• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.89-106
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• 2016

With an aim to assess the wind damage to urban trees in more realistic conditions, the nonlinear dynamics of structured trees subjected to strong winds with different levels is investigated in the present paper. For the logical treatment of dynamical behavior of trees, material nonlinearities of green wood associated with tree biomechanics and geometric nonlinearity of tree configuration are included. Applying simulated fluctuating wind velocity to the numerical model, the dynamical behavior of the structured tree is explored. A comparative study against the linear dynamics analysis usually involved in the previous researches is carried out. The failure wind velocity of urban trees is then defined, whereby the failure percentages of the tree components are exposed. Numerical investigations reveal that the nonlinear dynamics analysis of urban trees results in a more accurate solution of wind-induced response than the classical linear dynamics analysis, where the nonlinear effect of the tree behavior gives rise to be strengthened as increasing of the levels of wind velocity, i.e., the amplitude of 10-min mean wind velocity. The study of relationship between the failure percentage and the failure wind velocity provides a new perspective towards the vulnerability assessment of urban trees likely to fail due to wind actions, which is potential to link with the practical engineering.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.38-45
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• 2001

This study quantified annual $CO_2$, SO$_2$ and NO$_2$ uptake and annual $O_2$ production by trees in Yongin´s urban ecosystem, and explored values of urban tree plantings in atmospheric purification. Woody plant cover was only 7.7% with planting density of 1. trees/100$m^2$, and the tree-age structure was largely characterized by a young, growing tree population. Annual per capita pollutant emissions from fossil fuel consumption were 7.3t/yr for $CO_2$, 7.6kg/yr for SO$_2$, and 26.6kg/yr for NO$_{x}$. Carbon dioxide storage per unit urban area by trees was 13.1t/ha and the economic value for $CO_2$ storage was ￦6.6millions/ha. Annual atmospheric purification was 2.0t/ha/yr for $CO_2$ uptake, 2.0kg/ha/yr for SO$_2$ uptake, 4.0kg/ha/yr for NO$_2$ uptake and 1.5t/ha/yr for $O_2$ production, and the annual economic value for the atmospheric purification was ￦1.5millions/ha/yr. Urbantrees stored an amount of $CO_2$ equivalent to about 3.1% of the total annual $CO_2$ emissions, and annually offset total $CO_2$ emissions by 0.5%. Annual SO$_2$ and NO$_2$ uptake by trees equaled 0.5% of total SO$_2$ emissions and 0.3% of total NO$_{x}$ emissions, respectively. Urban trees also played an important role through producing annually 9.2 of the $O_2$ requirement for Yongin´s total population, despite relatively poor tree plantings. Future active plantings and greenspace enlargement in the study city could enhance the role of atmospheric purification by urban trees. The results from this study are expected to be useful in emphasizing environment benefits of urban trees, and in urging the continuous necessity for tree planting and management budget.get.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.80-89
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• 2008

Generally, trees lining the streets are the most easily accessible green areas in the city and constitute the smallest basic unit in the formation of the urban linear green axis. This study attempts to interpret issues related to city trees from a comprehensive and relational viewpoint. The site of this study is Central Park Street in front of Incheon Metropolitan City Hall. This street is representative of those in Incheon City. This study is an inter-relational interpretation of issues by measuring the vitality of these trees. The following are results of this study: First, the vitality of city trees is higher in those trees growing in natural ground than those growing in plant gratings. This observation can lead to budget savings and increased natural areas in the city. Also, if planter and multi-layering planting methods are introduced where damage to trees is predicted, variation to urban landscape can be achieved while linking to reinforced rearing foundation of street-side trees. Second, there is need for a holistic approach to caring for street-side trees regarding the damage caused by drastic pruning and strong street lights. The typical functions of these trees, like supplying freshness in summer, absorbing solar radiation, and controlling the urban micro-climate are closely related to the vitality of the trees. Accordingly, the function and ecology should be understood holistically, not separately. In this aspect, the functional and ecological use of the multi-layering planting method is effective in protecting pedestrians from vehicles as well. Third, the fallen leaves of monotonous rows of trees have different ecological and functional effects. Not only is the index of greenness in the urban setting increased, but there are also aesthetic and symbolic effects. Fourth, in spite of being the street along which Incheon Metropolitan City Hall, major administrative buildings and Central Park are located, this street does not have its own special identity to discriminate it from other streets. It fulfills only functional criteria based on uniformity. If there is no paradigm shift from today's street system based on vehicles, the role of landscape architecture will be very passive in regards to street-side trees, the minimum unit of urban green. Fifth, on this particular street, many trees were planted in December, which reflects a deficiency of short and long-term strategy, like a street-tree master plan. In this aspect, we still lack a mature culture concerning these trees as a basic unit in urban greenery. Furthermore, there needs to be cultural introspection concerning present administrative practices.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.48-57
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• 2003

The objective of this study is to review and verify whether the functions and effect of roadside trees generally hewn in theory are actually realized in urban roads and how well they are performed if the function and effect are realized. The study was conducted with a focus on 3 functions and effects including roadside tree's urban landscape improvement function (green area visibility ratio), effect of introducing green area within a city, and urban green network building function. The major study results are as follows: First, the average green area visibility ratio of 41 study areas is currently about 25.90%. The green area visibility ratio of commercial area within downtown was lowest among 5 road types. It showed that it is possible to raise the average green area visibility ratio up to 32.49% through roadside tree management and additional plantation. Second, in a section between Paldal Mountain and Suwon City Hall where there is no forest fragments and parks at all, a green area of 4,826 roadside trees represented 2.4% of total area and served as the only linear green area. Third, an analysis of 15 cities in Kyonggi province showed that urban forests are concentrated in outskirts. The suey showed that because forest fragments and parks exist in a form of points in urban areas, roadside trees are the only green areas that link each other and build a network.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_4
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• pp.1145-1153
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• 2023

Urban trees play an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, improving air quality, mitigating the urban heat island effect, and providing ecosystem services. To effectively manage and conserve urban trees, accurate spatial information on their location, condition, species, and population is needed. In this study, we propose an algorithm that uses a high-resolution urban tree cover map constructed from deep learning approach to separate trees from the urban land surface and accurately detect tree locations through local maximum filtering. Instead of using a uniform filter size, we improved the tree detection performance by selecting the appropriate filter size according to the tree height in consideration of various urban growth environments. The research output, the location and height of individual trees in human settlement over Suwon, will serve as a basis for sustainable management of urban ecosystems and carbon reduction measures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.11-25
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• 2008

In broad agreement on the need for forests in the city, researches on the urban forest are being actively carried out. Nonetheless, since these researches focus on functional usage within living spaces, finding methods for creation of urban forests and technical solutions have remained chief issues as a consequence. This paper, which attempts to historically examine the properties of the urban forest within living space, has the characteristics of researching basic angles for approaching the creation of contemporary urban forests. For this purpose Joseon Dynasty genre paintings, which represent living conditions of Joseon era, have been decided as theme of the paper. Particularly the focus was limited to genre paintings depicting trees, giving phenomenal observations. As a result, some remarkable characteristics emerged as functional urban forest, symbolic urban forest, topological urban forest, and appreciative urban forest. Urban forest within living space mainly appear as functional, showing an even distribution in small numbers rather than gathering in large groups. The following can be inferred regarding this and related to the setting up of the scope of, and creating of, contemporary urban forest : First, from the viewpoint of urban forest creation there is a need to study more subdivided and refined types of the urban forest and to actually realize these types. Second, from the viewpoint of urban forest usage, one needs to approach existing forests, ranging from small-scale including invididual trees, to mid-, large-, and super scale, as urban forests. In this, a network of major trees, and thereby a matrix of all trees formed by that network, will be formed. Third, from the viewpoint of urban forest improvement, approaches need to be based on planting trees in even distribution across the whole city.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.367-376
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• 2016

Urban greenery is an important component of urban environment and is fast gaining prominence especially in the developing countries. The destruction of urban trees has resulted to the degradation of the environment, thus the introduction of green Kumasi project by Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Ashanti Region of Ghana. The composition and diversity of urban trees gives rise to adequate management and monitoring, thus an inventory of urban trees of the Metropolis was conducted to document complete information on its density, diversity, composition and distribution. A total tree population of 1,101 was enumerated in the principal roads of the Metropolis. The ten most encountered tree species accounted for 61.04% of all the individual tree populations with Mangifera indica being dominant. The dominant families: Fabaceae, Moraceae and Arecaceae constitute 38.57% of the tree population. Diversity of the tree species was very high. The minimum diversity criteria were met on analysis of the diversity of this population. The proportion of exotic species was high with 65.71% of the trees belonging to the introduced species. It is recommended that greater emphasis should be placed on the planting of indigenous trees in future tree planting exercise.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.49-57
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• 2019

The street trees increase the liveability of cities by reducing stormwater runoff, improving air quality, storing carbon, providing shade, and ameliorating the urban heat-island effect. In this study, the health status of street trees in Suwon was evaluated, and the factors affecting the growth of the trees were also derived. In order to evaluate the growth and health of street trees, field survey was carried out on a total of 125 trees in 25 sections of the Deogyeong-daero where is through the city. During the field survey, the following items were examined: Street trees health status (i.e. species, height, DBH (diameter at breast height), planting types, vigor, etc.), soil factors (i.e. soil temperature, humidity, pH, hardness, etc.), and environmental factors (i.e. landuse, road width, etc.). As the results of field survey, the main species of the street trees was Zelkova serrata, which was healthy in most of the sections. The factors such as planting types, soil temperatures, tree root cover, road extension, distance from the road were derived to affect the growth and health of street trees, and the differences were significant. The results of this study were derived the following conclusions for vigorous street trees: First, it is important to install and maintain the protection facilities like tree root cover for the growth of trees. Second, it is necessary to discuss how to plant multiple trees in narrow spaces like a street green space. Third, it is important to provide appropriate soil conditions continuously for growth of threes. Finally, it should be utilized as a mitigation measure of urban heat island effects.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.219-227
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• 2021

Background and objective: Urban street trees play an important role in carbon reduction in cities where greenspace is scarce. There are ongoing studies on carbon reduction by street trees. However, information on the carbon reduction capacity of street trees based on field surveys is still limited. This study aimed to quantify carbon uptake and storage by urban street trees and suggest a method to improve planting of trees in order to increase their carbon reduction capacity. Methods: The cities selected were Sejong, Chungju, and Jeonju among cities without research on carbon reduction, considering the regional distribution in Korea. In the cities, 155 sample sites were selected using systematic sampling to conduct a field survey on street environments and planting structures. The surveyed data included tree species, diameter at breast height (DBH), diameter at root collar (DRC), height, crown width, and vertical structures. The carbon uptake and storage per tree were calculated using the quantification models developed for the urban trees of each species. Results: The average carbon uptake and storage of street trees were approximately 7.2 ± 0.6 kg/tree/yr and 87.1 ± 10.2 kg/tree, respectively. The key factors determining carbon uptake and storage were tree size, vertical structure, the composition of tree species, and growth conditions. The annual total carbon uptake and storage were approximately 1,135.8 tons and 22,737.8 tons, respectively. The total carbon uptake was about the same amount as carbon emitted by 2,272 vehicles a year. Conclusion: This study has significance in providing the basic unit to quantify carbon uptake and storage of street trees based on field surveys. To improve the carbon reduction capacity of street trees, it is necessary to consider planning strategies such as securing and extending available grounds and spaces for high-density street trees with a multi-layered structure.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-32
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• 2017

Ozone concentration in Tokyo Metropolitan area is one of the most serious issues of the local air quality. Tropospheric ozone is formed by radical reaction including volatile organic compound (VOC) and nitrogen oxides ($NO_x$). Reduction of the emission of reactive VOC is a key to reducing ozone concentrations. VOC is emitted from anthropogenic sources and also from vegetation (biogenic VOC or BVOC). BVOC also forms ozone through $NO_x$ and radical reactions. Especially, in urban area, the BVOC is emitted into the atmosphere with high $NO_x$ concentration. Therefore, trees bordering streets and green spaces in urban area may contribute to tropospheric ozone. On the other hand, not all trees emit BVOC which will produce ozone locally. In this study, BVOC emissions have been investigated (terpenoids: isoprene, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes) for 29 tree species. Eleven in the 29 species were tree species that did not emit BVOCs. Three in 12 cultivars for future planting (25 %) were found to emit no terpenoid BVOCs. Eight in 17 commonly planted trees (47%) were found to emit no terpenoid BVOC. Lower-emitting species have many advantages for urban planting. Therefore, further investigation is required to find the species which do not emit terpenoid BVOC. Emission of reactive BVOC should be added into guideline for the urban planting to prevent the creation of sources of ozone. It is desirable that species with no reactive BVOC emission are planted along urban streets and green areas in urban areas, such as Tokyo.