• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.679-686
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• 2010

To investigate the contribution of macroalgae to biogeochemical nutrients and carbon cycles, we measured the uptake rates of nutrients and $CO_2$ by Undaria pinnatifida using an incubation method in an acrylic chamber. From January to March 2010, U. pinnatifida was sampled at Ilkwang, a well-known area of macroalgae culture in Korea. The initial and final concentrations of nutrients, dissolved oxygen, total alkalinity, and pH of the chamber water were measured, and production/uptake rates were calculated using concentration changes, chamber volume, and incubation time. The production rate of dissolved oxygen by U. pinnatifida (n = 32) was about $5.4{\pm}4.0\;{\mu}mol\;g_{fw}^{-1\;}h^{-1}$. The uptake rate of total dissolved inorganic carbon (TDIC), calculated by total alkalinity and pH, was $7.9{\pm}6.5\;{\mu}mol\;g_{fw}^{-1}\;h^{-1}$. Nutrients uptake averaged $141.7{\pm}119.2$ nmol N $g_{fw}^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ and $15.0{\pm}9.1$ nmol P $g_{fw}^{-1}\;h^{-1}$. A positive linear correlation ($r^2$ = 9.6) existed between the production rate of dissolved oxygen and the uptake rate of total dissolved inorganic carbon, suggesting that these two factors serve as good indicators of U. pinnatifida photosynthesis. The relationships between fresh weight and uptake rates of nutrients and $CO_2$ suggested that younger specimens (<~50 g fresh weight) are much more efficient at nutrients and $CO_2$ uptake than are specimens >50 g. The amount of carbon uptake by the total biomass of U. pinnatifida in Korea during the year of 2008 was about 0.001-0.002% of global ocean carbon uptake. Thus, more research should be focused on macroalgae-based biogeochemical cycles to evaluate the roles and contributions of macroalgae to the global carbon cycle.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.363-384
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• 2009

This study aimed at finding directions for Korean agriculture to establish a new paradigm of sustainable development. Various problematic issues and concerns in the environment necessitate the transformation of Korea's development paradigm from unconditional growth to "Green Growth" through new policies on green value and review of various advanced researches. In this research, the environment-friendly agriculture's problems, particularly in agribusiness were analyzed. Drawing from Michael Porter's Value Chain Analysis, this research developed a value chain model in agriculture that reflects the environment and the present situations. Future directions in the agriculture sector were also discussed. Korea realized food self-sufficiency through the green revolution in the early 1970s. However, a lot of problems have also occurred, including ground and water pollution and the destruction of ecosystems as a result of the overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. In the late 1970s, the growing interest on environment-friendly agriculture led to the introduction of sustainable methods and techniques. Unfortunately however, these were not innovative enough to foster environment-friendly agriculture. Thereafter, the consumers' distrust on agricultural products has worsened and concerns about health have increased. In view of this, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries introduced in December 1993 a system of Quality-Certified Products for organic and pesticide-free agri-foods. Although a fundamental step toward the sustainability of the global environment, this system was not enough to promote environment-friendly agriculture. In 2008, Korea's vision is for "Low Carbon Green Growth" to move forward while also coping with climate change. But primary sectors in a typical value chain do not consider the green value of their operations nor look at production from an environmental perspective. In order to attain sustainable development, there is a need to use less resources and energy than what is presently used in Korean agricultural and value production. The typical value chain should be transformed into a "closed-loop" such that the beginning and the end of the chain are linked together. Such structure allows the flow of materials, products and even wastes among participants in the chain in a sustained cycle. This may result in a zero-waste sustainable production without destroying the ecosystem.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.204-212
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• 2022

The LID technique began to be applied in Korea after 2009, and LID facilities are installed and operated for rainwater management in business districts such as the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and LH Corporation, public institutions, commercial land, housing, parks, and schools. However, looking at domestic cases, the application cases and operation periods are insufficient compared to those outside the country, so appropriate design standards and measures for operation and maintenance are insufficient. In particular, LID facilities constructed using LID techniques need to maintain the environment inside LID facilities because hydrological and environmental effects are expressed by material circulation and energy flow. The LID facility is designed with the treatment capacity planned for the water circulation target, and the proper maintenance, vegetation, and soil conditions are periodically identified, and the efficiency is maintained as much as possible. In other words, the soil created in LID is a very important design element because LID facilities are expected to have effects such as water pollution reduction, flood reduction, water resource acquisition, and temperature reduction while increasing water storage and penetration capacity through water circulation construction. In order to maintain and manage the functions of LID facilities accurately, the current state of the facilities and the cycle of replacement and maintenance should be accurately known through various quantitative data such as soil contamination, snow removal effects, and vegetation criteria. This study was conducted to investigate the current status of LID facilities installed in Korea from 2009 to 2020, and analyze soil changes through the continuity and current status of LID facilities applied over the past 10 years after collecting soil samples from the soil layer. Through analysis of Saturn, organic matter, hardness, water contents, pH, electrical conductivity, and salt, some vegetation-type LID facilities more than 5 to 7 years after construction showed results corresponding to the lower grade of landscape design. Facilities below the lower level can be recognized as a point of time when maintenance is necessary in a state that may cause problems in soil permeability and vegetation growth. Accordingly, it was found that LID facilities should be managed through soil replacement and replacement.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.391-401
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• 2011

Purpose: In the present study, the actual management state of trial contact lenses and lens care products in local optical shops was surveyed and analyzed to reduce the risk of lens complication possibly induced by neglecting lens care. Methods: The feeling of contact lens wearers during the wear of trial contact lenses was surveyed. Futhermore, the actual management state of trial contact lenses such as cosmetic lens and RGP lens and lens care products was also investigated by surveying opticians who trade contact lenses in local optical shops. Results: It was found that consumers trusted the sanitary conditions of the lens since trial cosmetic contact lens and RGP lens were cleaned before and after trails by over 98% of opticians in local optical shops. For trial cosmetic lens, cleaning with normal saline, multipurpose solution for soft lens and combination of saline and multipurpose solution were 38.5%, 40.5% and 21%, respectively, before trials. After trials, cosmetic lenses were cleaned with normal saline, multipurpose solution for soft lens and a combination of saline and multipurpose solution were 13%, 75%, and 12%, respectively. On the other hand, cleaning with normal saline, multipurpose solution for RGP lens and combination of saline and multipurpose solution were 28.5%, 38.5% and 33%, respectively, before trying trial RGP lens. After trials, RGP lenses were cleaned with normal saline, multipurpose solution for RGP lens and a combination of saline and multipurpose solution were 2.5%, 70%, and 27.5%, respectively, indicating that relatively many opticians followed the lens cleaning regimen. In local optical shops, the cleaning trial cosmetic lens was mainly conducted at every 10 days or a month and the washing cycle of cosmetic lens case was in a month or 2~3 months. The cleaning interval of trial RGP lens was primarily in a month or 2~3 months. For those lens cases, more than 75% of opticians washed them with a surfactant and then rinsed with cold water. The storing periods of lens care products were primarily in a week for saline and in a month and 2~3 months indicating that storing period of lens care products was relatively well-kept in local optical shops. Conclusions: It is thought that the concern about any microbial infection is not that high since trial contact lenses and lens care products were generally well-managed by opticians in local optical shops from the results above. However, better public eye health and better public confidence in opticians may be possible if further strengthen in avoidance of lens cleaning with saline, keep of cleaning cycles within 2 weeks and rinsing of lens cases with hot water happens.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.111-121
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• 2019

Evapotranspiration (ET) of vegetation is one of the major components of the hydrologic cycle, and its accurate estimation is important for hydrologic water balance, irrigation management, crop yield simulation, and water resources planning and management. For agricultural crops, ET is often calculated in terms of a short or tall crop reference, such as well-watered, clipped grass (reference crop evapotranspiration, $ET_o$). The Penman-Monteith equation recommended by FAO (FAO 56-PM) has been accepted by researchers and practitioners, as the sole $ET_o$ method. However, its accuracy is contingent on high quality measurements of four meteorological variables, and its use has been limited by incomplete and/or inaccurate input data. Therefore, this study evaluated the applicability of Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN) model for estimating $ET_o$ from less meteorological data than required by the FAO 56-PM. A total of six meteorological inputs, minimum temperature, average temperature, maximum temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation, were divided into a series of input groups (a combination of one, two, three, four, five and six variables) and each combination of different meteorological dataset was evaluated for its level of accuracy in estimating $ET_o$. The overall findings of this study indicated that $ET_o$ could be reasonably estimated using less than all six meteorological data using BPNN. In addition, it was shown that the proper choice of neural network architecture could not only minimize the computational error, but also maximize the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The findings of this study would be of use in instances where data availability and/or accuracy are limited.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.170-179
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• 2020

Tidal asymmetry would occur owing to shallow water tides at the Western Coast of macro tidal area. Especially, as ebb dominance of Mokpo coastal zone is known as the most prominent in Korea, it had been studied by domestic researchers. The cause of ebb dominance in Mokpo area is considered due to extensive inter-tidal zone in Muan Bay, and this has been studied based on amplification ratio, relative phase and skewness of tide/tidal flow curves in order to analyze qualitative tidal asymmetry. Furthermore, it was possible to figure out tidal characteristics with the difference of tidal amplitude and phase with Mokpo Harbor by observing the tide for 15 days in Muan Bay, which showed 40 minutes shorter ebbing time than at Mokpo Harbor. In addition, tidal flow prediction data in Mokpo North Harbor and Mokpo-Gu were analyzed. Meanwhile, the basis regarding qualitative interpretation of bed sediment and suspended sediment was provided by examining the qualitative changes in tidal asymmetry for spring-neap tidal cycle through the PCA/SWA indices. In addition, by examining long-term changes of ebb dominance in Mokpo Port, tidal characteristics of the past, present and future in this area, which is related to tidal asymmetry, is also provided.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.75-87
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• 2014

In order to analyze environmental impact of livestock manure and organic fertilizers, this study investigated livestock-breeding and pollution loads, the status of individual and public livestock manure treatment facilities, and the status of production, supply and components of compost and liquid fertilizers in the Nonsan area. Also, on a trial basis, this study investigated the life cycle of the environmental impact of livestock manure and its organic fertilizers on stream, groundwater, and agricultural soil. The results are as follows. Firstly, were detected the range of $0.13{\sim}1.32{\mu}g/L$ of As, $0.004{\sim}0.467{\mu}g/L$ of Cd and $0.5{\sim}9.2{\mu}g/L$ of Pb as a harmful substances which show lower concentrations than person preservation criteria of water qualities and aquatic ecosystem. However, it is not clear that heavy metals affect environment such as stream, groundwater and agricultural soil. Secondly, this influence could change according to investigation time and treatment efficiency. As were detected large amounts of persistent organic pollutants(e.g. $14.24{\sim}38.47{\mu}g/L$ of acetylsalicylic acid, $1.17{\sim}2.96{\mu}g/L$ of sulfamethazine, and $2.25{\sim}174.09{\mu}g/L$ of sulfathiazole) in effluent from livestock farms and small amounts of sulfathiazole($ND{\sim}1.63{\mu}g/L$) in the stream, it is necessary to monitor POPs at individual and public livestock manure treatment facilities. However, significant environmental impact did not appear at groundwater and agricultural soil in the test area supplied with liquid fertilizers. These results could be applied to investigate the environmental impact of livestock manure through a comprehensive livestock manure management information system.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.391-402
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• 2017

The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) has developed a concrete cask for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel that has been generated by domestic light-water reactors. During long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel in concrete casks kept in dry conditions, the integrity of the concrete cask and spent nuclear fuel must be maintained. In addition, the radiation dose rate must not exceed the storage facility's design standards. A suitable shielding design for radiation protection must be in place for the dry storage facilities of spent nuclear fuel under normal and accident conditions. Evaluation results show that the appropriate distance to the annual dose rate of 0.25 mSv for ordinary citizens is approximately 230 m. For a $2{\times}10$ arrangement within storage facilities, rollover accidents are assumed to have occurred while transferring one additional storage cask, with the bottom of the cask facing the controlled area boundary. The dose rates of 12.81 and 1.28 mSv were calculated at 100 m and 230 m from the outermost cask in the $2{\times}10$ arrangement. Therefore, a spent nuclear fuel concrete cask and storage facilities maintain radiological safety if the distance to the appropriately assessed controlled area boundary is ensured. In the future, the results of this study will be useful for the design and operation of nuclear power plant on-site storage or intermediate storage facilities based on the spent fuel management strategy.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.194-200
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• 2016

The impervious surface rate increased by urbanization causes various problems on the environment such as water cycle distortion, heat island effect, and non-point pollutant discharges. The Low Impact Development (LID) techniques are significantly considered as an important tool for stormwater management in urban areas and development projects. The main mechanisms of LID technologies are hydrological and environmental pollution reduction among soils, media, microorganisms, and plants. Especially, the media provides important functions on permeability and retention rate of stormwater runoff in LID facilities. Therefore, this research was performed to assess the pollutant removal efficiency for different types of media such as zeolite, wood chip, bottom ash, and bio-ceramic. All media show high pollutant removal efficiency of more than 60% for particulate materials and heavy metals. Double layered media is more effective in reducing heavy metals by providing diverse sizes of micro-pores and macro-pores compared to the single layered media. The results recommend the use of different sizes of media application is more cost-effective in LID than a single size of media. Furthermore, soluble proportion of total heavy metal in the stormwater is an important component in proper media selection and arrangement.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.783-788
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• 2011

Different from the main land of South Korea, Jeju Island has been in difficulties for measuring discharge. Due to high infiltration rate, most of streams in Jeju Island are usually in the dried state except six streams with the steady base flow, and the unique geological characteristics such as steep slope and short traveling distance of runoff have forced rainfall runoff usually to occur during very short period of time like one or two days. While discharge observations in Jeju Island have been conducted only for 16 sites with fixed electromagnetic surface velocimetry, effective analysis and validation of observed discharge data and operation of the monitoring sites still have been limited due to very few professions to maintain such jobs. This research is sponsored by Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to build water cycle monitoring and management system of Jeju Island. Specifically, the research focuses on optimizing discharge measurement techniques adjusted for Jeju Island, expanding the monitoring sites, and validating the existing discharge data. First of all, we attempted to conduct discharge measurements in streams with steady base flow, by utilizing various recent discharge monitoring techniques, such as ADCP, LSPIV, Magnetic Velocimetry, and Electromagnetic Wave Surface Velocimetry. ADCP has been known to be the most accurate in terms of discharge measurement compared with other techniques, thus that the discharge measurement taken by ADCP could be used as a benchmark data for validation of others. However, there are still concerns of using ADCP in flood seasons; thereby LSPIV would be able to be applied for replacing ADCP in such flooded situation in the stream. In addition, sort of practical approaches such as Magnetic Velocimetry, and Electromagnetic Wave Surface Velocimetry would also be validated, which usually measure velocity in the designated parts of stream and assume the measured velocity to be representative for whole cross-section or profile at any specified location. The result of the comparison and analysis will be used for correcting existing discharge measurement by Electromagnetic Wave Surface Velocimetry and finding the most optimized discharge techniques in the future.