• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.197-207
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• 2016

This study aims at providing basic data to objectively evaluate the areas suitable for reintroduction of the species of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in order to effectively preserve the Asiatic black bears in the Korean protection areas including national parks, and for the species restoration success. To this end, this study predicted the potential habitats in East Asia, Southeast Asia and India, where there are the records of Asiatic black bears' appearances using the Maxent model and environmental variables related with climate, topography, road and land use. In addition, this study evaluated the effects of the relevant climate and environmental variables. This study also analyzed inhabitation range area suitable for Asiatic black and geographic change according to future climate change. As for the judgment accuracy of the Maxent model widely utilized for habitat distribution research of wildlife for preservation, AUC value was calculated as 0.893 (sd=0.121). This was useful in predicting Asiatic black bears' potential habitat and evaluate the habitat change characteristics according to future climate change. Compare to the distribution map of Asiatic black bears evaluated by IUCN, Habitat suitability by the Maxent model were regionally diverse in extant areas and low in the extinct areas from IUCN map. This can be the result reflecting the regional difference in the environmental conditions where Asiatic black bears inhabit. As for the environment affecting the potential habitat distribution of Asiatic black bears, inhabitation rate was the highest, according to land coverage type, compared to climate, topography and artificial factors like distance from road. Especially, the area of deciduous broadleaf forest was predicted to be preferred, in comparison with other land coverage types. Annual mean precipitation and the precipitation during the driest period were projected to affect more than temperature's annual range, and the inhabitation possibility was higher, as distance was farther from road. The reason is that Asiatic black bears are conjectured to prefer more stable area without human's intervention, as well as prey resource. The inhabitation range was predicted to be expanded gradually to the southern part of India, China's southeast coast and adjacent inland area, and Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia in the eastern coastal areas of Southeast Asia. The following areas are forecast to be the core areas, where Asiatic black bears can inhabit in the Asian region: Jeonnam, Jeonbuk and Gangwon areas in South Korea, Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku, Chubu, Kanto and Tohoku's border area in Japan, and Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian border area in China. This study is expected to be used as basic data for the preservation and efficient management of Asiatic black bear's habitat, artificially introduced individual bear's release area selection, and the management of collision zones with humans.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.243-243
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• 2015

Low-flow simulation and forecasting is one of the emerging issues in hydrology due to the increasing demand of water in dry periods. Even though low-flow simulation and forecasting remains a difficult issue for hydrologists better simulation and earlier prediction of low flows are crucial for efficient water management. The UN has never stated that South Korea is in a water shortage. However, a recent study by MOLIT indicates that Korea will probably lack water by 4.3 billion m3 in 2020 due to several factors, including land cover and climate change impacts. The two main situations that generate low-flow events are an extended dry period (summer low-flow) and an extended period of low temperature (winter low-flow). This situation demands the hydrologists to concentrate more on low-flow hydrology. Korea's annual average precipitation is about 127.6 billion m3 where runoff into rivers and losses accounts 57% and 43% respectively and from 57% runoff discharge to the ocean is accounts 31% and total water use is about 26%. So, saving 6% of the runoff will solve the water shortage problem mentioned above. The main objective of this study is to present the hydrological modelling approach for low-flow simulation and forecasting using a model that have a capacity to represent the real hydrological behavior of the catchment and to address the water management of summer as well as winter low-flow. Two lumped hydrological models (GR4J and CAT) will be applied to calibrate and simulate the streamflow. The models will be applied to Seolmacheon catchment using daily streamflow data at Jeonjeokbigyo station, and the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies will be calculated to check the model performance. The expected result will be summarized in a different ways so as to provide decision makers with the probabilistic forecasts and the associated risks of low flows. Finally, the results will be presented and the capacity of the models to provide useful information for efficient water management practice will be discussed.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.13-24
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• 2012

To prevent the damage to human health by climate change, vulnerability assessment should be conducted for establishment of adaptation strategies. In this study, vulnerability assessment was conducted to provide information about vulnerable area for making adaptation policy. vulnerability assessment for human health was divided into three categories; extreme heat, ozone, and epidemic disease. To assess vulnerability, suitable indicators were selected by three criteria; sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and exposure, spatial data of indicators were prepared and processed using GIS technique. As a result, high vulnerability to extreme heat was shown in the low land regions of southern part. And vulnerability to harmful ozone was high in the surrounding area of Dae-gu basin and metropolitan area with a number of automobiles. Vulnerability of malaria and tsutsugamushi disease have a region-specific property. They were high in the vicinity of the Dimilitarized zone and south-western plain, respectively. In general, vulnerability of human health was increased in the future time. Vulnerable area was extended from south to central regions and from plain to low mountainous regions. For assessing vulnerability with high accuracy, it is necessary to prepare more related indicators and consider weight of indicators and use climate prediction data based on the newly released scenario when assessing vulnerability.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.86-102
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• 2012

For predictive flooded area susceptibility mapping, this study applied and verified probability model and the frequency ratio using a geographic information system (GIS) and frequency raio. Flooded areas were identified in the study area of field surveys, For predictive flooded area susceptibility mapping, this study applied and verified probability model and the frequency ratio using a geographic information system (GIS) and frequency raio. Flooded areas were identified in the study area of field surveys, and maps of the topography, geology, landcover and green infrastructure were constructed for a spatial database. The factors that influence flooded areas occurrence, such as slope gradient, slope, aspect and curvature of topography and distance from darinage, were calculated from the topographic database. Lithology and distance from fault were extracted and calculated from the geology database. The frequency ratio coefficient is overlaid for flooded areas susceptibility mapping as each factor's ratings. Then the flooded areas susceptibility map was verified and compared using the existing flooded areas. As the verification results, the frequency ratio model showed 82% in prediction accuracy. The method can be used to reduce hazards associated with flooded areas and to plan land use.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.157-184
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• 2010

Global climate change is destroying the water circulation balance by changing rates of precipitation, recharge and discharge, and evapotranspiration. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) makes "changes in rainfall pattern due to climate system changes and consequent shortage of available water resource" a high priority as the weakest part among the effects of human environment caused by future climate changes. Groundwater, which occupies a considerable portion of the world's water resources, is related to climate change via surface water such as rivers, lakes, and marshes, and "direct" interactions, being indirectly affected through recharge. Therefore, in order to quantify the effects of climate change on groundwater resources, it is necessary to not only predict the main variables of climate change but to also accurately predict the underground rainfall recharge quantity. In this paper, the authors selected a relevant climate change scenario, In this context, the authors selected A1B from the Special Report on Emission Scenario (SRES) which is distributed at Korea Meteorological Administration. By using data on temperature, rainfall, soil, and land use, the groundwater recharge rate for the research area was estimated by period and embodied as geographic information system (GIS). In order to calculate the groundwater recharge quantity, Visual HELP3 was used as main model for groundwater recharge, and the physical properties of weather, temperature, and soil layers were used as main input data. General changes to water circulation due to climate change have already been predicted. In order to systematically solve problems associated with how the groundwater resource circulation system should be reflected in future policies pertaining to groundwater resources, it may be urgent to recalculate the groundwater recharge quantity and consequent quantity for using via prediction of climate change in Korea in the future and then reflection of the results. The space-time calculation of changes to the groundwater recharge quantity in the study area may serve as a foundation to present additional measures for the improved management of domestic groundwater resources.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.473-493
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• 2012

Malaria infection is sensitively influenced by regional meteorological conditions along with global climate change. Remote sensing techniques have become an important tool for extraction of climatic and environmental factors, including rainfall, temperature, surface water, soil moisture, and land use, which are directly linked to the habitat qualities of malaria mosquitoes. Improvement of sensor fidelity with higher spatial and spectral resolution, new multinational sensor development, and decreased data cost have nurtured diverse remote sensing applications in malaria research. In 1984, eradication of endemic malaria was declared in Korea, but reemergence of malaria was reported in mid-1990s. Considering constant changes in malaria cases since 2000, the epidemiological management of the disease needs careful monitoring. Geographically, northmost counties neighboring North Korea have been ranked high in the number of malaria cases. High infection rates in these areas drew special attention and led to a hypothesis that malaria dispersion in these border counties might be caused by north-origin, malaria-bearing adult mosquitoes. Habitat conditions of malaria mosquitoes are important parameters for prediction of the vector abundance. However, it should be realized that malaria infection and transmission is a complex mechanism, where non-environmental factors, including human behavior, demographic structure, landscape structure, and spatial relationships between human residence and the vector habitats, are also significant considerations in the framework of medical geography.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 2012

The dominant land use at the Seonakdong river watershed is paddy and forest areas and the Seonakdong river stands still. Thus, the water pollution in the Seonakdong river is becoming more serious for the non-point source. In this study, SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model was evaluated for simulation of flow and water quality behaviors in Seonakdong river. To perform the calibration and verification of the SWAT model, the measurements of discharge and water quality were performed for the period from 2006 to 2007 at 5 gauging stations in Seonakdong river. The $R^2$ value for discharge and water quality were 0.86 and 0.70 respectively for calibration after the sensitive analysis. The $R^2$ value for discharge and water quality were 0.81 and 0.51 respectively for verification. The simulation results show that BOD value in the river tends to decrease after the opening of gates and the patterns of TN and TP concentrations are similar as that of BOD. The gate operators need to determine how to supply water in drought season for effective water quality improvement. This study shows that the SWAT model, which is capable of simulating hydrologic and water quality behaviors temporarily and spatially at watershed scale, could be used to get the gate operation rule for the water quality management in Seonakdong river.