• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.181-195
• /
• 2015

Algal blooms in lakes are one of major environmental issues in Korea. A three-dimensional, hydrodynamic and water quality model was developed and tested in Lake Euiam to assess the performance and limitations of numerical modeling with multiple algal groups using field data commonly collected for algal management. In this study, EFDC was adopted as the basic model framework. Simulated vertical profiles of water temperature, dissolved oxygen and nutrients monitored at five water quality monitoring stations from March to October 2013, which are closely related to algal dynamics simulation, showed good agreement with those of observed data. The overall spatio-temporal variations of three algal groups were reasonably simulated against the chlorophyll-a levels of those estimated from the limited monitoring data (chlorophyll-a level and cell numbers of algal species) with the RMSEs ranging from 2.6 to $17.5mg/m^3$. Also, note that $PO_4-P$ level in the water column was a key limiting factor controlling the growth of three algal groups during most of simulation period. However, the algal modeling results were not fully attainable to the levels of observation during short periods of time showing abrupt increase in algae throughout the lake. In particular, the green algae/cyanobacteria and diatom simulations were underestimated in late June to early July and early October, respectively. The results shows that better understanding of internal algal processes, neglected in most algal modeling studies, is necessary to predict the sudden algal blooms more accurately because the concentrations of external $PO_4-P$ and specific algal groups originated from the tributaries (mainly, dam water releases) during the periods were too low to fully capture the sharp rise of internal algal levels. In this respect, this study suggests that future modeling efforts should be focused on the quantification of internal cycling processes including vertical movement of algal species with respect to changes in environmental conditions to enhance the modeling performance on complex algal dynamics.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.303-309
• /
• 1990

To provide essential information of the role of marine bacteria on the dinoflagellate blooms, distribution of marine bacterial flora and dinoflagellate species was investigated in Chinhae Bay located in southern part of Korea from August 1989 to April 1990. Two hundred and fifty one strains of marine bacteria were isolated from seawater samples collected from the study area. Among them, Flavobacterium spp. and Acinetobacter spp. were the most dominant in bacterial flora. Another 32 strains which comprised 13 percent of total strains were Erythrobacter spp.. Based on the physiological character, Erythrobacter spp. were identified as Erythrobacter longus, Erythrobacter sp.(J-2) and Erythrobacter sp. (J-8). From the phytoplanktonic community, fourteen genera and twenty nine taxa of dinoflagellate species were identified. Based on the spatio-temporal frequence and abundance Gymnodinium sanguneum, Prorocentrum micans and Prorocentrum minimum were the aestival dominent species. However, Heterocapsa triquetra was appeared as predominant species in April. Cell density of about 2,000 cells/ml was prevailed in the bloom of August, but it developed into more intensive bloom of above 500 cells/ml in September. The water quality showed eutrophic or hypereutrophic condition, which was proved by high concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, ortho-phosphate and chemical oxygen demand. Oxygen deficient water mass was found in the bottom overlying waters in August and September. High relationship between abundant bacterial flora and persistent dinoflagellate blooms in eutrophic condition would be approvable.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.120-140
• /
• 2013

We investigated the occurrence of red tide, harmful algal blooms(HABs), at the end of 14th century until the beginning of 19th century recorded in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, which are the authentic and encyclopedic annual records of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. In total, 81 cases of HABs are recorded in the annals for which authors draw a table and maps. The number of HABs occurrence at each sea is as follows: 68 times at the South Sea; 50 times at the East Sea; and 23 times at the Yellow Sea. A region hit by red tide most frequently was Gyeongsang-do Province (over 80 times), which borders on both the South Sea and the East Sea. HABs written in the annals follow two distinctive occurrence patterns. The first pattern shows red tide started at Gangwon-do Province in March, spread north to Hamgyeongnam-do Province in April, and moved further north to Hamgyeongbuk-do Province in May and June. On the other hand, the second pattern shows red tide occurred in Gyeongsangnam-do Province in August and then expanded north to Gyeongsangbuk-do Province in September. HABs generally happened from March to September, culminating in August. Paralytic shellfish poisoning incidents involving human deaths were reported in Jinhae, Geoje and Tongyeong, occurring February to June. Fish mortality increased throughout Gyeongsang-do Province from July to September. HABs occurred on an extensive scale from 1394 to 1451 and again from 1654 to 1706. HABs also occurred on a lesser scale from 1493 to 1534 and again from 1588 to 1609. In general, vast HABs occurred in odd years (1399, 1403, 1413 and 1681).

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.375-381
• /
• 2018

The monitoring of phytoplankton biomass and community structure is essential as a first step to control the harmful cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater systems, such as seen in rivers and lakes, due to the process of eutrophication and climate change. In order to quantify the biomass of phytoplankton with a wide range in size and shape, the measurement of cell biovolume along with cell density is required for a comprehensive review on this issue. However, most routine monitoring programs preserve the gathered phytoplankton samples before analysis using chemical additives, because of the constraint of time and the number of samples. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cell biovolume change characteristics of six cyanobacterial species, which are common bloom-causing cyanobacteria in the Nakdong River, after the preservation with Lugol's iodine solution. All species showed a statistically significant difference after the addition of Lugol's iodine solution compared to the live cell biovolume, and the cell biovolume decreased to the level of 34.0 ~ 56.3 % at maximum in each species after the preservation. The nonlinear regression models for determining the shrinkage ratio by a preservation period were derived by using the cell biovolume measured until 180 days preservation of each target species, and the equation to convert the cell biovolume measured after preservation for a certain period to the cell biovolume of viable cell was derived using that formula. The conversion equation derived from this study can be used to estimate the actual cell biovolume in the natural environment at the time of sampling, by using the measured biovolume after the preservation in the phytoplankton monitoring. Moreover this is expected to contribute to the final interpretation of the water quality and aquatic ecosystem impacts due to the cyanobacterial blooms.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.475-486
• /
• 2009

Harmful algal blooms (HAB) caused by the dominant species Cochlodinium polykrikoides (C. polykrikoides) appear in the South Sea of Korea and are particularly present in summer and fall seasons. Environmental factors such as water temperature, weather conditions (air temperature, cloud cover, sunshine, precipitation and wind) influence on the initiation and subsequent development of HAB. The purpose of this research was to study spatial and temporal variations of HAB in the Yeosu area using environmental (oceanic and meteorological) and satellite data. Chlorophyll-a concentrations were calculated using Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) images by an Ocean Chlorophyll 4 (OC4) algorithm, and HAB were estimated using the Red tide index Chlorophyll Algorithm (RCA). We also used the surface velocity of sequential satellite images applying the Maximum Cross Correlation method to detect chlorophyll-a movement. The results showed that the water temperature during HAB occurrences in August 2002-2008 was $19.4-30.2^{\circ}C$. In terms of the frequency of the mean of cell density of C. polykrikoides, the cell density of the HAB found at low (<300 cells/ml), medium (300-1000 cells/ml), and high (>1000 cells/ml) levels were 27.01%, 37.44%, and 35.55%, respectively. Meteorological data for 2002-2008 showed that the mean air temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and sunshine duration were $22.39^{\circ}C$, 6.54 mm/day, 3.98 m/s (southwesterly), and 1-11.7 h, respectively. Our results suggest that HAB events in the Yeosu area can be triggered and extended by heavy precipitation and massive movement of HAB from the East China Sea. Satellite images data from July to October 2002-2006 showed that the OC4 algorithm generally estimated high chlorophyll-a concentration ($2-20\;mg/m^3$) throughout the coastal area, whereas the RCA estimated concentrations at $2-10\;mg/m^3$. The surface velocity of chlorophyll-a movement from sequential satellite images revealed the same patterns in the direction of the Tsushima Warm Current.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.20 no.8
• /
• pp.627-633
• /
• 2019

Rapid and accurate identification of marine microalgae causing harmful algal blooms (HABs) is a crucial tool for predicting and managing HABs. We previously developed a nuclease protection assay sandwich hybridization (NPA-SH) method for the in situ detection of blooming microalgae Cochlodinium polykrikoides. In this study, we improved the applicability of the NPA-SH method for the detection of C. polykrikoides by simplifying the reaction step. For this purpose, invertase (INV) was conjugated to the signal probe instead of using fluorescence, and sucrose was used as a reactant to induce a color reaction. The INV-signal probe conjugation was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and epifluoromicroscopy. The treatment time and appropriate amounts of the probe and sucrose that optimized the reaction were determined. As a result, the developed INV-SH reduced the treatment time in the field compared with NPA-SH, and also enabled the use of a relatively small volume and low-priced personal glucose meter, as well as an absorbance meter. INV-SH is the first C. polykrikoides species identification technology to which INV has been applied and could be an improved field technique.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.9-16
• /
• 2019

The algal blooms in stagnant streams and lakes have caused many problems. Excessive algae leads to disturbance of ecosystem and overload of water treatment processes. Therefore, phosphorus(P), source of algal blooms, should be controlled. In this study, a filtration trench has been developed to convert dissolved phosphorus into hydroxyapatite(HAP) so that it could be crystallized on the surface of 'phosphorus removal granular material'; and residual particulate phosphorus could be removed by additional precipitation and filtration. The front and rear parts of filtration trench consisted of 'phosphorus removal granular material contact bed' and 'limestone filtration bed', respectively. As a result of the column test using phosphorus removal granular material and limestone serially, $PO_4-P$ was removed more than 90% when EBCT(empty bed contact time) of the contact bed was over 20 minutes; and T-P represented 60% of removal efficiency when total EBCT was over 1.5 hours. The results of column tests to figure out the sedimentation characteristics showed that more than 90% of particulate phosphorus could be removed within 24 hours. It was necessary to optimize the filtration part in order to increase removal efficiency of T-P additionally. Also, it was confirmed through the simulation of Visual MINTEQ that most of particulate phosphorus in the column tests is the form of HAP. Based on the results of the study, it could be suggested that the design parameters are over 0.5 hour of EBCT for phosphorus removal granular material contact bed and over 1.5 hours of EBCT for limestone filtration bed.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.48-59
• /
• 2019

This study analyzed the water quality characteristics and developed empirical models prior to and after the construction of Baekje Weir, in the Geum River watershed between 2004-2017. The comparative evaluation of the surface water chemistry before and after the four major river projects on the weirs indicated that total phosphorus (TP), based on annual data, rapidly decrease after the construction of the weir while the total nitrogen(TN) decreased. Conversely, chlorophyll-a (CHL) concentration, which is a good indicator of primary productivity, increased after the construction of the weir together with an increase in specific conductivity. Simply put, the construction of the weir led to the decrease in concentrations of N and P due to the increased water residence time (WRT), whereas the CHL :TP ratio greatly increased in magnitude. The regression analysis of the empirical model indicated that CHL had no significant relation (r=0.068, p=0.6102, n=58) with TP before the weir construction, but had a relation with TP after the weir construction (r=0.286, p<0.05, n=56). Therefore, such conditions resulted in an increase in primary productivity on a given unit of phosphorus, resulting in frequent algal blooms. In contrast, seasonal suspended solids (SS) and TP increased during the monsoon period, compared to the pre-monsoon, thereby showing positive correlations (r>0.40, p<0.01, n=163) with precipitation. If the government consistently discharges water from the weir, the phosphorus concentration will be increased due to its reversion to a lotic waterbody from a lentic waterbody hereby reducing algal blooms in the future.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.54 no.spc1
• /
• pp.1167-1181
• /
• 2021

In relation to the algae bloom, four types of blue-green algae that emit toxic substances are designated and managed as harmful Cyanobacteria, and prediction information using a physical model is being also published. However, as algae are living organisms, it is difficult to predict according to physical dynamics, and not easy to consider the effects of numerous factors such as weather, hydraulic, hydrology, and water quality. Therefore, a lot of researches on algal bloom prediction using machine learning have been recently conducted. In this study, the characteristic importance of water quality factors affecting the occurrence of Cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) were analyzed using the random forest (RF) model for Bohyeonsan Dam and Yeongcheon Dam located in Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do and also predicted the occurrence of harmful blue-green algae using the machine learning and deep learning models and evaluated their accuracy. The water temperature and total nitrogen (T-N) were found to be high in common, and the occurrence prediction of CyanoHABs using artificial neural network (ANN) also predicted the actual values closely, confirming that it can be used for the reservoirs that require the prediction of harmful cyanobacteria for algal management in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.291-304
• /
• 2023

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have become an increasing concern in terms of human health risks as well as aesthetic impairment due to their toxicity. The reduction of water pollutants, especially nutrients from non-point sources in a reservoir watershed, is fundamental for HABs prevention. We investigated the pollutant removal efficiencies of a constructed wetland to evaluate its feasibility as a method for controlling non-point sources located in the Annaecheon stream within the Daecheong Reservoir watershed. The overall removal efficiencies of pollutants were as follows: BOD 14.3%, COD 17.9%, SS 50.0%, T-N 19.0%, and T-P 35.4%. These results indicate that constructed wetlands are effective in controlling pollutants from non-point sources. The seasonal variation in removal efficiency depended on the specific pollutants. The removal efficiencies of BOD, COD, and T-N were stable throughout the year, except during winter, which might have been influenced by lower microorganism activity. In contrast, T-P showed a consistent removal efficiency even during the winter season, suggesting that the wetland can reduce external phosphorus loading to the reservoir. Regarding the effects of pollutant loadings on removal efficiency, the effluent concentrations of all pollutants were significantly decreased compared to those in the influent in case of middle and high loadings. This demonstrates that constructed wetlands can handle high pollutant loads, including the initial runoff during rainfall, to prevent reservoir eutrophication. Despite the various strengths of wetland water purification, there are limitations as passive treatment. Therefore, more case studies should be conducted to suggest optimum operational conditions for constructed wetlands, taking into consideration reservoir-specific characteristics.