• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.75-85
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• 2024

An intensive observing period (IOP) of heatwaves in the urban region of Seoul in the summer of 2023 was carried out to understand the changes in air temperature and road temperature induced by environmental conditions. The temperature observed at eight points with different urban environmental conditions was compared with the temperature by the KMA/AWS to analyze the characteristics of change in air temperature by height and the change in road temperature according to environmental conditions and road sprinkler. The comparison of the average temperature observed in different urban environmental conditions with the temperature observed at KMA/AWS showed that the air temperature in asphalt and open space sites was 0.7 to 2.3℃ higher and that the one in bus stops was 0.9 to 2.3℃ higher. In terms of temperature deviations depending on residential type, the temperature in highly populated areas was about 0.1 to 0.8℃ higher than that of apartment complexes. In addition, regardless of the size of a park, the temperature in the park was lower than the temperature in dense housing areas and apartment complexes. In asphalt and residential areas, the road temperature was higher than the temperature at a height of 150 cm, Conversely, road temperature was lower than air temperature in a shaded shelter and large park. In addition, after spraying a surface road, the road temperature immediately dropped by about 3 to 4℃; however, after about 20 minutes, it rose again to the previous road temperature. This change in road temperature appeared only for the temperature of 30 cm height.

• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.187-202
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• 2024

We analyzed the observed characteristics of monoterpene and developed an empirical formula for monoterpene concentration in the pine-dominated mixed forest of the National Center for Forest Therapy. Monoterpene was measured at 0800, 1200 and 1700 LST once a month using sorbent tube sampling coupled with thermal desorption gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Monoterpene concentration is low in winter and shows a maximum in June and July. The major components of monoterpene are alpha-pinene, camphene and beta-pinene. During the warm period from May to November, monoterpene concentration is higher at 0800 and 1700 LST than at 1200 LST. The empirical formula takes into account the vegetation variables, temperature-controlled emission, oxidation processes and dilution by wind. The vegetation variable accounts for the difference in observed monoterpene concentration between two sites. The observed monoterpene concentration normalized by the vegetation variable increases exponentially with air temperature. The oxidation process explains the lower monoterpene concentration at 1200 LST than at 0800 and 1700 LST during the warm period. The monoterpene estimates using the empirical formula shows a correlation of 0.52 with the observation for the development period (2018~2020), while it shows a correlation of 0.72 for the validation year (2021). Such higher correlation for the validation year than for the development period is due to the fact that variability of monoterpene concentration is better explained by air temperature in 2021 than in the development period. However, the developed formula underestimates the monoterpene concentration in May and June, showing the limitation in accurately capturing the monthly variation of monoterpene.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.329-338
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• 2024

In this study, drought assessment using the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and streamflow drought index (SDI) was conducted for the Inje region, Gangwon Province, South Korea. Monthly streamflow ratios were reviewed through basic data for drought analysis (rainfall, streamflow), and meteorological drought and hydrological drought analysis were conducted using precipitation and water level/flow observation stations near the Inje watershed. The analysis revealed that the drought that occurred in 2014 persisted until 2017 consistently across all drought indices (SPI, SDI). When analyzing drought indices calculated using 12 months of hydrometeorological data, it was found that severe drought lasted for approximately 24 months, indicating that drought damage would have been severe.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.264-271
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• 2023

Environmental crises caused by climate change and human-induced disturbances have become urgent challenges to the sustainability of human beings. These issues can be addressed based on a data-driven understanding and forecasting of ecosystem responses to environmental changes. In this study, we introduce a long-term ecological monitoring system in Korean Long-Term Ecological Research (KLTER), and a plan for the Korean Ecological Observatory Network (KEON). KLTER has been conducted since 2004 and has yielded valuable scientific results. However, the KLTER approach has limitations in data integration and coordinated observations. To overcome these limitations, we developed a KEON plan focused on multidisciplinary monitoring of the physiochemical, meteorological, and biological components of ecosystems to deepen process-based understanding of ecosystem functions and detect changes. KEON aims to answer nationwide and long-term ecological questions by using a standardized monitoring approach. We are preparing three types of observatories: two supersites depending on the climate-vegetation zones, three local sites depending on the ecosystem types, and two mobile deployment platforms to act on urgent ecological issues. The main observation topics were species diversity, population dynamics, biogeochemistry (carbon, methane, and water cycles), phenology, and remote sensing. We believe that KEON can address environmental challenges and play an important role in ecological observations through partnerships with international observatories.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.100-119
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• 2020

During recent years, the heat environment and particulate matter (PM₁₀) have become serious environmental problems, as increases in heat waves due to rising global temperature interact with weakening atmospheric wind speeds. There exist urban heat islands and urban pollution islands with higher temperatures and air pollution concentrations than other areas. However, few studies have examined these issues together because of a lack of micro-scale data, which can be constructed from spatial data. Today, with the help of satellite images and big data collected by private telecommunication companies, detailed spatial distribution analyses are possible. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the spatial distribution patterns of urban heat islands and urban pollution islands within Busan Metropolitan City and to compare the distributions of the two phenomena. In this study, the land surface temperature of Landsat 8 satellite images, air temperature and particulate matter concentration data derived from a private automated meteorological observation system were gridded in 30m × 30m units, and spatial analysis was performed. Analysis showed that simultaneous zones of urban heat islands and urban pollution islands included some vulnerable residential areas and industrial areas. The political migration areas such as Seo-dong and Bansong-dong, representative vulnerable residential areas in Busan, were included in the co-occurring areas. The areas have a high density of buildings and poor ventilation, most of whose residents are vulnerable to heat waves and air pollution; thus, these areas must be considered first when establishing related policies. In the industrial areas included in the co-occurring areas, concrete or asphalt concrete-based impervious surfaces accounted for an absolute majority, and not only was the proportion of vegetation insufficient, there was also considerable vehicular traffic. A hot-spot analysis examining the reliability of the analysis confirmed that more than 99.96% of the regions corresponded to hot-spot areas at a 99% confidence level.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_2
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• pp.1691-1707
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• 2022

Cheonji Lake, the caldera of Baekdu Mountain, located on the border of the Korean Peninsula and China, alternates between melting and freezing seasonally. There is a magma chamber beneath Cheonji, and variations in the magma chamber cause volcanic antecedents such as changes in the temperature and water pressure of hot spring water. Consequently, there is an abnormal region in Cheonji where ice melts quicker than in other areas, freezes late even during the freezing period, and has a high-temperature water surface. The abnormal area is a discharge region for hot spring water, and its ice gradient may be used to monitor volcanic activity. However, due to geographical, political and spatial issues, periodic observation of abnormal regions of Cheonji is limited. In this study, the degree of ice change in the optimal region was quantified using a Landsat -5/-7/-8 optical satellite image and a Modified U-Net regression model. From January 22, 1985 to December 8, 2020, the Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) band of 83 Landsat images including anomalous regions was utilized. Using the relative spectral reflectance of water and ice in the VNIR band, unique data were generated for quantitative ice variability monitoring. To preserve as much information as possible from the visible and near-infrared bands, ice gradient was noticed by applying it to U-Net with two encoders, achieving good prediction accuracy with a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 140 and a correlation value of 0.9968. Since the ice change value can be seen with high precision from Landsat images using Modified U-Net in the future may be utilized as one of the methods to monitor Baekdu Mountain's volcanic activity, and a more specific volcano monitoring system can be built.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.146-154
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• 2023

In this study, the peak wave period T_p and mean wave period T₀₂ and T_{m-1, 0}, which are major parameters for classifying ocean characteristics, were calculated using water surface elevation data observed from the second west coast oceanographic and meteorological observation tower. In addition, the ratio of abnormal data, correlation analysis, and optimal probability density function were estimated. In the case of T_p among the calculated representative periods, the proportion of abnormal data was 5.73% and 0.67% at each point, and T₀₂ was 4.35% and 0.01%. T_{m-1, 0} was found to be 2.82% and 0.03%. Meanwhile, as a result of analyzing the relationship between T₀₂ and T_p, the relationship was calculated to be 0.53 and 0.63 for each point. The relationship between T_{m-1, 0} and T_p was 1.15 and 1.32, respectively, and T₀₂, T_{m-1, 0} was 1.18 and 1.22. As a result of estimating the optimal probability density function of the calculated representative period, T_p followed the 'Log-normal' and 'Normal' distributions at each point, and T₀₂ was 'Gamma', 'Normal' distribution and T_{m-1, 0} showed that 'Log-normal' and 'Normal' distribution were dominant, respectively. It is decided that these results can be used as basic data for wave analysis conducted on the west coast.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.107-119
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• 2020

This study analyzed past drought characteristics based on the observed rainfall data and performed a long-term outlook for future extreme droughts using Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP 8.5) climate change scenarios. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) used duration of 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, a meteorological drought index, was applied for quantitative drought analysis. A single long-term time series was constructed by combining daily rainfall observation data and RCP scenario. The constructed data was used as SPI input factors for each different duration. For the analysis of meteorological drought observed relatively long-term since 1954 in Korea, 12 rainfall stations were selected and applied 10 general circulation models (GCM) at the same point. In order to analyze drought characteristics according to climate change, trend analysis and clustering were performed. For non-stationary frequency analysis using sampling technique, we adopted the technique DEMC that combines Bayesian-based differential evolution ("DE") and Markov chain Monte Carlo ("MCMC"). A non-stationary drought frequency analysis was used to derive Severity-Duration-Frequency (SDF) curves for the 12 locations. A quantitative outlook for future droughts was carried out by deriving SDF curves with long-term hydrologic data assuming non-stationarity, and by quantitatively identifying potential drought risks. As a result of performing cluster analysis to identify the spatial characteristics, it was analyzed that there is a high risk of drought in the future in Jeonju, Gwangju, Yeosun, Mokpo, and Chupyeongryeong except Jeju corresponding to Zone 1-2, 2, and 3-2. They could be efficiently utilized in future drought management policies.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.199-207
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• 2016

This study was conducted to develop a forest fire occurrence model using meteorological characteristics for practical forecasting of forest fire danger rate by reflecting the climate change for the time period of 2000yrs. Forest fire in South Korea is highly influenced by humidity, wind speed, temperature, and precipitation. To effectively forecast forest fire occurrence, we developed a forest fire danger rating model using weather factors associated with forest fire in 2000yrs. Forest fire occurrence patterns were investigated statistically to develop a forest fire danger rating index using times series weather data sets collected from 76 meteorological observation centers. The data sets were used for 11 years from 2000 to 2010. Development of the national forest fire occurrence probability model used a logistic regression analysis with forest fire occurrence data and meteorological variables. Nine probability models for individual nine provinces including Jeju Island have been developed. The results of the statistical analysis show that the logistic models (p<0.05) strongly depends on the effective and relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and rainfall. The results of verification showed that the probability of randomly selected fires ranges from 0.687 to 0.981, which represent a relatively high accuracy of the developed model. These findings may be beneficial to the policy makers in South Korea for the prevention of forest fires.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.536-555
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• 2021

Sea-surface wind is an important variable in ocean-atmosphere interactions, leading to the changes in ocean surface currents and circulation, mixed layers, and heat flux. With the development of satellite technology, sea-surface winds data retrieved from scatterometer observation data have been used for various purposes. In a complex marine environment such as the Korean Peninsula coast, scatterometer-observed sea-surface wind is an important factor for analyzing ocean and atmospheric phenomena. Therefore, the validation results of wind accuracy can be used for diverse applications. In this study, the sea-surface winds derived from ASCAT (Advanced SCATterometer) mounted on MetOp-A/B (METeorological Operational Satellite-A/B) were validated compared to in-situ wind measurements at 16 marine buoy stations around the Korean Peninsula from January to December 2020. The buoy winds measured at a height of 4-5 m from the sea surface were converted to 10-m neutral winds using the LKB (Liu-Katsaros-Businger) model. The matchup procedure produced 5,544 and 10,051 collocation points for MetOp-A and MetOp-B, respectively. The root mean square errors (RMSE) were 1.36 and 1.28 m s^-1, and bias errors amounted to 0.44 and 0.65 m s^-1 for MetOp-A and MetOp-B, respectively. The wind directions of both scatterometers exhibited negative biases of -8.03° and -6.97° and RMSE values of 32.46° and 36.06° for MetOp-A and MetOp-B, respectively. These errors were likely associated with the stratification and dynamics of the marine-atmospheric boundary layer. In the seas around the Korean Peninsula, the sea-surface winds of the ASCAT tended to be more overestimated than the in-situ wind speeds, particularly at weak wind speeds. In addition, the closer the distance from the coast, the more the amplification of error. The present results could contribute to the development of a prediction model as improved input data and the understanding of air-sea interaction and impact of typhoons in the coastal regions around the Korean Peninsula.