• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.640-648
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the inhibitory effect of heavy metals [Cd(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II)] on the growth of Rhodobacter species (Rhodobacter blasticus, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, and Rhodobacter capsulatus) and their potential use for Cd(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) bioremoval from liquid media. The presence of toxic heavy metals prolonged the lag phase in growth and reduced biomass growth for all three Rhodobacter species at concentrations of Cd, Ni, and Zn above 10 mg/L. However, all three Rhodobacter species also had a relatively high specific growth rate against each toxic heavy metal stress test for concentrations below 20 mg/L and possessed a potential bioaccumulation ability. The removal efficiency by all strains was highest for Cd(II), followed by Ni(II), and lowest for Zn(II), with the removal efficiency of Cd(II) by Rhodobacter species being 66% or more. Among the three strains, R. blasticus showed a higher removal efficiency of Cd(II) and Ni(II) than R. capsulatus and R. sphaeroides. Results also suggest that the bio-removal processes of toxic heavy metal ions by Rhodobacter species involve both bioaccumulation (intracellular uptake) and biosorption (surface binding).

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.41 no.3 s.114
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• pp.331-345
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• 2006

This study deals with geomorphological process of the sand dune landform including the distribution and surface environments, characteristics of sediments, origins and moving processes in lower reach and mouth delta of Duman River, Northeast Korea and China. The methodology of the study includes image analysis of Landsat TM(1992.10) and ETM(2000.9) and Spot(2005.4) for analysis of land cover, 2 times field survey for recognition of landform and acquisition of sediments raw data materials, and grain analysis and exoscopy about raw data materials. The geomorphic elements from satellite image analysis are composed of the delta, sand spit, active and stable dune, sand bar and riparian vegetated zone. Results of the grain analysis indicate the sediments originated from marine coastal zone than riverine one. This means that present sand dune not so much reflect present climatic and geomorphic environments. Result of the exoscopy analysis show that ratio of quartz, which is comparatively resistant to environment, is highest as $65{\sim}83%$ out of sediments. But the surface of the $30{\sim}40%$ of mineral grains was coated by yellow-colored stained materials, due to chemical weathering. Some grains show rough skin, looking as acicular, network structure and etching pits, affected by physical and chemical weathering.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.244-252
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• 2007

A long-term change in the evaporation rate have an influence on the hydrologic processes at the interface between the land surface-air and crop yield. Several previous studies have reported declines in pan evaporation rate, while actual evaporation rate is expected to increase due to anthropogenic global change in the future. The decreasing trend of pan evaporation rate might be involved with global warming and accordingly the trend of annual pan evaporation rate also needs to be checked here in Korea. In this study, 14 points of pan evaporation observation are intensively studied to investigate the trend of pan evaporation for the time period of 1970-2000. Annual pan evaporation is decreasing at the rate of 1.6mm/yr, which corresponds to approximately 50mm for 30 years. Annual pan evaporation rate is larger by $\sim10%$ at the coastal area and decreasing rate is faster as -2.46 mm/yr per year, while that is -0.82 mm/yr per year at the in-land area. The results of the Mann-Kendall trend test shows 4 points are decreasing and 10 points are unchanged with 95% confidence interval. But national annual average values show the decreasing trend of pan evaporation rate as a whole, which corresponds to general trend all over the world. This study will contribute to a variety of studies on water resources, hydrology, agricultural engineering, meteorology, and coastal engineering in association with future global climate change.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.61-72
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• 2008

Leaf area index (LAI) is a key biophysical variable influencing land surface processes such as photosynthesis, transpiration and energy balance, and is a required input to estimate evapotranspiration in various ecological and hydrological models. The development of more correct and useful LAIs estimation techniques is required by these importance, but LAIs had been assumed in most LAI research through simple relations with the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) because the field measurement is difficult on wide area. This paper is to evaluate the MODIS LAI Product's practical use by comparing with LAIs that is derived from NOAA AVHRR NDVIs and the 2 years (2003-2004) measured LAIs of Korea Forest Research Institute in Gyeongancheon watershed (561.12 $Km^2$). As a result, the MODIS LAIs of deciduous forests showed higher values about 14 % and 15~30 % than the measured LAIs and NOAA LAIs. In the year of 2003, the MODIS LAIs in coniferous forests were 5 % higher than the measured LAIs, and showed about 7 % differences comparing with the NOAA LAIs except April. These differences come from the insufficient field data measured in partial points of the target area, and the extracted reference data from MODIS LAIs include the limits of spatial resolution and the error of incorrect land cover classification. Thus, using the MODIS data by the proper correction with the measured data can be useful as an input data for ecological and hydrological models which offers the vegetation information and simulates the water balance of a given watershed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.203-212
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• 2005

Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide($CO_2$) which arises mainly as wastes from the fossil fuel burning processes, are causing global warming. The effects of global warming become increasingly felt all over the world including sea level rise and extreme weather. The more direct consequences of the elevated atmospheric $CO_2$ on the ocean is the acidification of the surface ocean which brings a far reaching adverse impact on the life at sea and probably on the whole ecosystem of the planet. Improvement in energy efficiency and use of alternative energy sources are being made to reduce $CO_2$ emissions. However, a rapid transition to alternatives seems unachievable within a few decades due to the constraints on the associated technology and socio-economic factors in the world, since fossil fuels make up approximately 85% of the world's commercial energy demands. It has now been recognized that capture and geological sequestration of $CO_2$ could significantly reduce its emissions from fossil fuel utilization and therefore provides the means to rapidly achieve large reductions in $CO_2$ emissions(excerpts from London Convention, LC/SG 28, 2005). In Korea, well-developed sedimentary basins are spread over the vast continental shelf and slope regions, whereas, the land is densely populated and limited in area. Consequently, the offshore area is preferred to the land for the sites for geological sequestration. The utilization of the offshore area, however, may be subject to international agreements including London Convention. In this paper, the recent trends in technologies and regulations for $CO_2$ capture and geological sequestration are described to encourage its applications in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.221-233
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• 2000

An intertidal topography is continuously changed due to morphodynamics processes. Detection and measurement of topographic change for a tidal flat is important to make an integrated coastal area management plan as well as to carry out sedimentologic study. The objective of this study is to generate intertidal DEM using leveling data and waterlines extracted from optical and microwave remotely sensed data in a relatively short period. Waterline is defined as the border line between exposed tidal flat and water body. The contour of the terrain height in tidal flat is equivalent to the waterline. One can utilize satellite images to generate intertidal DEM over large areas. Extraction of the waterline in a SAR image is a difficult task to perform partly because of the presence of speckle and partly because of similarity between the signal returned from the sea surface and that from the exposed tidal flat surface or land. Waterlines in SAR intensity and coherence map can effectively be extracted with MSP-RoA edge detector. From multiple images obtained over a range of tide elevation, it is possible to build up a set of heighted waterline within intertidal zone, and then a gridded DEM can be interpolated. We have tested the proposed method over the Gomso Bay, and succeeded in generating intertidal DEM with relatively high accuracy.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_1
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• pp.903-916
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• 2021

An area's topography refers to the shape of the earth's surface, described by its elevation, slope, and aspect, among other features. The topographical conditions determine energy flowsthat move water and energy from higher to lower elevations, such as how much solar energy will be received and how much wind or rain will affect it. Another common factor, the topographic wetness index (TWI), is a calculation in digital elevation models of the tendency to accumulate water per slope and unit area, and is one of the most widely referenced hydrologic topographic factors, which helps explain the location of forest vegetation. Analyses of topographical factors can be calculated using a geographic information system (GIS) program based on digital elevation model (DEM) data. Recently, a large number of free open source software (FOSS) GIS programs are available and developed for researchers, industries, and governments. FOSS GIS programs provide opportunitiesfor flexible algorithms customized forspecific user needs. The majority of biodiversity in island areas exists at about 20% higher elevations than in land ecosystems, playing an important role in ecological processes and therefore of high ecological value. However, island areas are vulnerable to disturbances and damage, such as through climate change, environmental pollution, development, and human intervention, and lacks systematic investigation due to geographical limitations (e.g. remoteness; difficulty to access). More than 4,000 of Korea's islands are within a few hours of its coast, and 88% are uninhabited, with 52% of them forested. The forest ecosystems of islands have fewer encounters with human interaction than on land, and therefore most of the topographical conditions are formed naturally and affected more directly by weather conditions or the environment. Therefore, the analysis of forest topography in island areas can be done more precisely than on its land counterparts, and therefore has become a major focus of attention in Korea. This study is focused on calculating the performance of different topographical factors using FOSS GIS programs. The test area is the island forests in Korea's south and the DEM of the target area was processed with GRASS GIS and SAGA GIS. The final slopes and TWI maps were produced as comparisons of the differences between topographic factor calculations of each respective FOSS GIS program. Finally, the merits of each FOSS GIS program used to calculate the topographic factors is discussed.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.307-316
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• 2010

Complex terrain refers to irregular surface properties of the earth that influence gradients in climate, lateral transfer of materials, landscape distribution in soils properties, habitat selection of organisms, and via human preferences, the patterning in development of land use. Complex terrain of mountainous areas represents ca. 20% of the Earth's terrestrial surface; and such regions provide fresh water to at least half of humankind. Most major river systems originate in such terrain, and their resources are often associated with socio-economic competition and political disputes. The goals of the TERRECO-IRTG focus on building a bridge between ecosystem understanding in complex terrain and spatial assessments of ecosystem performance with respect to derived ecosystem services. More specifically, a coordinated assessment framework will be developed from landscape to regional scale applications to quantify trade-offs and will be applied to determine how shifts in climate and land use in complex terrain influence naturally derived ecosystem services. Within the scope of TERRECO, the abiotic and biotic studies of water yield and quality, production and biodiversity, soil processing of materials and trace gas emissions in complex terrain are merged. There is a need to quantitatively understand 1) the ecosystem services derived in regions of complex terrain, 2) the process regulation occurred to maintain those services, and 3) the sensitivities defining thresholds critical in stability of these systems. The TERRECO-IRTG is dedicated to joint study of ecosystems in complex terrain from landscape to regional scales. Our objectives are to reveal the spatial patterns in driving variables of essential ecosystem processes involved in ecosystem services of complex terrain region and hence, to evaluate the resulting ecosystem services, and further to provide new tools for understanding and managing such areas.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.789-800
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• 2013

$N_2O$ and $CH_4$, Greenhouse gas emission, Forest soil, Closed chamber technique, Soil uptake $N_2O$ and $CH_4$ are important greenhouse gases (GHG) along with $CO_2$ influencing greatly on climate change. Their soil emission rates are highly affected by bio-geo-chemical processes in C and N through the land-atmosphere interface. The forest ecosystems are generally considered to be net emission for $N_2O$; however, net sinks for $CH_4$ by soil uptake. Soil $N_2O$ and $CH_4$ emissions were measured at Mt. Taewha in Gwangju, Kyeonggi, Korea. Closed chamber technique was used for surface gas emissions from forest soil during period from May to October 2012. Gas emission measurement was conducted mostly on daytime (from 09:00 to 18:00 LST) during field experiment period (total 25 days). The gas samples collected from chamber for $N_2O$ and $CH_4$ were analyzed by gas chromatography. Soil parameters were also measured at the sampling plot. GHG averages emissions during the experimental period were $3.11{\pm}16.26{\mu}g m^{-2}hr^{-1}$ for $N_2O$, $-1.36{\pm}11.3{\mu}gm^{-2}hr^{-1}$ for $CH_4$, respectively. The results indicated that forest soil acted as a source of $N_2O$, while it acted like a sink of $CH_4$ on average. On monthly base, means of $N_2O$ and $CH_4$ flux during May (spring) were $8.38{\pm}48.7{\mu}gm^{-2}hr^{-1}$, and $-3.21{\pm}31.39{\mu}gm^{-2}hr^{-1}$, respectively. During August (summer) both GHG emissions were found to be positive (averages of $2.45{\pm}20.11{\mu}gm^{-2}hr^{-1}$ for $N_2O$ and $1.36{\pm}9.09{\mu}gm^{-2}hr^{-1}$ for $CH_4$); which they were generally released from soil. During September (fall) $N_2O$ and $CH_4$ soil uptakes were observed and their means were $-1.35{\pm}12.78{\mu}gm^{-2}hr^{-1}$ and $-2.56{\pm}11.73{\mu}gm^{-2}hr^{-1}$, respectively. $N_2O$ emission was relatively higher in spring rather than other seasons. This could be due to dry soil condition during spring experimental period. It seems that soil moisture and temperature mostly influence gas production and consumption, and then emission rate in subsoil environment. Other soil parameters like soil pH and chemical composition were also discussed with respect to GHG emissions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.255-268
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• 2016

Climate change has increased the need to secure a new water resource in addition to the traditional water resources such as surface water and ground water. The seawater desalination market is growing sharply in accordance with this situation in Korea, "seawater engineering & architecture of high efficiency reverse osmosis (SEAHERO)" program was launched in 2007 to keep pace with world market trend. SEAHERO program was completed in 2014, contributed to turn the domestic technology in evaporative desalination technology to RO desalination technology. Currently, it is investigated that the average specific energy consumption of the whole RO plant is around $3.5kWh/m^3$. The Busan Gi-jang plant has shown $3.7{\sim}4.0kWh/m^3$, including operational electricity for plant and maintenance building. Although not world top level, domestic RO technology is considered to be able to compete in desalination market. Separately, many researchers in the world are developing new technologies for energy savings. Various processes, forward osmosis (FO), membrane distillation (MD) process are expected to compete with RO in the future market. In Korea, FO-RO hybrid process, MD and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) process are under development through the research program in Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT). The desalination technology level is expected to decrease to $2.5kWh/m^3$.