• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.150-160
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to analyze long-term temporal trends of water chemistry and spatial heterogeneity for 7 sampling sites of the Hyeongsan River watershed using water quality dataset during 1999 to 2008 (obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Korea). The water quality, based on eight physical and chemical parameters, varied largely depending on the years, seasons and sampling sites. Seasonal and annual means of conductivity, used as a key indicator for a ionic dilution declined during the monsoon season and TN, based on overall mean of all sites, showed marked declines during the monsoon, compared to those of the premonsoon. In the mean time, BOD and COD had no significant relations with a precipitation, in spite of some differences in the sampling sites. In contrast, major input of SS occurred during the period of summer monsoon season. Spatial trend analyses of all parameters, except for DO and temperatures, showed that gyeongju city acted as a point source, and thus, water quality at the location of Site 4 declined abruptly, compared to locations of Site 1~2. Based on overall dataset, efficient water quality management in the point source tributary streams is required for better water quality of the main Hyeongsan River.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.159-170
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• 2007

This study was focused on the investigation of the phytoplankton flora and community structure for changing of water environment at the rivers in the lower part of Nakdong river, The samples for this study were collected every month from Jan. 2004 To Dec. 2004. the 196 species belonged to 94 genera were identified during this study periods. The number of species was recorded the maximum 124 taxa in summer and the minimum 69 taxa in winter, We observed the maximum taxa (92 taxa) at the site No. 20 and the minimum taxa (55 taxa) at the site No. 8, respectively. Among the phytoplankton communities, diatoms were dominated over 40% of total phytoplankton groups. Subdominant groups were green algae (over 20% of total phytplankton groups). During this study periods, the 60 species were investigated ecologically significant species (46 cosmopolitic species, 25 pollution indicator, 21 redtide causative species, 8 dominant species, and 7 frequently occurred species). According to the cluster analysis by similarity index, the study sites could be divided into 4 groups.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.403-409
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• 2014

Assessment of pollutant loads for livestock manure based on total organic carbon (TOC) is being required to apply TOC as an indicator in management of total maximum daily loads. In this study, TOC based unit loads of pig manure known as highly contributing to water pollution assessed. The concentration of pig manure, amount of manure production including cleaning water, and unit loads were investigated targeting 52 farms according to 4 major river basins, rearing form, farm scale, and piggery form. The manure production was highly generated in scraper type of piggery, in small scaled farm rearing sow, and in Han River basin and Nakdong River basin. The averaged manure production was 7.4 L/head/d in total river basins. Averaged concentrations were investigated as TOC 16,037 mg/L, BOD 10,559 mg/L, TN 4,145 mg/L, and TP 503 mg/L. Corresponding unit loads were assessed as TOC 117.1 g/head/d, BOD 77.1 g/head/d, TN 34.7 g/head/d, and TP 3.67 g/head/d.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.197-211
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• 2004

Visibility impairment was known as an indicator of the increased air pollution. In many previous studies, it is known that both directly emitted fine particles mainly from vehicles and secondary aerosols from photochemical reactions could contribute to this visibility impairment in addition to the meteorological condition. Furthermore, the visibility showed different change patterns according to the geographical condition. In order to research into the influence of these factors on visibility, this study analyzed the visibility at 15:00, observed from 1990 to 2001 in Seoul, Ganghwa, Susan, Gwangju, Jeju. As a result, the visibility was increased in Seoul except the rainfall period, but in Susan, Gwangju, Jeju, it decreased with the relative humidity (RH). Especially, in Seoul, the number of low visibility days was larger than other sites and variations of the visibility were sensitive to the concentration of air pollutants, such as TSP, $NO_2$, $O_3$. The visibility impairment was mainly observed in meteorological condition of RH<50% and relatively stationary front. Therefore it is inferred that photochemical smog could lead to the low visibility in Seoul. On the other hands, in Ganghwa and Susan, when RH was 60~70%, the low visibility observed under the influence of the transports of air pollutants from nearby cities as well as humid air mass from coastal region. And in Jeju, sea fog and humid air mass caused the visibility impairment when the RH was larger than 80%. Finally, during the observational period, some cases of low visibility phenomena were simultaneously observed in the vast region including Seoul, Susan, Ganghwa. It not only includes the visibility aggravation by Asian Dust, but also could be caused by the movement and diffusion of flying dust or secondary aerosols. Moreover, the result shows that these phenomena could be mainly influenced by meteorological factors covering the wide regions.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.82-95
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• 2021

We investigated the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) in all 13 locations of Masan Bay from February to November in 2015. The COD and TOC contents were high during the June-August period when the pollution load increased. In particular, the concentrations of COD and TOC were about twice as high in the surface water as in the bottom water. In spatial distribution, the COD and TOC concentrations at the inner bay were about twice as high as those of the outer bay in Masan Bay. As a result of estimating the oxidation efficiency of COD from the surface layer of Masan Bay in 2015 based on the theoretical oxygen demand (TOD), it was at the level of about 23%. Due to the low oxidation efficiency of COD, there is a risk that the organic matter in Masan Bay will be somewhat underestimated. Therefore, for quantitative analysis of organic matter, COD and TOC analyses need to be combined.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.112-119
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• 2021

In 2012, the National Park Service conducted an ecological health assessment to efficiently preserve and manage the ecosystem. The need for improving pre-existing management indicators was recognized from the revised Natural Park Act because, while the indicators of the existing evaluation system focused on endangered species, ecosystem disturbance, diversity, water quality (BOD, DO), and habitat fragmentation, they did not reflect the lack of indicators for marine ecological assessment, policy changes, and the time demands. The evaluation results comprised a five-point grading system, which made the analysis of immediate changes, difficult. Therefore, the benthic pollution index (BPI) and habitat restoration indicators were added to improve the evaluation system. The National Park was assessed using 10 classifications, however, only four classifications were evaluated. The ratings were divided into five states, and ten classes were presented as pictograms. The assessment results showed a similar trend as the indicators were improved, increasing from level 3 to level 5. However, the results of the Wolaksan National Park after improvement in the indicators were lower than that before the improvement, whereas, for the Juwangsan National Park, it was higher. This study aims at contributing to the scientific and systematic management of the national park ecosystem by improving the ecological health assessment system.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2022

Benthic animals are important indicators in benthic environmental quality assessment. This study investigated the environmental characteristics and the distribution pattern of benthic animals, and assessed the benthic ecosystem using AMBI (AZTI's marine biotic index) and WQI (water quality index) in the subtidal zone of Muan bay. Samplings were collected from 10 stations in the subtidal zone of Muan bay on summer. In the upper area of Muan bay, grain size was finer and organic content was higher than those of in the lower area. The pollution indicator organism such as Musculista senhousia, Theora fragilis and Lumbrineris longifolia were dominant at some stations. The benthic community was distinguished into three groups of upper, center and lower area of Muan bay, and which were coincided with the results by correlation analysis between organic matter content and benthic health assessment (WQI and AMBI). As a result of this study, the health condition of the subtidal zone in Muan bay were good. However, from the results that benthic animals were not evenly distributed, and also the opportunistic species appeared, the load of organic matter in Muan bay seems to be increasing.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.227-235
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• 2022

Background: Abandoned metal mines are classified as vulnerable areas with the highest level of soil contamination among risk regions. People living near abandoned metal mines are at increased risk of exposure to toxic metals. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between soil contamination levels in areas around abandoned metal mine and the blood lead levels of local residents. Moreover, we assess the possibility of using soil contamination levels as a predictive indicator for human exposure level. Methods: Data from the Survey of Residents around Abandoned Metal Mines (2013~2017, n=4,421) and Investigation of Soil Pollution in Abandoned Metal Mines (2000~2011) were used. A random coefficient model was conducted for estimation of the lower level (micro data) of the local resident unit and the upper level (macro data) of the abandoned metal mine unit. Through a fitted model, the variation of blood lead levels among abandoned metal mines was confirmed and the effect of the operationally defined soil contamination level was estimated. Results: Among the total variation in blood lead levels, the variation between abandoned mines was 18.6%, and the variation determined by the upper-level factors such as soil contamination and water contamination was 8.1%, which was statistically significant respectively. There was also a statistically significant difference in the least square mean of blood lead concentration according to the level of soil contamination (p=0.047, low: 2.32 ㎍/dL, middle: 2.38 ㎍/dL, high: 2.59 ㎍/dL). Conclusions: The blood lead concentration of residents living near abandoned metal mines was significantly correlated with the level of soil contamination. Therefore, in biomonitoring for vulnerable areas, operationally defined soil contamination can be used as a predictor for human exposure level to hazardous substances and discrimination of high-risk abandoned metal mines.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.12
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• pp.845-853
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• 2023

Recently, along with the increase in chemical accidents, the number of accidents-related disasters has been increasing continuously since 2012, and when looking at the hydrogen fluoride incident which is a representative example of domestic chemical incidents, there is insufficient technology applicable to the incident site. The result was that the damage spread. Therefore, in this paper, we will adapt the water pollution accident response system to a location-based approach, and introduce a measurement method for alternative index tracking using a GPS electronic floater of a location-based index measurement method for real-time response in the water environment when a chemical incident occurs. The research target area is Gumi City, which is the area where the hydrogen fluoride incident occurred, and Gamcheon is selected, and alternative tracking using GPS electronic floater is conducted in the corresponding target area through water quality and flow measurement. As a result, it is possible to measure water quality and flow at the same time in tracker experiments using GPS electronic floater based on the research results, it is believed that using GPS electronic floater will be of great help in disaster response systems for spill incidents in the river.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.33-50
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• 2023

This study is to propose the ecosystem service valuation method as a complementary or alternative tool to overcome the limitations of the contingent valuation method(CVM), typically used to assess social benefits in preliminary feasibility studies. With an increasing interest in natural and environmental restoration projects, we assessed social benefits with theses CVM and ecosystem service valuation method from a case of Janghang wetland restoration project and compared the extent of the two social benefits. For quantitative evaluation of ecosystem services, the biophysical quantity for each ecosystem service indicator was calculated and then converted into currency (KRW) units to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services. The four ecosystem regulating service indicators were selected including greenhouse gas capture/storage, air pollution, water quantity and quality regulation. The amounts of CO₂ sequestration and storage as a ecosystem's greenhouse gas regulating service in the study area were 73.04 tCO₂/yr and 5,867.53 tCO₂/yr respectively. The reduction of SO₂, one of air pollutant gases by ecosystems was calculated to be 180.27 kg/yr, the reduction of NO₂ to be 378.90 kg/yr, and the reduction of fine dust (PM10) to be 9,713.92 kg/yr. The amount of freshwater regulating service by the ecosystem was estimated to be 459,394,319ℓ/yr, and the amount of nitrogen in freshwater removed by the ecosystem was 78.00kg/yr. Study results show that the benefits derived from the CVM were KRW 227.8 billion over the 30-year analysis period and those from the ecosystem service valuation method were KRW 41.4 billion for regulatory services and KRW 148.8 billion for cultural services, totaling KRW 189.5 billion. With KRW 184.8 billion of the total costs, the benefit/cost ratio using the CVM was 1.23 and that with the ecosystem service valuation method was 1.03. This study implications include that the CVM and ecosystem service valuation method can be applied together to assess and compare social benefits for natural and environmental restoration projects.