• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.51-117
• /
• 2019

On 15th November 2017, the coastal city of Pohang, located in the Southeastern part of South Korea was shaken by a magnitude 5.4 earthquake. The earthquake displaced more than 1,700 residents and caused more than $ 300 million dollars of economic loss. It was the second most damaging earthquake in the history of Korea. Soon after the earthquake, a group of scientists raised a possible link between the first Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) project and the earthquake. At the same time, another group of scientists put forward a different hypothesis of the causation of the earthquake claiming that it was caused by the geological movements that were initiated by the Great Tohoku Earthquake in 2011. Since then, there were scientific debates between the two different groups of scientists. The scientific debate on the causation of the earthquake has been concluded temporarily by the Research Investigatory Committee on the Pohang Earthquake in 2019. The research committee concluded that the earthquake was caused by the Pohang EGS system: this means that the earthquake can be defined not as a natural earthquake, but as an artificially triggered earthquake. This article is to examine the Pohang earthquake can be defined as an Anthropocenic event. The newly suggested concept, the Anthropocene is a relatively novel term to classify the earthly strata and their relationship to geological time. The current geological period should be defined by human activities and man-made earthly environment. Although the term is basically related to geological classification, the Anthropocene has been widely debated amongst humanist and social science scholars. The current disastrous situation of our planet also implies with the Anthropocene. This paper is to discuss how to understand anthropogenic events. In particular, the paper pays attention to two different scholarly positions on the Anthropocene: Isabelle Stenger's Gaia theory and Barbara Herrnstein Smith's relativist theory. The former focuses on the earthly inevitable catastrophe of Anthropocene while the latter suggests to situate and contextualise anthropogenic events. On the basis of the theoretical positions, the article is to analyse how the Pohang earthquake can be located and situated.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.251-262
• /
• 2010

In order to provide quantitative control of the standard products of Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI), on-board radiometric correction, atmospheric correction, and bio-optical algorithm are obtained continuously by comprehensive and consistent calibration and validation procedures. The calibration/validation for radiometric, atmospheric, and bio-optical data of GOCI uses temperature, salinity, ocean optics, fluorescence, and turbidity data sets from buoy and platform systems, and periodic oceanic environmental data. For calibration and validation of GOCI, we compared radiometric data between in-situ measurement and HyperSAS data installed in the Ieodo ocean research station, and between HyperSAS and SeaWiFS radiance. HyperSAS data were slightly different in in-situ radiance and irradiance, but they did not have spectral shift in absorption bands. Although all radiance bands measured between HyperSAS and SeaWiFS had an average 25% error, the 11% absolute error was relatively lower when atmospheric correction bands were omitted. This error is related to the SeaWiFS standard atmospheric correction process. We have to consider and improve this error rate for calibration and validation of GOCI. A reference target site around Dokdo Island was used for studying calibration and validation of GOCI. In-situ ocean- and bio-optical data were collected during August and October, 2009. Reflectance spectra around Dokdo Island showed optical characteristic of Case-1 Water. Absorption spectra of chlorophyll, suspended matter, and dissolved organic matter also showed their spectral characteristics. MODIS Aqua-derived chlorophyll-a concentration was well correlated with in-situ fluorometer value, which installed in Dokdo buoy. As we strive to solv the problems of radiometric, atmospheric, and bio-optical correction, it is important to be able to progress and improve the future quality of calibration and validation of GOCI.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.52 no.9
• /
• pp.627-635
• /
• 2019

In Korea, snow damage has been happened in the region with no snowfalls in history. Also, casual damage was caused by heavy snow. Therefore, policy about the Natural Disaster Reduction Comprehensive Plan has been changed to include the mitigation measures of snow damage. However, since heavy snow damage was not frequent, studies on snowfall have not been conducted in different points. The characteristics of snow data commonly are not same to the rainfall data. For example, some parts of the southern coastal areas are snowless during the year, so there is often no values or zero values among the annual maximum daily snow accumulation. The characteristics of this type of data is similar to the censored data. Indeed, Busan observation sites have more than 36% of no data or zero data. Despite of the different characteristics, the frequency analysis for snow data has been implemented according to the procedures for rainfall data. The frequency analysis could be implemented in both way to include the zero data or exclude the zero data. The fitness of both results would not be high enough to represent the real data shape. Therefore, in this study, a methodology for selecting a probability density function was suggested considering the characteristics of snow data in Korea. A method to select probability density function using conditional joint probability distribution was proposed. As a result, fitness from the proposed method was higher than the conventional methods. This shows that the conventional methods (includes 0 or excludes 0) overestimated snow depth. The results of this study can affect the design standards of buildings and also contribute to the establishment of measures to reduce snow damage.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.190-199
• /
• 2008

To investigate hydrographic structure and characteristics of the tropical ocean in the eastern and the western Pacific, CTD(Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) data along $131^{\circ}W$ and $137^{\circ}-142^{\circ}E$ in July-August 2005 were analyzed. Sea surface temperature along $131.5^{\circ}W$ in summer is highest in the Equatorial Counter Current(ECC) because of the high-temperature water greater than $28^{\circ}C$ moving through the ECC from the western Pacific to the eastern Pacific in spring and summer. Based on the evidence of the presence of low salinity and high dissolved oxygen water in the North Equatorial Current(NEC), we suggested that the low salinity water moved from the Gulf of Panama to the east of Philippine along the North Equatorial Current(NEC). The South Equatorial Current(SEC) had the most saline water from surface to deep layer because the saline water from the Subtropical South Pacific Ocean moved to the north. The salinity minimum layer was observed at 500-1500 m depth along $131.5^{\circ}W$. The water mass with the salinity minimum layer in the north of $5^{\circ}N$ came from the North Pacific Intermediate Water(NPIW) and that in the south of $5^{\circ}N$ came from the Antarctic Intermediate Water(AAIW), which was more saline than the NPIW. Cyclonic cold eddy with a diameter of about 200km was found in $4-6^{\circ}N$. Sea surface temperature along $131.5^{\circ}W$ in the eastern Pacific was lower than along $137^{\circ}-142^{\circ}E$ in the western Pacific; on the other hand, sea surface salinity in the eastern Pacific was higher than in the western Pacific. Subsurface saline water from the Subtropical South Pacific Ocean was less saline in the eastern Pacific than in the western Pacific. Salinity and density(${\sigma}_{\theta}$) of the salinity minimum layer south of $14^{\circ}N$ was higher in the eastern Pacific than in the western Pacific.