• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.845-859
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• 2020

Climate change and recent heat waves have drawn public attention toward other environmental issues, such as water pollution in the form of algal blooms, chemical leaks, and oil spills. Water pollution by the leakage of chemicals may severely affect human health as well as contaminate the air, water, and soil and cause discoloration or death of crops that come in contact with these chemicals. Chemicals that may spill into water streams are often colorless and water-soluble, which makes it difficult to determine whether the water is polluted using the naked eye. When a chemical spill occurs, it is usually detected through a simple contact detection device by installing sensors at locations where leakage is likely to occur. The drawback with the approach using contact detection sensors is that it relies heavily on the skill of field workers. Moreover, these sensors are installed at a limited number of locations, so spill detection is not possible in areas where they are not installed. Recently hyperspectral images have been used to identify land cover and vegetation and to determine water quality by analyzing the inherent spectral characteristics of these materials. While hyperspectral sensors can potentially be used to detect chemical substances, there is currently a lack of research on the detection of chemicals in water streams using hyperspectral sensors. Therefore, this study utilized remote sensing techniques and the latest sensor technology to overcome the limitations of contact detection technology in detecting the leakage of hazardous chemical into aquatic systems. In this study, we aimed to determine whether 18 types of hazardous chemicals could be individually classified using hyperspectral image. To this end, we obtained hyperspectral images of each chemical to establish a spectral library. We expect that future studies will expand the spectral library database for hazardous chemicals and that verification of its application in water streams will be conducted so that it can be applied to real-time monitoring to facilitate rapid detection and response when a chemical spill has occurred.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2020

This study was conducted to determine whether invasive muskrats settle in the natural ecosystem of Korea. The study also aimed to provide information on the selection of target areas, basic behavioral characteristics, and habitat use-related data, all of which are essential for effective management strategy establishment and site management. To this end, a trend in international muskrat management was identified to examine the management direction according to the settlement stage. We also secured the location of 72 domestic farmers and classified five regions in Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Sejong Special Self-governing City into regions with high potential for natural leakage to raise the need for a quick survey. We determined that muskrats successfully settled in the natural ecosystem of Korea, based on the fact that we consistently identified a muskrat habitat at the same point for three years, from 2016 to 2018, the age of the captured population was estimated to be 1.2 years, and there had been no additional make-up factors near the habitat since 2012. The muskrats that settled in Korea showed a small home range of 0.0027 ㎢ (MCP 95%) and were estimated to show regular mobility before Spring and Autumn. Also, the areas where the muskrat habitat was observed had a high level of habitat environment disturbance and their ecological and food intake characteristics reflected that disturbance. Muskrat traces were high in hydrophyte vegetation, which can be used as a hideout in open waters and where the growth of both floating leaved plants and floating plants are prevalent. Since international invasive muskrats have already settled in the domestic ecosystem and there is concern about their proliferation in the future, the government must consider a preemptive response and scientific management.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.45-52
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• 2015

With the rising interest in the environment, more attention on ecological restoration for damaged slope surface to restore its original state has been drawn. Generally, the most useful method is vegetation based spray work. This method uses green soil including sewage sludge, sawdust, paper sludge, and weathered granite soil. However, because there are neither accurate information nor test values about green soil, green soil is often lost by environmental factors such as rainfalls and strong winds. To solve the problem of green soil, it is necessary to prepare design standards about green soil, and conduct studies to deal with green soil loss in consideration of various variables including basic material property, soil quality of slope surface, and weather. This study was conducted in the mixture of green soil and eco-friendly soil stabilizer. With green soil, basic material property test and compaction test were conducted for the analysis on the basic characteristics of green soil. In the mixture with soil stabilizer at a certain ratio, we conducted shear strength test depending on the ratio in order to analyze the maximum shear strength, cohesion and the change in internal friction angles. Furthermore, in the mixture ratio of green soil and soil stabilizer, which is the same as the ratio in the shear strength test, an inclination of slope surface was made in laboratory for the analysis on erosion and germination rate. Finally, this study evaluated the most effective and economic mixing ratio of soil stabilizer to cope with neighboring environmental factors. According to the test, the shear strength of green soil increased up to 51% rely onto the mixing ratio of and a curing period, and its cohesion and internal friction angle also gradually increases. It is judged that the mixture of soil stabilizer was effective in improving shear strength and thereby increased the stability of green soil.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.149-160
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• 2007

KoFlux Gwangneung Supersite comprises complex topography and diverse vegetation types (and structures), which necessitate complementary multi-disciplinary measurements to understand energy and matter exchange. Here, we report the results of this ongoing research with special focuses on carbon/water budgets in Gwangneung forest, implications of inter-dependency between water and carbon cycles, and the importance of hydrology in carbon cycling under monsoon climate. Comprehensive biometric and chamber measurements indicated the mean annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of this forest to be ${\sim}2.6\;t\;C\;ha^{-1}y^{-1}$. In conjunction with the tower flux measurement, the preliminary carbon budget suggests the Gwangneung forest to be an important sink for atmospheric $CO_2$. The catchment scale water budget indicated that $30\sim40%$ of annual precipitation was apportioned to evapotranspiration (ET). The growing season average of the water use efficiency (WUE), determined from leaf carbon isotope ratios of representative tree species, was about $12{\mu}mol\;CO_2/mmol\;H_2O$ with noticeable seasonal variations. Such information on ET and WUE can be used to constrain the catchment scale carbon uptake. Inter-annual variations in tree ring growth and soil respiration rates correlated with the magnitude and the pattern of precipitation during the growing season, which requires further investigation of the effect of a monsoon climate on the catchment carbon cycle. Additionally, we examine whether structural and functional units exist in this catchment by characterizing the spatial heterogeneity of the study site, which will provide the linkage between different spatial and temporal scale measurements.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.196-206
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• 2012

Studies of seasonal changes in $C_3/C_4$ mixed communities are rare, particularly in Asian summer monsoon climate zones. In our present study, seasonal changes in the profile and coverage of $C_3$ and $C_4$ plants were investigated in 2009 in Haenam, Yeongdong and Cheorwon regions of South Korea (all at different latitudes). The aim was to estimate the impacts of temperature and sunshine duration on species composition and transition timing of the $C_3$ and $C_4$ plants. From our results, the number of $C_3$ plants was found to increase from early spring to mid-May, and then decrease again until September in the Haenam and Yeongdong regions, but continuously increase from early spring to September in the Cheorwon region under relatively low summer temperatures. On the other hand, the number of $C_4$ plants increased from June or July to September in all three regions. These seasonal changes in species number and ratio have a direct impact upon species diversity which is highest when there are no dominant species. The relative coverage and relative summed dominance ratio (SDR') of the $C_3$ plants decreased from spring to autumn, but increased for the $C_4$ plants during this time in an exponential fashion with increasing accumulated temperature and sunshine duration. The transition timing from $C_3$ to $C_4$ plants occurred when the sum of sunshine duration for the days with daily mean temperature above $5^{\circ}C$ was 1017 hrs for the SDR'.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.174-184
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• 2009

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the major hydrologic processes in terrestrial ecosystems. A reliable estimation of spatially representavtive ET is necessary for deriving regional water budget, primary productivity of vegetation, and feedbacks of land surface to regional climate. Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides an opportunity to monitor ET for wide area at daily time scale. In this study, we applied a MODIS-based ET algorithm and tested its reliability for nine flux tower sites in East Asia. This is a stand-alone MODIS algorithm based on the Penman-Monteith equation and uses input data derived from MODIS. Instantaneous ET was estimated and scaled up to daily ET. For six flux sites, the MODIS-derived instantaneous ET showed a good agreement with the measured data ($r^2=0.38$ to 0.73, ME = -44 to $+31W\;m^{-2}$, RMSE =48 to $111W\;m^{-2}$). However, for the other three sites, a poor agreement was observed. The predictability of MODIS ET was improved when the up-scaled daily ET was used ($r^2\;=\;0.48$ to 0.89, ME = -0.7 to $-0.6\;mm\;day^{-1}$, $RMSE=\;0.5{\sim}1.1\;mm\;day^{-1}$). Errors in the canopy conductance were identified as a primary factor of uncertainty in MODIS-derived ET and hence, a more reliable estimation of canopy conductance is necessary to increase the accuracy of MODIS ET.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.101 no.1
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• pp.163-174
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• 2012

CBI(Composite Burn Index) developed by USDA Forest Service is a index to measure burn severity based on remote sensing. In Korea, the CBI has been used to investigate the burn severity of fire sites for the last few years. However, it has been an argument on that CBI is not adequate to capture unique characteristics of Korean forests, and there has been a demand to develop KCBI(Korean Composite Burn Index). In this regard, this study aimed to develop KCBI by adjusting the CBI and to validate its applicability by using remote sensing technique. Uljin and Youngduk, two large fire sites burned in 2011, were selected as study areas, and forty-four sampling plots were assigned in each study area for field survey. Burn severity(BS) of the study areas were estimated by analyzing NDVI from SPOT images taken one month later of the fires. Applicability of KCBI was validated with correlation analysis between KCBI index values and NDVI values and their confusion matrix. The result showed that KCBI index values and NDVI values were closely correlated in both Uljin (r = -0.54 and p<0.01) and Youngduk (r = -0.61 and p<0.01). Thus this result supported that proposed KCBI is adequate index to measure burn severity of fire sites in Korea. There was a number of limitations, such as the low correlation coefficients between BS and KCBI and skewed distribution of KCBI sampling plots toward High and Extreme classes. Despite of these limitations, the proposed KCBI showed high potentials for estimating burn severity of fire sites in Korea, and could be improved by considering the limitations in further studies.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.301-306
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• 1989

For the agricultural utilization of Korean forest land resources, which constitutes most of country, the distribution of environment and soil physico-chemical properties of establishable grass lands were clarified. The surveyed data were analized for the reasonable utilization and management of establishable grass land. The results were as follows ; 1. About 50.2% of the grass lands to be established were located under the 200m in altitude. The higher the altitude was, the more the organic matter content. 2. Tall type grass species such as Miscanthus purpurascens, Purple eulalia, and Themeda Japonica covered 71.3% of the natural vegetation in the soils of grass land to be established. 3. The extent of sandy and clayey soils which might be limited in the establishment of grassland was only 3.3%, meanwhile majority of the soils were in the favourable condition for grassland that is about 94% have more than 20cm in available soil depth and about 60.5% of the soils have less than 10% of gravels and stones in the soil profiles. 4. The chemical properties of the prearranged grassland soils were worse than the established grasslands, especially in the content of available $P_2O_5$. 5. The amount of fertilizer recommended for meadow were 286kg of nitrogen per hectare, 271kg of phosphorus, 224kg of potassium and 2040kg of calcium per hectare, but for grazing land were 201, 204, 136 and 1920kg/ha respectively.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.128-159
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• 2010

In this study, the progress of domestic cultural properties designation, the changes and problems in classification were examined, and the relationship among Traditional Pal-kyung, Dongcheon-gukok, and Modern Pal-kyung were investigated targeting total of 68 cases of state-designated cultural properties of scenic sites in order to show that the traditional significance and value are being inherited today. The major results of this study are as follows. First, increase in scenic site designations with historical, cultural, and scenic characteristics can be viewed as an active intent to embrace the concepts such as cultural utilities, historical characteristics, literary value, and ideological backgrounds, which were specified as the basis for designation in the early Cultural Property Protection Law. Accordingly, it is very encouraging that the concept of cultural attractions such as traditional gardens and observatory points are regarded as an important standard for designation of scenic sites. Second, as for the classification of scenic sites per type, it was found that 'places with excellent natural scenery' were 44.16%(30 cases), followed by 'famous buildings or gardens and places with important legend' occupying 30.9%(21 cases), 'places with famous scenery' occupying 13.2%(9 cases), 'places with outstanding historical cultural and scenic value' that occupying 10.3%(7 cases), and 'animal and vegetation habitat with beautiful scenery' (1 case). Third, according to the current classification standards for scenic sites, there were only 7 cases which could be classified into Pal-kyungs(Famous 8 Sceneries) and 3 cases classified into Dongcheon(beautiful scenery surrounded by mountains and rivers), but there was no Gugok(beautiful valleys). Consequently, in terms of external appearance, the scenic sites among the total scenic sites that could be classified into Palkyung and Gugok were only 14.7%(10 cases). Fourth, the traditional scenic sites based on literal references and Internet analysis occupied 67.7%(46 cases), which were found to be scenic sites related to the traditional Pal-kyung among which 38 cases(55.9% of 46 cases) were included based on the scenery and 8 cases(11.8% of 46 cases) were included due to the scenery at the time. Fifth, there were 8(11.8%) scenic sites which were related to Dongcheon, and 4 cases(5.9%) related to Gugok. Also, it was found that total of 40(48.9%) scenic sites designated as modern scenic sites were playing the role of local scenic sites, and they were used as the tourism advertising contents. Sixth, it was identified that there were 62 cases(91.2%) of scenic sites in total related to traditional and modern Pal-kyung or Dongcheon-gugok, and unlike explicit classifications, most of the designated scenic sites were found to be deeply connected with the historical and cultural significance contained in the scenaries.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.4-25
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• 2011

This study was performed in 2010 to examine the flora and vegetation structure and chemical characteristics of soil in the growing community of Abeliophyllum distichum, located in the Byeonsanbando National Park. This Abeliophyllum distichum community has more individual numbers in Cheongrim-ni and Jungkye-ri, Byeonsan-myeon, and Buan-gun area, which is designated as a Natural Monument (No. 370), and also where the habitat conditions for Abeliophyllum distichum is more favorable. The authors recorded 100 taxa with 45 families, 82 genus, 93 species, 4 varieties, and 3 forms. Among them, species such as Abeliophyllum distichum (critically endangered), Asarum maculatum (near threatened) and Chionanthus retusa (near threatened), which are categorized as rare plants, were recorded. According to the list of Korean endemic plants, 4 taxa, particularly Philadelphus schrenckii, Abeliophyllum distichum, Weigela subsessilis, and Lonicera subsessili, were recorded. The community of Abeliophyllum distichum is located in the northwest slope of Baekcheon watershed and the community is comprised of healthy soil. The community structure was classified into three: the Castanea crenata community, Zelkova serrata community, and Quercus serrata community. The Castanea crenata community is composed of the Cornus walteri, Platycarya strobilacea, Zelkova serrata, Rhamnella frangulioides, arranged in terms of importance percentage. The Zelkova serrata community is composed of Celtis sinensis, Quercus aliena, Styrax japonica, and Acer pseudo-sieboldianum, also according to importance percentage. As for the Quercus serrata community, it is composed of Quercus variabilis, Castanea crenata, and Prunus sargentii, also arranged in terms of importance percentage. The importance percentage of Abeliophyllum distichum is 6.6% in the Castanea crenata community, 5.6% in the Zelkova serrata community and 5.1% in the Quercus serrata community. Moreover, in order of chemical characteristics of soil pH, electrical conductivity, available phosphoric, organic matter, and exchangeable cation (K, Ca, Mg) are analyzed. The No. 3 site was relatively higher than other districts of the same chemical characteristics of soil.