• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1-16
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• 2008

There are generally two types of groundwater vulnerability assessments. Intrinsic vulnerability is based on the assessment of natural climatic, geological and hydrogeological attributes and specific vulnerability relates to a specific contaminant, contaminant class, or human activity. Several methods to assess groundwater vulnerability, which are based on hydrogeologic setting and socio-economical environment, have been developed in USA and Europe. A Modified-DRASTIC model including a lineament factor has been developed in South Korea, but it still has some limitations. To develop a solid and applicable method in this country, many data of quality, hydraulic features, GIS data, and pollution source, produced from a Basic Survey based on Article 5 of the Groundwater Act and other research projects, need to be collected, analyzed and verified introducing the previous methods.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.741-749
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• 2017

This study aims to provide the technical considerations and implications for the development of soil vulnerability assesment tool based on the review of existing tools and case studies applied both domestically and internationally. For this study, we specifically investigated the basic theories and major features implemented in the screening models abroad. In contrast, one case study of prioritizing the vulnerable districts was presented to identify the research trends in Korea. Our literature review suggested that the characteristic of target areas and contaminants needed to be properly incorporated into soil vulnerability assessment because the current tools in Korea neglected these properties which prevented this tool from being used as a correct measure of soil management and prevention. We also reached the conclusion that in terms of technical aspect, the soil vulnerability assessment tool should be developed based on the physical theory and environmental data that were varied over space and time so that the end-users were able to readily and effectively screen soil vulnerability over large areas. In parallel with technical improvement, great effort needed to be devoted to develop an integrated environmental information system that increased the availability of data and shared various types of environmental data through enhanced multi-agency collaboration.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.69-93
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• 2014

The aim of this research was to develop a climate change vulnerability index at the district level (Si, Gun, Gu) with respect to the health care sector in Korea. The climate change vulnerability index was esimated based on the four major causes of climate-related illnesses : vector, flood, heat waves, and air pollution/allergies. The vulnerability assessment framework consists of six layers, all of which are based on the IPCC vulnerability concepts (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) and the pathway of direct and indirect impacts of climate change modulators on health. We collected proxy variables based on the conceptual framework of climate change vulnerability. Data were standardized using the min-max normalization method. We applied the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) weight and aggregated the variables using the non-compensatory multi-criteria approach. To verify the index, sensitivity analysis was conducted by using another aggregation method (geometric transformation method, which was applied to the index of multiple deprivation in the UK) and weight, calculated by the Budget Allocation method. The results showed that it would be possible to identify the vulnerable areas by applying the developed climate change vulnerability assessment index. The climate change vulnerability index could then be used as a valuable tool in setting climate change adaptation policies in the health care sector.