• Title/Summary/Keyword: Air transport

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Analysis of PM2.5 Impact and Human Exposure from Worst-Case of Mt. Baekdu Volcanic Eruption (백두산 분화 Worst-case로 인한 우리나라 초미세먼지(PM2.5) 영향분석 및 노출평가)

  • Park, Jae Eun;Kim, Hyerim;Sunwoo, Young
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.36 no.5_4
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    • pp.1267-1276
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    • 2020
  • To quantitatively predict the impacts of large-scale volcanic eruptions of Mt. Baekdu on air quality and damage around the Korean Peninsula, a three-dimensional chemistry-transport modeling system (Weather Research & Forecasting - Sparse Matrix Operation Kernel Emission - Comunity Multi-scale Air Quality) was adopted. A worst-case meteorology scenario was selected to estimate the direct impact on Korea. This study applied the typical worst-case scenarios that are likely to cause significant damage to Korea among worst-case volcanic eruptions of Mt. Baekdu in the past decade (2005~2014) and assumed a massive VEI 4 volcanic eruption on May 16, 2012, to analyze the concentration of PM2.5 caused by the volcanic eruption. The effects of air quality in each region-cities, counties, boroughs-were estimated, and vulnerable areas were derived by conducting an exposure assessment reflecting vulnerable groups. Moreover, the effects of cities, counties, and boroughs were analyzed with a high-resolution scale (9 km × 9 km) to derive vulnerable areas within the regions. As a result of analyzing the typical worst-case volcanic eruptions of Mt. Baekdu, a discrepancy was shown in areas between high PM2.5 concentration, high population density, and where vulnerable groups are concentrated. From the result, PM2.5 peak concentration was about 24,547 ㎍/㎥, which is estimated to be a more serious situation than the eruption of Mt. St. Helensin 1980, which is known for 540 million tons of volcanic ash. Paju, Gimpo, Goyang, Ganghwa, Sancheong, Hadong showed to have a high PM2.5 concentration. Paju appeared to be the most vulnerable area from the exposure assessment. While areas estimated with a high concentration of air pollutants are important, it is also necessary to develop plans and measures considering densely populated areas or areas with high concentrations of susceptible population or vulnerable groups. Also, establishing measures for each vulnerable area by selecting high concentration areas within cities, counties, and boroughs rather than establishing uniform measures for all regions is needed. This study will provide the foundation for developing the standards for disaster declaration and preemptive response systems for volcanic eruptions.

Can Lufthansa Successfully Limit its Liability to the Families of the Victims of Germanwings flight 9525 Under the Montreal Convention?

  • Gipson, Ronnie R. Jr.
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.279-310
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    • 2015
  • The Montreal Convention is an agreement that governs the liability of air carriers for injury and death to passengers travelling internationally by air. The Montreal Convention serves as the exclusive legal framework for victims and survivors seeking compensation for injuries or death arising from accidents involving international air travel. The Montreal Convention sets monetary liability caps on damages in order to promote the financial stability of the international airline transport industry and protect the industry from exorbitant damages awards in courts that would inevitably bankrupt an airline. The Convention allows a litigant suing under the Convention to avoid the liability caps in instances where the airline's culpability for the injury or death is the direct result of negligence, another wrongful act, or an omission of the airline or its agents. The Montreal Convention identifies specific locations as appropriate venues to advance claims for litigants seeking compensation. These venues are closely tied to either the carrier's business operations or the passenger's domicile. In March 2015, in an act of suicide stemming from reactive depression, the co-pilot of Germanwings flight 9525 intentionally crashed the aircraft into the French Alps killing the passengers and the remaining crew. Subsequent to the crash, there were media reports that Lufthansa made varying settlement offers to families of the passengers who died aboard the flight ranging from $8,300 USD to $4.5 Million USD depending on the passengers' citizenship. The unverified offers by Lufthansa prompted outcries from the families of the decedent passengers that they would institute suit against the airline in a more plaintiff friendly jurisdiction such as the United States. The first part of this article accomplishes two goals. First, it examines the Montreal Convention's venue requirement along with an overview of the recoverable damages from countries comprising the citizenship of the passengers who were not American. The intentional crash of Germanwings flight 9525 by its First Officer encompasses the possibility that Lufthansa may be exposed to unlimited compensatory damages beyond the liability caps contained in the Convention. The second part of this article explores the application of the Convention's liability limits to the Germanwings flight to demonstrate that the likelihood of escaping the liability limits is slim.

Legal Aspects on ICAO SARPs Regarding Alternative Fire Extinguishing Agent to Halon Fire Extinguishers

  • Lee, Gun-young;Kang, Woo-Jung
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.33 no.1
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    • pp.205-226
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    • 2018
  • For sustainable development of air transport, the establishment and application of international standards of environmental protection area is significant. The development and use of alternative fire extinguishing agent to Halon, which is used for the fire extinguishing systems of engine nacelles/APU and cargo compartments, has been requested in order to protect the ozone layer. The ICAO has been active in preparing international standards and recommended practices (SARPs); however, certification of alternative fire extinguishing agents has been postponed due to technical readiness problem.. Consequently, the implementation of SARPs has also been postponed by two years from the end of 2016. to the end of 2018. As such consequences have caused confusion among Member States regarding its implementation, it is necessary to discuss and pay more attention to this issue. ICAO Council and Air Navigation Commission should consider between setting the implementation time frame earlier or giving enough time for mature readiness and preparedness. Also in order to minimize the unnecessary discharge of Halon owned by Member States, it is necessary to consider efficient management methodologies; for example, requesting fire extinguisher manufacturers to recharge in professional ways. For the successful implementation of the SARPs, ICAO developed an implementation task list as including notification of differences, establishment of a national implementation plan, drafting of the modification to the national regulations and means of compliance, adoption of the national regulations and means of compliance. Member States can develop their own rule making process in reference with the ICAO implementation task list. This issue was presented and discussed during the 54th Conference of Directors General of civil aviation, Asia and Pacific Regions which was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2017 with significant attention among participated Contacting States. In this regards, ICAO Council and Air Navigation Commission should consult with Legal Bureau lawyers regarding SARPs preparing process to eliminate difficulties and confusions for proper implementation within effective date.

A Study on the Characteristics of the Atmospheric Environment in Suwon Based on GIS Data and Measured Meteorological Data and Fine Particle Concentrations (GIS 자료와 지상측정 기상·미세먼지 자료에 기반한 수원시 지역의 도시대기환경 특성 연구)

  • Wang, Jang-Woon;Han, Sang-Cheol;Mun, Da-Som;Yang, Minjune;Choi, Seok-Hwan;Kang, Eunha;Kim, Jae-Jin
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.37 no.6_2
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    • pp.1849-1858
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    • 2021
  • We analyzed the monthly and annual trends of the meteorological factors(wind speeds and directions and air temperatures) measured at an automated synoptic observation system (ASOS) and fine particle (PM10 and PM2.5) concentrations measured at the air quality monitoring systems(AQMSs) in Suwon. In addition, we investigated how the fine particle concentrations were related to the meteorological factors as well as urban morphological parameters (fractions of building volume and road area). We calculated the total volume of buildings and the total area of the roads in the area of 2 km × 2 km centered at each AQMS using the geographic information system and environmental geographic information system. The analysis of the meteorological factors showed that the dominant wind directions at the ASOS were westerly and northwesterly and that the average wind speed was strong in Spring. The measured fine particle concentrations were low in Summer and early Autumn (July to September) and high in Spring and Winter. In 2020, the annual mean fine particle concentration was lowest at most AQMSs. The fine particle concentrations were negatively and weakly correlated with the measured wind speeds and air temperatures (the correlation between PM2.5 concentrations and air temperatures was relatively strong). In Suwon city, at least for 6 AQMSs except for the RAQMS 131116 and AQMS 131118, the PM10 concentrations were affected mainly by the transport from outside rather than primary emission from mobile sources or wind speed decrease caused by buildings and, in the case of PM2.5, vise versa.

The legal responsibility of the unmanned aircraft operators and insurance (무인항공기 운영자의 법적책임과 보험)

  • Kim, Jong-Bok
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.367-418
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    • 2018
  • Just as safety is the most important thing in aviation, safety is the most important in the operation of unmanned aircraft (RPA), and safety operation is the most important in the legal responsibility of the operator of the unmanned aircraft. In this thesis, the legal responsibility of the operator of the unmanned aircraft, focusing on the responsibility of the operator of the unmanned aircraft, was discussed in depth with the issue of insurance, which compensates for damages in the event of an accident First of all, the legal responsibility of the operator of the unmanned aircraft was reviewed for the most basic : definition, scope and qualification of the operator of the unmanned aircraft, and the liability of the operator of the Convention On International Civil Aviation, the ICAO Annex, the RPAS Manual, the Rome Convention, other major international treaties and Domestic law such as the Aviation Safety Act. The ICAO requires that unmanned aircraft be operated in such a manner as to minimize hazards to persons, property or other aircraft as a major principle of the operation of unmanned aircraft, which is ultimately equivalent to manned aircraft Considering that most accidents involving unmanned aircrafts fall to the ground, causing damage to third parties' lives or property, this thesis focused on the responsibility of operators under the international treaty, and the responsibility of third parties for air transport by Domestic Commercial Act, as well as the liability for compensation. In relation to the Rome Convention, the Rome Convention 1952 detailed the responsibilities of the operator. Although it has yet to come into effect regarding liability, some EU countries are following the limit of responsibility under the Rome Convention 2009. Korea has yet to sign any Rome Convention, but Commercial Act Part VI Carriage by Air is modeled on the Rome Convention 1978 in terms of compensation. This thesis also looked at security-related responsibilities and the responsibility for privacy infringement. which are most problematic due to the legal responsibilities of operating unmanned aircraft. Concerning insurance, this thesis looked at the trends of mandatory aviation insurance coverage around the world and the corresponding regulatory status of major countries to see the applicability of unmanned aircraft. It also looked at the current clauses of the Domestic Aviation Business Act that make insurance mandatory, and the ultra-light flight equipment insurance policy and problems. In sum, the operator of an unmanned aircraft will be legally responsible for operating the unmanned aircraft safely so that it does not pose a risk to people, property or other aircraft, and there will be adequate compensation in the event of an accident, and legal systems such as insurance systems should be prepared to do so.

Comparison of Traffic Crash Characteristics Using Spatio-temporal Analysis in GIS-T (GIS-T 환경에서 시공간분석을 이용한 교통사고 특성 비교 - 도로 폐쇄 전후비교를 중심으로-)

  • Kim, Ho-Yong;Baik, Ho-Jong;Kim, Ji-Sook
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.41-53
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    • 2010
  • Traffic safety assessment is often accomplished by analyzing the number of crashes occurring in some geographic space over certain specific time duration. In this paper, we introduce a procedure that can efficiently analyze spatial and temporal changes in traffic crashes before-and-after implementation of a certain traffic controlling measure. For the analysis, crash frequency data before-and-after closing a major highway around St. Louis in Missouri was collected through Transportation Management System(TMS) database that is maintained by Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). In order to identify any spatial and temporal pattern in crashes, each crash is pinpointed on a map using the dynamic segmentation in GIS. Then, the identified pattern is statistically confirmed using an analysis of variance table. The advantage of this approach is to easily assess spatial and temporal trend of crashes that are not readily attainable otherwise. The results from this study can possibly be applied in enhancing the highway safety assessment procedure. This paper also makes several suggestions for future development of a comprehensive transportation data system in Korea which is similar to MoDOT's TMS database.

Analysis of Highway Hazardous Area by Sun Glare Intensity Using GIS Simulation (GIS Simulation을 이용한 태양광에 의한 교통사고 위험지역 분석)

  • Kim, Ho-Yong;Baik, Ho-Jong
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.13 no.4
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    • pp.91-100
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    • 2010
  • Existing traffic safety studies have focused on identifying the relationship among roadway crashes, highway design and incremental weather condition such as rainy/ice weather. However, it is hard to find researches that studied the effect of sun glare on traffic safety although there are abundant evidences demonstrating that fatal traffic crashes are attributed to the sun glare. Affecting drivers'vision particularly during the morning or the evening time when the sun positions close to the horizon, sun glare directly deteriorate drivers'judgmental capability. In this paper, we numerically analyze the effect of sun glare on the drivers'vision in time and space domains. Applied to the roadways around St Louis area in the United States, the GIS based simulation analysis identifies the time of day in a year and the segments of highways that are potentially influenced by the sun glare. This study evidentially confirms the fact that roadway bounded for West and East directions have longer time influenced by sun glare particularly during Spring and Fall season than other roadways. The computational result provides risky time periods of day at intersections or pedestrian crossings where the sun glare potentially endangers traffic safety, which be utilized to reduce the crashes due to the sun glare.

Effect of $SO_2$ on Leaf Tip Blight of Ginkgo biloba caused by Coniothyrium sp. (은행나무의 잎끝마름병에 미치는 $SO_2$ 의 영향)

  • Kang, Yun-Jie;Park, So-Hong;Lee, Du-Hyung;Bae, Gong-Young
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.179-184
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    • 1999
  • To examine the relationship between air pollution and occurrence of disease in plants, we investigated the alteration of physiology and biochemistry of Ginkgo biloba by inoculating with Coniothyrium sp. and fumigating with 0.1 ${\mu}l/l\;SO_{2-}$ Visual damage did not appear but photosynthesis, $CO_2$ use efficiency(CUE) and water use efficiency(WUE) were reduced when G. biloba was exposed to $SO_{2-}$for 7days (8 hours a day). When inoculated with Coniothyrium sp., the seventies of damage in G. biloba showed a threefold difference between $SO_{2-}$ treatment (SI) and $SO_{2-}$ free treatment (SFI) at day 42 from initial inoculation. Little difference was observed in sugar contents that may be used pathogens feed, among control, SFI and SI. In spite of the reduction in photosynthetic rate, sugar contents and CUE were maintained. WUE was enhanced 13% more at SI than SFI. The $CO_2$fixation boosted because of enhanced WUE, and thus sugar synthesis was not affected. In addition, sugar transport seems to be retarded for some internal alteration. Consequently, the severity of SI was more serious than that of SFI because Coniothyrium sp. easily invades into the physical texture of G. biloba weakened by $SO_2$ fumigation and because sugar was accumulated in leaves of G. biloba.

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Research and Policy Directions against Ambient Fine Particles (초미세먼지 문제 해결을 위한 연구 및 정책 방향)

  • Kim, Yong Pyo
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.33 no.3
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    • pp.191-204
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    • 2017
  • Concerns on the air pollution problem caused by ambient fine particles have become a big social issue in Korea. Important factors that should be addressed to develop effective and efficient air quality management policy, especially, against fine particles are discussed and research and policy directions to address these factors are suggested. It is suggested that two factors are in high priority; one is scientific understanding of the major formation mechanisms of fine particles and the other is the process of policy decision and implementation. For the scientific understanding, smog chamber measurement, intensive field study, and chemical transport model development that can simulate the characteristics of Northeast Asia are considered to be important. For the policy directions, priority setting of the proposed policies and development and implement of effective communication sytem are considered to be important.

Pollution Characteristics of Rainwater at Jeju Island during 2009~2010 (2009~2010년 제주지역 강우의 오염 특성 연구)

  • Kim, Ki-Ju;Bu, Jun-Oh;Kim, Won-Hyung;Lee, Yoon-Sang;Hyeon, Dong-Rim;Kang, Chang-Hee
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.29 no.6
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    • pp.818-829
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    • 2013
  • The collection of rainwater samples was made at Jeju area during 2009~2010, and the major ionic species were analyzed. In the comparison of ion balance, conductivity, and acid fraction for the validation of analytical data, the correlation coefficients showed a good linear relationship within the range of 0.966~0.990. The volume-weighted mean pH and electric conductivity were 4.9 and $17.8{\mu}S/cm$, respectively, at the Jeju area. The volume-weighted mean concentrations of ionic species in rainwater were in the order of $Cl^-$ > $Na^+$ > $nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$ > $NH_4{^+}$ > $NO_3{^-}$ > $Mg^{2+}$ > $H^+$ > $nss-Ca^{2+}$ > $HCOO^-$ > $K^+$ > $PO_4{^{3-}}$ > $CH_3COO^-$ > $NO_2{^-}$ > $F^-$ > $HCO_3{^-}$ > $CH_3SO_3{^-}$. The ionic strength of rainwater was $0.26{\pm}0.21$ mM during the study period. The composition ratios of ionic species were such as 50.1% for the marine sources ($Na^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Cl^-$), 30.9% for the anthropogenic sources ($NH_4{^+}$, $nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$, $NO_3{^-}$), and 4.7% for the soil source ($nss-Ca^{2+}$), and 3.1% for organic acids ($HCOO^-$, $CH_3COO^-$). From the seasonal comparison, the concentrations of $NO_3{^-}$, $nss-Ca^{2+}$, and $nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$ increased in winter and spring seasons, indicating a reasonable possibility of long range transport from Asia continent. Especially, the acidifying contributions by major inorganic acids ($nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$ and $NO_3{^-}$) and organic acids ($HCOO^-$ and $CH_3COO^-$) were 87.6% and 12.4%, respectively. In comparison by sectional inflow pathway of air mass during the rainy sampling days, the concentrations of $nss-SO_4{^{2-}}$ and $NO_3{^-}$ were relatively high when the air mass was moved from the China continent into Jeju area.