Geographically, the tendency was more remarkable in Jeju-do and areas near coastal areas.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.93-105
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aims to quantitatively determine the impact on nearby risidents by selecting the amount of chemicals emitted from the workplace among the substances subject to the chemical emission plan and predicting the concentration with the atmospheric diffusion program. Method: The selection of research materials considered half-life, toxicity, and the presence or absence of available monitoring station data. The areas discharged from the materials to be studied were selected as the areas to be studied, and four areas with floating populations were selected to evaluate health risks. Result: AERMOD was executed after conducting terrain and meteorological processing to obtain predicted concentrations. The health hazard assessment results indicated that only dichloromethane exceeded the threshold for children, while tetrachloroethylene and chloroform appeared at levels that cannot be ignored for both children and adults. Conclusion: Currently, in the domestic context, health hazard assessments are conducted based on the regulations outlined in the "Environmental Health Act" where if the hazard index exceeds a certain threshold, it is considered to pose a health risk. The anticipated expansion of the list of substances subject to the chemical discharge plan to 415 types by 2030 suggests the need for efficient management within workplaces. In instances where the hazard index surpasses the threshold in health hazard assessments, it is judged that effective chemical management can be achieved by prioritizing based on considerations of background concentration and predicted concentration through atmospheric dispersion modeling.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.57 no.10
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• pp.699-709
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• 2024

This study comprehensively evaluates the environmental impacts of droughts caused by abnormal climate change. Specifically, to quantitatively analyze the impact of droughts on the water environment of river basins, an Environmental Drought Index (EDI) was developed using meteorological, hydrological, and water quality parameters. The study focuses on the Han River basin, categorizing the watersheds into urban, agricultural, and forest types to develop region-specific EDIs. Various data analysis techniques, such as multiple linear regression, principal component and random forest analysis, were employed to determine the weights of different parameters to assess the impact of droughts. The primary water quality parameter used in the assessment was BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand). The results showed that in urban areas, TOC (Total Organic Carbon) and flow were the primary parameters, with significant deterioration in water quality during droughts. In agricultural areas, TOC and EC (Electrical Conductivity) were the primary parameters driving changes in water quality during droughts. In forest areas, TOC, flow and cumulative precipitation were identified as the primary parameters, with relatively less impact compared to other regions.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.481-491
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• 2014

Blue-ice area is a glacial ice field in ice sheet, ice shelf and glaciers where snow ablation and sublimation is larger than snowfall. As the blue-ice area has large influences on the meteorite concentration mechanism and ice mass balance, it is required to quantify the concentration of blue-ice. We analyzed spectral reflectance characteristics of blue-ice, snow and cloud by using MODIS images obtained over blue-ice areas in McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica, from 2007 to 2012. We then developed Normalized Difference Blue-ice Index (NDBI) algorithm which quantifies the concentration of blue-ice. Snow and cloud have a high reflectance in visible and near-infrared (NIR) bands. Reflectance of blue-ice is high in blue band, while that lowers in the NIR band. NDBI is calculated by dividing the difference of reflectance in the blue and NIR bands by the sum of reflectances in the two bands so that NDBI = (Blue-NIR)/(Blue + NIR). NDBI calculated from the MODIS images showed that the blue-ice areas have values ranging from 0.2 to 0.5, depending on the exposure and concentration of blue-ice. It is obviously different from that of snow and cloud that has values less than 0.2 or rocks with negative values. The change of NDBI values in the blue-ice area has higher correlation with snow depth ($R^2=0.699$) than wind speed ($R^2=0.012$) or air temperature ($R^2=0.278$), all measured at a meteorological station installed in McMurdo Dry Valleys. As the snow depth increased, the NDBI value decreased, which suggests that snow depth can be estimated from NDBI values over blue-ice areas. The NDBI algorithm developed in this study will be useful for various polar research fields such as meteorite exploration, analysis of ice mass balance as well as the snow depth estimation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.731-737
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• 2016

To understand the characteristics and strength of the cold water that has caused damage to marine-culturing farms around Guryongpo, in the southwestern part of Korea, surface and water column temperatures were collected from temperature loggers deployed at a sea squirt farm during August-November 2007 and from a Real-time Information System for Aquaculture environment operated by NIFS (National Institute of Fisheries Science) during July-August 2015 and 2016. During the study period, surface temperature at Guryongpo decreased sharply when south/southwestern winds prevailed (the 18-26th of August and 20-22nd of September 2007 and the 13-15th of July 2015) as a result of upwelling. However, the deep-water (20-30m) temperature increased during periods of strong north/northeasterly winds (the 5-7th and 16-18th of September 2007) as a result of downwelling. Among the cold water events that occurred at Guryongpo, the mass death of cultured fish followed strong cold water events (surface temperatures below $10^{\circ}C$) that were caused by more than two days of successive south/southeastern winds with maximum speeds higher than 5 m/s. A Cold Water Index (CWI) was defined and calculated using maximum wind speed and direction as measured daily at Pohang Meteorological Observatory. When the average CWI over two days ($CWI_{2d}$) was higher than 100, mass fish mortality occurred. The four-day average CWI ($CWI_{4d}$) showed a high negative correlation with surface temperature from July-August in the Guryongpo area ($R^2=0.5$), suggesting that CWI is a good index for predicting strong cold water events and massive mortality. In October 2007, the sea temperature at a depth of 30 m showed a high fluctuation that ranged from $7-23^{\circ}C$, with frequency and spectrum coinciding with tidal levels at Ulsan, affected by the North Korean Cold Current. If temperature variations at the depth of fish cages also regularly fluctuate within this range, damage may be caused to the Guryongpo fish industry. More studies are needed to focus on this phenomenon.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.1-22
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• 2022

The modification effects of street trees on outdoor thermal comfort in summertime according to tree planting types and road direction were analyzed using a computer simulation program, ENVI-met. With trees, the air temperature and wind speed decreased, and the relative humidity increased. In the case of mean radiant temperature (T_mrt) and human thermal sensation, physiological equivalent temperature (PET) and universal thermal climate index (UTCI), there was a decrease during the daytime. The greatest change among the meteorological factors by trees happened in Tmrt, and PET and UTCI showed similar patterns with T_mrt·The most effective tree planting type on thermal comfort modification was low tree height, wide tree crown, high leaf area index, and narrow planting interval (LWDN). T_mrt, PET and UTCI showed a large difference depending on shadow patterns of buildings and trees according to solar altitude and azimuth angles, and building locations. When the building shade areas increased, the thermal modification effect by trees decreased. In particular, results on the east and west sidewalks showed a large deviation over time. When applying the LWDN, the northwest, west and southwest sidewalks showed a significant reduction of 8.6-12.3℃ PET and 4.2-4.5℃ UTCI at 10:00, and the northeast, east and southeast sidewalks showed 8.1-11.8℃ PET and 4.4-5.0℃ UTCI at 16:00. On the other hand, when the least effective type (high tree height, narrow tree crown, low leaf area index, and wide planting interval) was applied, the maximum reduction was up to 1.8℃ PET and 0.9℃ UTCI on the eastern sidewalks, and up to 3.0℃ PET and 0.9℃ UTCI on the western ones. In addition, the difference in modification effects on T_mrt, PET and UTCI between the tree planting types was not significant when the tree effects were reduced by the effects of buildings. These results can be used as basic data to make the most appropriate street tree planting model for thermal comfort improvement in urban areas in summer.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.33-45
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• 1978

The purpose of present study is to analyze the genetic variation of natural stand of Pinus densiflora. In 1975 following after the selection of 1974, twenty trees from each of three natural populations of the species were selected and their open-pollinated seeds were collected, and the locations and conditions of the populations ate presented in table 1, 2 and figure 1. Some morphological traits of the populations were already detailed in our second report of this series, in which Myong-Ju and Ul-Jin populations were regarded to be superior phenotypically to suweon population. The morphological traits of cone, seed and seed-wing, and also the growth performances and needle characters of the seedling were observed in the present study according to the previous methods. The results obtained are summarized as follows; 1. The meteorological data obtained by averaging the records of 30 year period (1931~1960) measured from the nearest meteorological stations to each population are shown in fig.2, 3, 4. The distributional patterns of investigated climate factors are generally considered to be similar among the locations. However, the precipitation density during growing season and the air temperature during dormant season on Suweon area, population 6, were quite different from those of the other areas. 2. The measurements of fresh cone weight, length, diameter and cone index, i.e., length to diameter ratio are presented in table 7. As shown in table 7, all these traits except for cone diameter seem to be highly significant in population differences and family differences within population. 3. The morphological traits of seed and seed-wing are detailed in table 8, 9, and highly significant differences are recognized among the populations and the families within population in seed-wing length, seed-wing index, seed weight, seed-length and seed index but not among the populations in the other observed traits. The values of correlation coefficient between the characters of cone and seed are given in table 10 and the positive significant correlations can be observed in the most parts of the compared traits. 4. Significant statistical differences among populations and families within population are observed in the growth performances of 1-0 and 1-1 seedling height of these progenies. But the differences in root collar diameter are shown only among families within population. As shown in table 13, the most parts of correlations are not significant statistically between the growth performances of seedling and the seed characters. 5. The number of stomata row on both sides of needle and the serration density were measured in the seedlings from each of the families of the three populations. As shown in table 15, statistical differences are considered to be significant among the populations and among the families within population in serration density but not among the populations in stomata row on both sides of the needle. The results differ from those of the third report of this series. Even if one of the reason seems to be the diversity of selected populations, it could not be confirmed definitely. The correlations between progenies and parents are not generally observed in the investigated traits of needle as shown in table 16.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.33 no.5_2
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• pp.721-732
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• 2017

With the increasing socio-economic importance of rice as a global staple food, several models have been developed for rice yield estimation by combining remote sensing data with carbon cycle modelling. In this study, we aimed to estimate rice yield in Korea using such an integrative model using satellite remote sensing data in combination with a biophysical crop growth model. Specifically, daily meteorological inputs derived from MODIS (Moderate Resolution imaging Spectroradiometer) and radar satellite products were used to run a light use efficiency based crop growth model, which is based on the MODIS gross primary production (GPP) algorithm. The modelled biomass was converted to rice yield using a harvest index model. We estimated rice yield from 2003 to 2014 at the county level and evaluated the modelled yield using the official rice yield and rice straw biomass statistics of Statistics Korea (KOSTAT). The estimated rice biomass, yield, and harvest index and their spatial distributions were investigated. Annual mean rice yield at the national level showed a good agreement with the yield statistics with the yield statistics, a mean error (ME) of +0.56% and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 5.73%. The estimated county level yield resulted in small ME (+0.10~+2.00%) and MAE (2.10~11.62%),respectively. Compared to the county-level yield statistics, the rice yield was over estimated in the counties in Gangwon province and under estimated in the urban and coastal counties in the south of Chungcheong province. Compared to the rice straw statistics, the estimated rice biomass showed similar error patterns with the yield estimates. The subpixel heterogeneity of the 1 km MODIS FPAR(Fraction of absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation) may have attributed to these errors. In addition, the growth and harvest index models can be further developed to take account of annually varying growth conditions and growth timings.

• Atmosphere
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.467-482
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• 2010

In this study, characteristics of various stability indexes (SI) and environmental parameters (EP) for the lightning are analysed by using 5 upper air observatories (Osan, Gwangju, Jeju, Pohang, and Baengnyeongdo) for the years 2002-2006 over South Korea. The analysed SI and EP are the lifted index, K-index, Showalter stability index, total precipitable water, mixing ratio, wind shear and temperature of lifting condensation level. The lightning data occurred on the range of -2 hr~+1 hr and within 100 km based on the launch time of rawinsonde and observing location are selected. In general, summer averaged temperature and mixing ratio of lower troposphere for the lightning cases are higher about 1 K and $1{\sim}2gkg^{-1}$ than no lightning cases, respectively. The Box-Whisker plot shows that the range of various SI and EP values for lightning and no lightning cases are well separated but overlapping of SI and EP values between lightning and no lightning are not a little. The optimized threshold values for the detection of lightning are determined objectively based on the highest Heidke skill socre (HSS), which is the most favorable validation parameter for the rare event, such as lightning, by using the simulation of SI and EP threshold values. Although the HSS is not high (0.15~0.30) and the number and values of selected SI and EP are dependent on geographic location, the new threshold values can be used as a supplementary tool for the detection or forecast of lightning over South Korea.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.194-208
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• 2017

This study analyzed the correlation between tropical cyclone (TC) frequency and the western North Pacific monsoon index (WNPMI), which have both been influential in East China Sea during the summer season over the past 37 years (1977-2013). A high positive correlation was found between these two variables, but it did not change even if El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) years were excluded. To determine the cause of this positive correlation, the highest (positive WNPMI phase) and lowest WNPMIs (negative WNPMI phase) during an eleven-year period were selected to analyze the mean difference between them, excluding ENSO years. In the positive WNPMI phase, TCs were mainly generated in the eastern seas of the tropical and subtropical western North Pacific, passing through the East China Sea and moving northward toward Korea and Japan. In the negative phase, TCs were mainly generated in the western seas of the tropical and subtropical western North Pacific, passing through the South China Sea and moving westward toward China's southern regions. Therefore, TC intensity in the positive phase was stronger due to the acquisition of sufficient energy from the sea while moving a long distance up to East Asia's mid-latitude. Additionally, TCs occurred more in the positive phase. Regarding the difference in 850 hPa and 500 hPa stream flows between the two phases, anomalous cyclones were strengthened in the tropical and subtropical western North Pacific, whereas anomalous anticyclones were strengthened in East Asia's mid-latitude regions. Due to these two anomalous pressure systems, anomalous southeasterlies developed in East China Sea, which played a role in the anomalous steering flows that moved TCs into this region. Furthermore, due to the anomalous cyclones that developed in the tropical and subtropical western North Pacific, more TCs could be generated in the positive phase.