• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.281-288
• /
• 2018

The transmission of solar light according to the distribution of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) was measured in the Pacific Arctic Ocean. The Research Vessel Araon visited the ice-covered East Siberian and Chukchi Seas in August 2016. In the Arctic, solar [ultraviolet-A (UV-A), ultraviolet-B (UV-B), and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)] radiation reaching the surface of the ocean is primarily protected by the distribution of sea ice. The transmission of solar light in the ocean is controlled by sea ice and dissolved organic matter, such as CDOM. The concentration of CDOM is the major factor controlling the penetration depth of UV radiation into the ocean. The relative CDOM concentration of surface sea water was higher in the East Siberian Sea than in the Chukchi Sea. Due to the distribution of CDOM, the penetration depth of solar light in the East Siberian Sea (UV-B, $9{\pm}2m$; UV-A, $13{\pm}2m$; PAR, $36{\pm}4m$) was lower than in the Chukchi Sea (UV-B, $15{\pm}3m$; UV-A, $22{\pm}3m$; PAR, $49{\pm}3m$). Accelerated global warming and the rapid decrease of sea ice in the Arctic have resulted in marine organisms being exposed to increased harmful UV radiation. With changes in sea ice covered areas and concentrations of dissolved organic matter in the Arctic Ocean, marine ecosystems that consist of a variety of species from primary producers to high-trophic-level organisms will be directly or indirectly affected by solar UV radiation.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.133-147
• /
• 2004

Environmental quality(water and sediment) was analyzed in the tidal flat of Saemangum of Jeonbuk Province, the west coast of Korea, using the 101 sediment samples and 69 water samples collected in September 4~13, 2001. Major water quality parameters with the means of 69 surface water samples are as follows; $25.51{\pm}0.68^{\circ}C$ for water temperature, $29.88{\pm}5.01$ for salinity, $1.40{\pm}0.78mg/L$ for COD, $0.352{\pm}0.417mg/L$ for DIN, and $0.027{\pm}0.023mg/L$ for phosphate, respectively. Higher values were found at the subestuary of Dongjin and Mangyung River, and lower values at the Saemangum embayment and Gomso Bay. There was a significant negative correlation between salinity and the other water quality parameters(p<0.0001) such as COD, nutrients, SS and N/P. This correlation suggested that the major pollution sources be from terrestrial inputs through tributaries in this area. Principal component analysis clearly revealed a spatial variation of water quality; stations with higher values of nutrients and COD located subestuary of tributaries. 14 sediment quality parameters including 8 trace metals were measured using the 101 surface sediment samples. Average values for the parameters are as follows; Al $2.28{\pm}0.92%$, Cd $0.61{\pm}0.27ppm$, Cu $8.95{\pm}4.06ppm$, Fe $1.19{\pm}0.37%$, Mn $182.31{\pm}77.45ppm$, Ni $10.83{\pm}4.97ppm$, Pb $15.20{\pm}4.35ppm$, Zn $41.34{\pm}34.62ppm$, COD $2.68{\pm}1.85mg/g\;dry$, AVS $0.04{\pm}0.08mg/g\;dry$, IL $1.29{\pm}1.08%$, water content $24.11{\pm}4.49%$, TN $0.02{\pm}0.02%$, TC $0.22{\pm}0.30%$. Spatial variations of sediment quality were not clear as water quality. Some higher values were found at the subestuary of Gum River and lower values at the other area. There was a significant positive correlation between the heavy metal concentrations and organic materials within the sediment(p<0.05). Enrichment factors showed the ranges of 1~2 for most of the metals in the sediment except zinc(1~6), indicating no serious exogenous input of heavy metals in the study area. Also, the heavy metal concentrations in the sediment were within the ranges found at the natural marine environments.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2006

A field survey on the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics and origins of organic matter in surface sediments was carried out monthly at six stations in Gamak Bay, South Korea from April 2000 to March 2002. The range of ignition loss(IL) was $4.6{\sim}11.6%(7.1{\pm}1.6%)$, while chemical oxygen demand(CODs) ranged from $12.25{\sim}99.26mgO_2/g-dry(30.98{\pm}19.09mgO_2/g-dry)$, acid volatile sulfide(AVS) went from no detection(ND)${\sim}10.29mgS/g-dry(1.02{\pm}0.58mgS/g-dry)$, and phaeopigment was $6.84{\sim}116.18{\mu}g/g-dry(23.72{\pm}21.16{\mu}g/g-dry)$. The ranges of particulate organic carbon(POC) and particulate organic nitrogen(PON) were $5.45{\sim}23.24 mgC/g-dty(10.34{\pm}4.40C\;mgC/g-dry)$ and $0.71{\sim}2.99mgN/g-dry(1.37{\pm}0.58mgN/g-dry)$, respectively. Water content was in the range of $43.1{\sim}77.6%(55.8{\pm}5.6%)$, and mud content(silt+clay) was higher than 95% at all stations. The spatial distribution of organic matter in surface sediments was greatly divided between the northwestern, central and eastern areas, southern entrance area from the distribution characteristic of their organic matters. The concentrations of almost all items were greater at the northwestern and southern entrance area than at the other areas in Gamak Bay. In particular, sedimentary pollution was very serious at the northwestern area, because the area had an excessive supply of organic matter due to aquaculture activity and the inflow of sewage from the land. These materials stayed longer because of the topographical characteristics of such as basin and the anoxic conditions in the bottom seawater environment caused by thermocline in the summer. The tendency of temporal change was most prominently in the period of high-water temperatures than low-water ones at the northwestern and southern entrance areas. On the other hand, the central and eastern areas did not show a regular trend for changing the concentrations of each item but mainly showed a higher tendency during the low-water temperatures. This was observed for all but AVS concentrations which were higher during the period of high-water temperature at all stations. Especially, the central and eastern areas showed a large temporal increase of AVS concentration during those periods of high-water temperature where the concentration of CODs was in excess of $20mgO_2/g-dry$. The results show that the organic matters in surface sediments in Gamak Bay actually originated from autochthonous organic matters with eight or less in average C/N ratio including the organic matters generated by the use of ocean, rather than terrigenous organic matters. However, the formation of autochthonous organic matter was mainly derived from detritus than living phytoplankton, indicated the results of the POC/phaeopigment ratio. In addition, the CODs/IL ratio results demonstrate that the detritus was the product of artificial activities such as dregs feeding and fecal pellets of farm organisms caused by aquaculture activities rather than the dynamic of natural ocean activities.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.54 no.6
• /
• pp.822-829
• /
• 2016

Our aim was to optimize the production of cellulase-free thermoactive xylanase by Aureobasidium pullulans CBS 135684 with statistical methodology based on experimental designs. Among eleven variables, the nutrient sources that had significant effect on xylanase production were corncob, $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, xylose, $KH_2PO_4$ and tween 80, identified by the initial screening method of Plackett-Burman. The optimum concentrations of these five components were subsequently investigated using response surface methodology. The optimal concentrations ($g{\cdot}l^{-1}$) for maximum production of xylanase were corncob, 39.0; $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, 3.0; xylose, 1.8; $KH_2PO_4$ 1.4; and tween 80, 1.4, respectively. An improved xylanase yield of $8.74{\pm}0.84U{\cdot}ml^{-1}$ was obtained with optimized medium which is 2.1-fold higher production than previously obtained results ($4.10{\pm}0.10U{\cdot}ml^{-1}$) after 48 h of cultivation. In addition, the xylanase production under optimal condition reached $10.09{\pm}0.27U{\cdot}ml^{-1}$ after 72 h of cultivation.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.851-862
• /
• 2006

Satellites have been valuable tool for global/regional scale atmospheric environment monitoring as well as emission source detection. In this study, we present the results of application of satellite remote sensing data for air quality forecast in Seoul metropolitan area. AOT (Aerosol Optical Thickness) data from TERRA/MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectre-radiometer) satellite were compared to ground based $PM_{10}$ mass concentrations, and used to estimate the possibility of the aerosol forecasting in Seoul metropolitan area. Although correlation coefficient (${\sim}0.37$) between MODIS AOT products and surface $PM_{10}$ concentration data was relatively low, there was good correlation between MODIS AOT and surface PM concentration under certain atmospheric conditions, which supports the feasibility of using the high-resolution MODIS AOT for air quality forecasting. The MODIS AOT data with trajectory forecasts also can provide information on aerosol concentration trend. The success rate of the 24 hour aerosol concentration trend forecast result was about 75% in this study. Finally, application of satellite remote sensing data with ground-based air quality observations could provide promising results for air quality monitoring and more exact trend forecast methodology by high resolution satellite data and verification with long term measurement dataset.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.313-325
• /
• 2011

From October 2009 to June 2010, major greenhouse gases (GHG: $N_2O$, $CH_4$, $CO_2$) soil emission were measured from upland cabbage field at Kunsan ($35^{\circ}$56'23"N, $126^{\circ}$43'14"E), Korea by using closed static chamber method. The measurements were conducted mostly from 10:00 to 18:00LST during field experiment days (total 28 days). After analyzing GHG concentrations inside of flux chamber by using a GC equipped with a methanizer (Varian CP3800), the GHG fluxes were calculated from a linear regression of the changes in the concentrations with time. Soil parameters (e.g. soil moisture, temperature, pH, organic C, soil N) were also measured at the sampling site. The average soil pH and soil moisture were ~pH $5.42{\pm}0.03$ and $70.0{\pm}1.8$ %WFPS (water filled pore space), respectively. The ranges of GHG flux during the experimental period were $0.08\sim8.40\;mg/m^2{\cdot}hr$ for $N_2O$, $-92.96\sim139.38mg/m^2{\cdot}hr$ for $CO_2$, and $-0.09\sim0.05mg/m^2{\cdot}hr$ for $CH_4$, respectively. It revealed that monthly means of $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ flux during October (fall) were positive and significantly higher than those (negative value) during January (winter) when subsoil have low temperature and relatively high moisture due to snow during the winter measurement period. Soil mean temperature and moisture during these months were $17.5{\pm}1.2^{\circ}C$, $45.7{\pm}8.2$%WFPS for October; and $1.4{\pm}1.3^{\circ}C$, $89.9{\pm}8.8$ %WFPS for January. It may indicate that soil temperature and moisture have significant role in determining whether the $CO_2$ and $CH_4$ emission or uptake take place. Low temperature and high moisture above a certain optimum level during winter could weaken microbial activity and the gas diffusion in soil matrix, and then make soil GHG emission to the atmosphere decrease. Other soil parameters were also discussed with respect to GHG emissions. Both positive and negative gas fluxes in $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ were observed during these measurements, but not for $N_2O$. It is likely that $CH_4$ and $CO_2$ gases emanated from soil surface or up taken by the soil depending on other factors such as background concentrations and physicochemical soil conditions.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.129-139
• /
• 2009

Development of an artificial neural network model was presented to predict the daily maximum $SO_2$ concentration in the urban-industrial area of Ulsan. The network model was trained during April through September for 2000-2005 using $SO_2$ potential parameters estimated from meteorological and air quality data which are closely related to daily maximum $SO_2$ concentrations. Meteorological data were obtained from regional modeling results, upper air soundings and surface field measurements and were then used to create the $SO_2$ potential parameters such as synoptic conditions, mixing heights, atmospheric stabilities, and surface conditions. In particular, two-stage clustering techniques were used to identify potential index representing major synoptic conditions associated with high $SO_2$ concentration. Two neural network models were developed and tested in different conditions for prediction: the first model was set up to predict daily maximum $SO_2$ at 5 PM on the previous day, and the second was 10 AM for a given forecast day using an additional potential factors related with urban emissions in the early morning. The results showed that the developed models can predict the daily maximum $SO_2$ concentrations with good simulation accuracy of 87% and 96% for the first and second model. respectively, but the limitation of predictive capability was found at a higher or lower concentrations. The increased accuracy for the second model demonstrates that improvements can be made by utilizing more recent air quality data for initialization of the model.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.146-158
• /
• 2010

In order to evaluate the characteristics of sediments and pollution by organic matter and metallic elements in intertidal sediments along the southwestern coast of Korea, we measured various geochemical parameters, including the mean grain size (Mz), water content (WC), ignition loss (IL), chemical oxygen demand (COD), acid volatile sulfide (AVS), and metallic elements (Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Mn, Hg, As), in intertidal surface sediments. The Mz of the surface sediments ranged from 2.1 to 8.3$\phi$, indicating that the surface sediments consist of various sedimentary facies, such as sand, slightly gravelly mud, sandy mud, and silt. The IL and COD in surface sediment ranged from 0.8 to 5.5% (mean $2.9\pm1.2%$) and from 3.9 to $13.8\;mgO_2/g{\cdot}dry$ (mean $8.5\pm2.6\;mgO_2/g{\cdot}dry$), respectively, which were lower than the values for surface sediment in areas near fish and shellfish farms or industrial complexes. No AVS was detected at any sampling station, despite various sedimentary facies. Most of metallic elements in surface sediments showed relatively good positive correlations with Mz and IL, which imply that the concentrations of metallic elements are mainly controlled by grain size and the organic matter content. The concentrations of metallic elements, except As, at some stations were considerably lower than those in the Sediment Quality Guideline (Effect Range Low, ERL) proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. Similarly, the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) class indicated that pollution by metallic elements in intertidal surface sediment, except As, was moderate or non-existent. Our results imply that the intertidal surface sediments along the southwestern coast of Korea are not polluted by organic matter and metallic elements and are healthy for benthic organisms.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.269-286
• /
• 2015

24-hr integrated $PM_{2.5}$ measurements were performed between December 2013 and October 2014 at an urban site in Gwangju and the collected samples were analyzed for organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), ionic species, and elemental species. Objectives of this study were to identify $PM_{2.5}$ pollution episodes, to characterize their chemical components, and to examine their probable origins. Over the course of the study period, average $PM_{2.5}$ concentration was $37.7{\pm}23.6$ $(6.0{\sim}121.5){\mu}g/m^3$. Concentrations of secondary ionic species; $NH_4{^+}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $SO_4{^{2-}}$ was on average $5.54{\mu}g/m^3$ (0.28~ 20.86), $7.60{\mu}g/m^3$ (0.45~ 33.53), and $9.05{\mu}g/m^3$ (0.50~ 34.98), accounting for 13.7% (4.6~ 22.7), 18.6% (2.9~ 44.8), and 22.9% (4.9~ 55.1) of the $PM_{2.5}$ concentration, respectively. Average OC and EC concentrations were $5.22{\mu}g/m^3$ and $1.54{\mu}g/m^3$, taking possession of 4.6 and 22.2% (as organic mass) of the $PM_{2.5}$, respectively. Frequencies at which 24-hr averaged $PM_{2.5}$ exceeded a 24-hr averaged Korean $PM_{2.5}$ standard of $50{\mu}g/m^3$ (termed as an "episode" in this study) were 30, accounting for 21.3% of total 141 measurements. These pollution episodes were mostly associated with haze phenomenon and weak surface wind speed. It is suggested that secondary formation of aerosol was one important formation mechanism of the episodes. The episodes were associated with enhancements of organic mass, $NO_3{^-}$ and $SO_4{^{2-}}$ in winter, of $NO_3{^-}$ and $SO_4{^{2-}}$ in spring, and of $SO_4{^{2-}}$ in summer. Potential source contribution function results indicate also that $PM_{2.5}$ episodes were likely attributed to local and regional haze pollution transported from northeastern China in winter, to atmospheric processing of local emissions rather than long-range transport of air pollutants in spring, and to the $SO_4{^{2-}}$ driven by photochemistry of $SO_2$ in summer.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.20 no.8
• /
• pp.1049-1059
• /
• 2011

This paper examines the effects of the partial solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 across the Korean peninsular on surface temperature and ozone concentrations in over the Busan metropolitan region (BMR). The observed data in the BMR demonstrated that the solar eclipse phenomenon clearly affects the surface ozone concentration as well as the air temperature. The decrease in temperature ranging from 1.2 to $5.4^{\circ}C$ was observed at 11 meteorological sites during the eclipse as a consequence of the solar radiation decrease. A large temperature drop exceeding $4^{\circ}C$ was observed at most area (8 sites) of the BMR. Significant ozone drop (18~29 ppb) was also observed during the eclipse mainly due to the decreased efficiency of the photochemical ozone formation. The ozone concentration started to decrease at approximately 1 to 2 hours after the event and reached its minimum value for a half hour to 2 hours after maximum eclipse. The rate of ozone fall ranged between 0.18 and 0.49 ppb/min. The comparison between ozone measurements and the expected values derived from the fitted curve analysis showed that the maximum drop in ozone concentrations occurred at noon or 1 PM and was pronounced at industrial areas.