• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.261-269
• /
• 2001

The purpose of present study was to introduce a multimetric approach, so called the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) as a tool for evaluations of water environments. We used 11 metric systems for the IBI to evaluate stream conditions, based on the fish community, and modified 5 original metric attributes suggested by Karr (1981). Overall IBI values in Kap Stream averaged 36 (n = 5) and ranged 17${\sim}$49, indicating a 'fair condition' according to the modified criteria of Karr (1981) and U.S. EPA (1993). However, there were distinct differences in the IBI values among 5 study sites. The IBI values at sites 1, 2, and 3 were 49, 45, and 41, which indicated 'good${\sim}$excellent', 'good', and 'fair' condition, respectively, while values at sites 4 and 5 were 17 and 29, which indicated 'very poor' and 'poor', respectively. The minimum IBI at site 4 was probably due to continuous inputs of wastewater from wastewater disposal plants. The condition at site 4 resulted in predominance of tolerant species (50%), omnivore species (50%), and high abnormalies (43%). In the mean time, the IBI value at site 5, located near 5km downstream from the site 4, increased compared to that of site 4, and this seemed to be a result of recovery of water quality as the polluted water goes downward. We believe that present bioassessment methodology of IBI applied in this study may be used as a key tool to set up specific goals for stream restoration plans and dentify recovery levels of lotic ecosystems after restoration activities(i.e., prevention of point-source pollutant input, restoration of physical habitats, construction of riparian vegetation) as well as a biological measure diagnosing current stream conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.102 no.1
• /
• pp.82-89
• /
• 2013

Harvest is one of the major disturbances affecting the soil carbon (C) dynamics in forests. However, researches on the long-term impact of periodic harvest on the soil C dynamics are limited since they requires rigorous control of various factors. Therefore, we adopted a modeling approach to determine the long-term impacts of harvest interval, harvest intensity and post-harvest residue management on soil C dynamics by using the Korean Forest Soil Carbon model (KFSC model). The simulation was conducted on Pinus densiflora S. et Z. stands in central Korea, and twelve harvest scenarios were tested by altering harvest intervals (50, 80, and 100-year interval), intensities (partial-cut harvest: 30% and clear-cut harvest: 100% of stand volume), and the residue managements after harvest (collection: 0% and retention: 100% of aboveground residue). We simulated the soil carbon stock for 400 years for each scenario. As a result, the soil C stocks in depth of 30 cm after 400 years range from 50.3 to 55.8 Mg C $ha^{-1}$, corresponding to 98.1 to 108.9% of the C stock at present. The soil C stock under the scenarios with residue retention was 2.5-11.0% higher than that under scenarios with residue collection. However, there was no significant impact of harvest interval and intensity on the soil C stock. The soil C dynamics depended on the dead organic matter dynamics derived from the amount of dead organic matter and growth pattern after harvest.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.197-207
• /
• 2016

This study aims at providing basic data to objectively evaluate the areas suitable for reintroduction of the species of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in order to effectively preserve the Asiatic black bears in the Korean protection areas including national parks, and for the species restoration success. To this end, this study predicted the potential habitats in East Asia, Southeast Asia and India, where there are the records of Asiatic black bears' appearances using the Maxent model and environmental variables related with climate, topography, road and land use. In addition, this study evaluated the effects of the relevant climate and environmental variables. This study also analyzed inhabitation range area suitable for Asiatic black and geographic change according to future climate change. As for the judgment accuracy of the Maxent model widely utilized for habitat distribution research of wildlife for preservation, AUC value was calculated as 0.893 (sd=0.121). This was useful in predicting Asiatic black bears' potential habitat and evaluate the habitat change characteristics according to future climate change. Compare to the distribution map of Asiatic black bears evaluated by IUCN, Habitat suitability by the Maxent model were regionally diverse in extant areas and low in the extinct areas from IUCN map. This can be the result reflecting the regional difference in the environmental conditions where Asiatic black bears inhabit. As for the environment affecting the potential habitat distribution of Asiatic black bears, inhabitation rate was the highest, according to land coverage type, compared to climate, topography and artificial factors like distance from road. Especially, the area of deciduous broadleaf forest was predicted to be preferred, in comparison with other land coverage types. Annual mean precipitation and the precipitation during the driest period were projected to affect more than temperature's annual range, and the inhabitation possibility was higher, as distance was farther from road. The reason is that Asiatic black bears are conjectured to prefer more stable area without human's intervention, as well as prey resource. The inhabitation range was predicted to be expanded gradually to the southern part of India, China's southeast coast and adjacent inland area, and Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia in the eastern coastal areas of Southeast Asia. The following areas are forecast to be the core areas, where Asiatic black bears can inhabit in the Asian region: Jeonnam, Jeonbuk and Gangwon areas in South Korea, Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku, Chubu, Kanto and Tohoku's border area in Japan, and Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian border area in China. This study is expected to be used as basic data for the preservation and efficient management of Asiatic black bear's habitat, artificially introduced individual bear's release area selection, and the management of collision zones with humans.

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

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.111-124
• /
• 2003

Processes that cause immobilization of contaminants in soil are of great environmental importance because they may lead to a considerable reduction in the bioavailability of contaminants and they may restrict their leaching into groundwater. Previous investigations demonstrated that pollutants can be bound to soil constituents by either chemical or physical interactions. From an environmental point of view, chemical interactions are preferred, because they frequently lead to the formation of strong covalent bonds that are difficult to disrupt by microbial activity or chemical treatments. Humic substances resulting from lignin decomposition appear to be the major binding ligands involved in the incorporation of contaminants into the soil matrix through stable chemical linkages. Chemical bonds may be formed through oxidative coupling reactions catalyzed either biologically by polyphenol oxidases and peroxidases, or abiotically by certain clays and metal oxides. These naturally occurring processes are believed to result in the detoxification of contaminants. While indigenous enzymes are usually not likely to provide satisfactory decontamination of polluted sites, amending soil with enzymes derived from specific microbial cultures or plant materials may enhance incorporation processes. The catalytic effect of enzymes was evaluated by determining the extent of contaminants binding to humic material, and - whenever possible - by structural analyses of the resulting complexes. Previous research on xenobiotic immobilization was mostly based on the application of $^{14}$ C-labeled contaminants and radiocounting. Several recent studies demonstrated, however, that the evaluation of binding can be better achieved by applying $^{13}$ C-, $^{15}$ N- or $^{19}$ F-labeled xenobiotics in combination with $^{13}$ C-, $^{15}$ N- or $^{19}$ F-NMR spectroscopy. The rationale behind the NMR approach was that any binding-related modification in the initial arrangement of the labeled atoms automatically induced changes in the position of the corresponding signals in the NMR spectra. The delocalization of the signals exhibited a high degree of specificity, indicating whether or not covalent binding had occurred and, if so, what type of covalent bond had been formed. The results obtained confirmed the view that binding of contaminants to soil organic matter has important environmental consequences. In particular, now it is more evident than ever that as a result of binding, (a) the amount of contaminants available to interact with the biota is reduced; (b) the complexed products are less toxic than their parent compounds; and (c) groundwater pollution is reduced because of restricted contaminant mobility.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.34-45
• /
• 1992

In this county, the gap between the urban 'haves' and the rural 'have-nots' continues to be an increasing problem. WHO and UNICEF see primary health care(PHC) as the key to achieving an acceptable level of health throughout the world as a community development. PHC is essential health care made accessible to individuals and families in the community by means acceptable to them. It is the first level of contact of individual, the family, and community with the national health system. It includes at least education on health system. It includes at least education on health problems, promotion of food supply, MCH including family planning, immunization against infectious diseases, control of endemic diseases, treatment of common diseases and injuries, promotion of mental health, and provision of essential drugs. However, of the aboves, education concerning of mental health problems and the methods to identify, prevent, and control them is the principal step of establishment. In Korea, the category of PHC worker includes the physician as public doctor and nurse as primary health care practitioner and community health leader as village health worker. PHC workers of the aboves will thus function best if they are appropriately trained to respond to the health needs of the community. However in this country, since the national PHC service project launched in 1980, the government has not developed and performed appropriate and enough education and training activities. In light of above reasons, several categories of health education activities had been planned and performed being aimed at above specific target groups and the main focus was on the village health workers for about one year from July 1991 to July 1992 in Yeoju Kun of Kyonki Province. At the end of the period, evaluation of education input was carried out to measure the improvement of healthful life of people in terms of awareness, attitude, and practice. At the end of the period, evaluation of education input was carried out to measure the improvement of healthful life of people in terms of awareness, attitude, and practice. The totals of 80 village health workers, 13 public health practitioners and 9 public docters took in the course of health education for a few hours at every month and the evaluation works of educational effect were taken. The results the study were as follows. 1) Number of persons who realized the maxim "health care of the people is a duty of the government" increased after the education course, On the other hand, the rate of satisfaction on the effort of government for health promotion of the people decreased. 2) Public doctors and primary health care practitioners(nurses) liked and enjoyed the education schedule as a meeting of peer group. It provided chances of communication with staffs of Korea University Hospital. It was said that lectures covered great deal of knowledge and technic they urgently needed in the field. 3) After finishing the education course, more of village health workers(VHW) thought they adapted themselves to their roles and functions showing increased number of home visit and contact with primary health care practitioners by month. 4) In case of patient refer, VHW preferred primary health care practitioners to public doctors. 5) Capability of VHWs in most of their functions increased dramatically after when the education course finished except tuberculosis control.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.206-214
• /
• 2005

Heterogeneously-catalyzed oxidation of aqueous phase trichloroethylene (TCE) over supported metal oxides has been conducted to establish an approach to eliminate ppm levels of organic compounds in water. A continuous flow reactor system was designed to effect predominant reaction parameters in determining catalytic activity of the catalysts for wet TCE decomposition as a model reaction. 5 wt.% $CoO_x/TiO_2$ catalyst exhibited a transient period in activity vs. on-stream time behavior, suggesting that the surface structure of the $CoO_x$ might be altered with on-stream hours; regardless, it is probable to be the most promising catalyst. Not only could the bare support be inactive for the wet decomposition reaction at $36^{\circ}C$, but no TCE removal also occurred by the process of adsorption on $TiO_2$ surface. The catalytic activity was independent of all particle sizes used, thereby representing no mass transfer limitation in intraparticle diffusion. Very low TCE conversion appeared for $TiO_2$-supported $NiO_x$ and $CrO_x$ catalysts. Wet oxidation performance of supported Cu and Fe catalysts, obtained through an incipient wetness and ion exchange technique, was dependent primarily on the kinds of the metal oxides, in addition to the acidic solid supports and the preparation routes. 5 wt.% $FeO_x/TiO_2$ catalyst gave no activity in the oxidation reaction at $36^{\circ}C$, while 1.2 wt.% Fe-MFI was active for the wet decomposition depending on time on-stream. The noticeable difference in activity of the both catalysts suggests that the Fe oxidation states involved to catalytic redox cycle during the course of reaction play a significant role in catalyzing the wet decomposition as well as in maintaining the time on-stream activity. Based on the results of different $CoO_x$ loadings and reaction temperatures for the decomposition reaction at $36^{\circ}C$ with $CoO_x/TiO_2$, the catalyst possessed an optimal $CoO_x$ amount at which higher reaction temperatures facilitated the catalytic TCE conversion. Small amounts of the active ingredient could be dissolved by acidic leaching but such a process gave no appreciable activity loss of the $CoO_x$ catalyst.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.51 no.9
• /
• pp.827-837
• /
• 2018

The stabilities of sliding and overturning of caisson and bearing capacity of mound against eccentric and inclined loads, which possibly happen to a composite caisson breakwaters, have been analyzed by using the technique of multiple failure modes. In deterministic approach, mathematical functions have been first derived from the ultimate limit state equations. Using those functions, the minimum cross section of caisson can straightforwardly be evaluated. By taking a look into some various deterministic analyses, it has been found that the conflict between failure modes can be occurred, such that the stability of bearing capacity of mound decreased as the stability of sliding increased. Therefore, the multiple failure modes for the composite caisson breakwaters should be taken into account simultaneously even in the process of deterministically evaluating the design cross section of caisson. Meanwhile, the reliability analyses on multiple failure modes have been implemented to the cross section determined by the sliding failure mode. It has been shown that the system failure probabilities of the composite breakwater are very behaved differently according to the variation of incident waves. The failure probabilities of system tend also to increase as the crest freeboards of caisson are heightening. The similar behaviors are taken place in cases that the water depths above mound are deepening. Finally, the results of the first-order modal are quite coincided with those of the second-order modal in all conditions of numerical tests performed in this paper. However, the second-order modal have had higher accuracy than the first-order modal. This is mainly due to that some correlations between failure modes can be properly incorporated in the second-order modal. Nevertheless, the first-order modal can also be easily used only when one of failure probabilities among multiple failure modes is extremely larger than others.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.37 no.5_3
• /
• pp.1373-1387
• /
• 2021

Forest fire poses a significant threat to the environment and society, affecting carbon cycle and surface energy balance, and resulting in socioeconomic losses. Widely used multi-spectral satellite image-based approaches for burned area detection have a problem in that they do not work under cloudy conditions. Therefore, in this study, Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from Europe Space Agency, which can be collected in all weather conditions, were used to identify forest fire damaged area based on a series of processes including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K-means clustering. Four forest fire cases, which occurred in Gangneung·Donghae and Goseong·Sokcho in Gangwon-do of South Korea and two areas in North Korea on April 4, 2019, were examined. The estimated burned areas were evaluated using fire reference data provided by the National Institute of Forest Science (NIFOS) for two forest fire cases in South Korea, and differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) for all four cases. The average accuracy using the NIFOS reference data was 86% for the Gangneung·Donghae and Goseong·Sokcho fires. Evaluation using dNBR showed an average accuracy of 84% for all four forest fire cases. It was also confirmed that the stronger the burned intensity, the higher detection the accuracy, and vice versa. Given the advantage of SAR remote sensing, the proposed statistical processing and K-means clustering-based approach can be used to quickly identify forest fire damaged area across the Korean Peninsula, where a cloud cover rate is high and small-scale forest fires frequently occur.

• Particle and aerosol research
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.153-169
• /
• 2018

To identify a variety of organic compounds in the ambient aerosols, the two-dimensional gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC) system (2DGC) has been applied. While 2DGC provides more peaks, the amount of the generated data becomes huge. A two-step approach has been proposed to efficiently interpret the organic aerosol analysis data. The two-dimensional 2DGC data were divided into 6 chemical groups depending on their volatility and polarity. Using these classification standards, all the peaks were subject to both qualitative and quantitative analyses and then classified into 8 classes. The aerosol samples collected in Seoul in summer 2013 and winter 2014 were used as the test case. It was found that some chemical classes such as furanone showed seasonal variation in the high polarity-volatile organic compounds (HP-VOC) group. Also, for some chemical classes, qualitative and quantitative analyses showed different trends. Limitations of the proposed method are discussed.