• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.175-183
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• 1999

Recently, problems related to vibrations of decomposed granite soils have acquired increasing attention in Korea because those soils cover approximately one third of the country. Both resonant column and cyclic triaxial test were performed to investigate deformation characteristics of unsaturated and cement-mixed decomposed granite soils in Suwon region. The important soil parameters in this respect are the shear moduli, dynamic moduli of elasticity and damping ratios. The dynamic parameters are influenced by variables such as strain amplitude, ratio of loading cycles, and degree of saturations, etc. Test results and data have shown that the optimum degree of saturation to the maximum shear modulus due to a capillary menisci effect was about 17~18 % at low strain amplitude and 10~15 % at intermediate strain amplitude. This paper suggests the range of threshold strain and mean shear modulus of decomposed granite soils in Suwon region. It also proposed the empirical relationship between the dynamic parameters for cement-mixed and non-mixed decomposed granite soils.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.53-60
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• 1973

It is well known that upland soils in Korea are of low fertility, especially if newly reclaimed. Broadcasting of a sufficient rate of fused phosphate in addition to the normal dosage of fertilizer on such soils, may produce a crop yield comparable to that on ordinary upland soils, and the broadcasting of fertilities may build up soil fertility rather quickly. Building up fertility in this way will give a good crop growth on such newly reclaimed soils even under conditions where supplies of compost are limited. Since the precipitation in Korea is mainly concentrated in the months June through September, a complete cover of the land during this period is of major importance, requiring a well considered rotation and skilful management. If this is not possible, the application of a much of about 200 kg, straw per 1/10th ha. is recommended instead. Furthermore, contour cultivation on land with slopes less than five degrees, together with contour furrows, straw mulching, strip cultivation, interplanting, and proper selection of crops which provide a good cover of the land, is recommended on slopes varying between five and fifteen degrees and in addition, bench-terraces on slopes in excess of $15^{\circ}$.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.36-40
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• 2014

Korea's agricultural land is constantly being reduced. The reasons for this are due to the change of agricultural profitability and the policy conditions. The reduction of agricultural land in 2010 showed a decline trend by 14.4 % of paddy fields and 1.2% of uplands compared to areas from 2000. These reductions were mainly due to switch rice paddy fields into upland or greenhouse facility cultivation because of low profitability of rice products compared to farm products. In addition, the permit system of agricultural areas was relaxed in switching paddy fields and this accelerated the reduction of agricultural land. For this reason, more than 1% of agricultural land area has been reduced every year for last five years. Moreover, indiscreet fill and cover materials such as construction wastes were used in agricultural lands and caused land contamination which threatened foundation as sustainable agricultural lands. For these reasons, it is a desperate situation to conserve good agricultural lands. However, the standards of transported soils, filling soils and cutting soils in the Agricultural Land Act are qualitative and have a problem of causing complaints. Therefore, the following criteria (proposals) are proposed in the Agricultural Land Act; (1) Use the proper soils for crops (criterion), (2) Soil components and amounts should be proper as transported soils (range), and (3) Prohibiting usage of improper earth rocks or recycled aggregates in case of filling soils (kinds). The presented criteria (proposals) suggest following; (1) Use physio-chemically proper soils for crops (criterion), (2) In case of transported soils, i, exclude potential acid sulphate soils, ii, gravel content sould be less than 15%, and iii, Heavy metals and other contaminants should be less than the soil contamination warning limit from the Ministry of Environments, (3) In case of filling soils, 13 kinds of recycled wastes specified in the Wastes Control Act should not be used as filling soils, (4) Practice soil conservation technology in case of sloping areas, and (5) Follow proper fertilizer application standards for maturing paddy fields and uplands when cutting soils.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2020

BACKGROUND: Soil carbon sequestration has been investigated for a long time because of its potential to mitigate the greenhouse effect. No- or reduced tillage, crop rotations, or cover crops have been investigated and practiced to sequester carbon in soils but the roles of soil biota, particularly microorganisms, have been mostly ignored although they affect the amount and stability of soil organic matters. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study we analyzed the organic matter and microbial community in organically cultivated corn field soils where no-tillage (NT) or conventional tillage (CT) had been practiced for about three years. The amounts of organic matter and recalcitrant carbon pool were 18.3 g/kg dry soil and 4.1 g C/kg dry soil, respectively in NT soils, while they were 12.4 and 2.5, respectively in CT soils. The amounts of RNA and DNA, and the copy numbers of bacterial 16S rRNA genes and fungal ITS sequences were higher in NT soils than in CT soils. No-tillage treatment increased the diversities of soil bacterial and fungal communities and clearly shifted the bacterial and fungal community structures. In NT soils the relative abundances of bacterial phyla known as copiotrophs, Betaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, increased while those known as oligotrophs, Acidobacteria and Verrucomicrobia, decreased compared to CT soils. The relative abundance of a fungal phylum, Glomeromycota, whose members are known as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, was about two time higher in NT soils than in CT soils, suggesting that the higher amount of organic matter in NT soils is related to its abundance. CONCLUSION: This study shows that no-tillage treatment greatly affects soil microbial abundance and community structure, which may affect the amount and stability of soil organic matter.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2013

In this paper, a novel fibrous material known as axially reinforced braided composite rods (BCRs) have been developed for reinforcement of soils. These innovative materials consist of an axial reinforcement system, comprised of longitudinally oriented core fibres, which is responsible for mechanical performance and, a braided cover, which gives a ribbed surface texture for better interfacial interactions with soils. BCRs were produced using both thermosetting (unsaturated polyester) and thermoplastic (polypropylene) matrices and synthetic (carbon, glass, HT polyethylene), as well as natural (sisal) core fibres. BCRs were characterized for tensile properties and the influence of core fibres was studied. Moreover, BCRs containing carbon fibre in the core composition were characterized for piezoresistivity and strain sensing properties under flexural deformation. According to the experimental results, the developed braided composites showed tailorable and wide range of mechanical properties, depending on the core fibres and exhibited very good strain sensing behavior.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.521-526
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• 1998

This study was initiated to build runoff plots, install soil and water quality monitoring systems and collect background data from the plots and soils to assess runoff the nonpoint source pollution and soil physical change in mountainous soils. Eleven 3 $\times$ 15 m runoff plots and monitoring systems were installed at a field of National Alpine Agricultural Experiment Station to monitor soil physical change, and discharge of nonpoint source pollutant. Corn and potato were cultivated under different fertilizer, tillage and residue cover treatments. The soil has a single-layered cluster structure that has a relatively good hydrologic properties and can adsorb a large amount of nutrient. 11 runoff plots were treated and monitored with respect to physical property of the soil, runoff and sediment discharge.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2002

The physical and chemical properties of cover soils of 10 waste landfill sites in Kyonggi-Do area, where social circumstances at present forces to consider the reuse of landfill, were investigated to provide the informations of soil environment which are necessary to establish the appropriate ecological restoration plan of waste landfills. The pH and electrical conductivity of soils were higher in landfills sites than in reference sites (area around landfill sites), indicating the salt accumulation in surface soil. However, total-N and organic matter contents were lower in landfills sites than in reference sites. In landfill sites, the total-N and plant available-P contents were less than 0.15% and 20mg/kg, respectively. Exchangeable cations (K, Ca, Mg and Na) and heavy metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) contents varied between the landfill sites, but were higher in landfills sites than in reference sites. The major exchangeable cation of soil was Ca. Heavy metal contents were much lower than the critical concentration which phytotoxicity is considered to be possible and the standard for agricultural land of Korean Soil Environmental Preservation Act. Therefore, the proper soil management plan to increase the soil fertility is recommended for the ecological restoration of landfill using natural or artificial vegetation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.1396-1399
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• 2005

Gas permeability of the solidified sewage sludge needs to be characterized in order to use as a large-scale landfill cover material. Four different types of the samples were prepared for gas permeability experiments: (1) granite soil, (2) dried sewage sludge, (3) solidified sewage mixed with slag and (4) solidified sewage mixed with granite soils. The experimental instrumentation and measurement devices were newly designed and created to effectively evaluate gas permeability of the samples.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 1997

This study was initiated to build runoff plots, install soil and water quality monitoring systems and collect background data from the plots and neighboring soils as the 1st year study of a 5 year project to assess soil quality and develop the management practices for environmentally sound agriculture in mountainous soils. Eleven $3{\times}15m$ runoff plots and monitoring systems were installed at a field of National Alpine Agricultural Experiment Station to monitor soil quality and discharge of nonpoint source pollutants. Corn and potato were cultivated under different fertilizer, tillage and residue cover treatments. The soil has a single-layered cluster structure that has a relatively good hydrologic properties and can adsorb a large amount of nutrient. Concentrations of T-N, $NH_4$-N, and $NO_3$-N of surface soil sampled in the winter were relatively high. Runoff quality in the winter and thawing season in the spring was largely dependent on surface freezing, snow accumulation, temperature, surface thawing depth and so on. Runoff during the thawing season caused serious soil erosion but runoff quality during the winter was relatively good. Serious wind erosion from unprotected fields after the fall harvest were obserbed and best management practices to reduce the erosion need to be developed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2012

This paper reviewed and evaluated some of the commonly used prediction models for thermal conductivity of soils with the experimental data. Semi-theoretical models for two-component materials were found inappropriate to estimate the thermal conductivity of dry state soils. It came out that the model developed by Cote and Konrad gave the best overall prediction results for unsaturated soils available in the literature. However, it still needs to be improved to cover a wider range of soil types and degrees of saturation. In the present study, parametric analysis is also conducted to investigate the effect of soil type and moisture content on the horizontal ground heat exchanger design. The analysis shows that horizontal ground heat exchanger pipe length is reduced with the increase of soil thermal conductivity and water content. The calculation results also show that horizontal ground heat exchanger size can be reduced to a certain extent by using backfilling material with a higher thermal conductivity of solid particles.