• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.10-18
• /
• 2017

Korean Red Pine (Pinus densiflora) has been protected and used as the most ecologically and socio-culturally important tree species in Korea. However, as dieback of Korean red pines has occurred in the protected area of the forest genetic resources. The aims of this study is to identify causes for dieback of pine tree by investigating topographical characteristics of pine tree dieback and its correlation to meteorological factors. We extracted the dead trees from the time series aerial images and analyzed geomorphological characteristics of dead tree concentration area. As a result, 1,956 dead pine trees were extracted in the study region of 2,600 ha. Dieback of pine trees was found mostly in the areas with high altitude, high solar radiation, low topographic wetness index, south and south-west slopes, ridgelines, and high wind exposure compared to other living pine forest area. These areas are classified as high temperature and high drought stress regions due to micro-climatic characteristics affected by topographic factors. As high temperature and drought stress are generally increasing with climate change, we can evaluated that a risk of pine tree dieback is also increasing. Based on these geomorphological characteristics, we developed a pine tree dieback risk map using Maximum Entropy Model (MaxEnt), and it can be useful for establishing Korean red pine protection and management strategies.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.348-356
• /
• 2016

Carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) gases concentration in atmosphere has been growing since preindustrial times. By sequestering a large amount of atmospheric carbon (C), terrestrial ecosystems are thought to offer a mitigation strategy for reducing global warming. Woody agro-ecosystems such as fruit tree are among the least quantified and most uncertain elements in the terrestrial carbon cycle. $CO_2$ and energy fluxes were measured by the eddy covariance method on a 15-year old apple orchard of South Korea in 2006. Environmental parameters (net radiation, precipitation, etc.) were measured along with fluxes. The results showed that during late June, the ability to sequestrate C was significant at an apple orchard ecosystem and it reached on the peak of $-6.5g\;C\;m^{-2}\;d^{-1}$. We found that in the apple orchard, the daily average of net ecosystem exchange of $CO_2$ (NEE) and cumulative NEE on a yearly basis were $-1.1g\;C\;m^{-2}$ and $-396.9g\;C\;m^{-2}$, respectively. These results reveal that there is high carbon sequestration in the apple orchard of South Korea, which is the same magnitude with repect to that of a natural forested ecosystem of the same biome rank (temperate-humid deciduous forest).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.152-156
• /
• 2016

Experimental research on the preparation of photocatalyst for the decomposition of brilliant blue FCF ($C_{37}H_{31}O_9N_2S_3Na_2$) was performed. $TiO_2$ and ZnO powders were prepared from titanium (IV) sulfate and zinc acetate at low reaction temperature and atmospheric pressure by hydrothermal precipitation method without calcination. In addition, $TiO_2$ was prepared with cationic surfactant CTAB (Hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide) at the same conditions. The physical properties of prepared $TiO_2$ and ZnO, such as crystallinity, average particle size and absorbance, were investigated by XRD, Zeta-potential meter and DRS. And, the photocatalytic degradation of brilliant blue FCF has been studied in the batch reactor under UV radiation. For the photocatalysts prepared without CTAB, $TiO_2$ has smaller particle size and larger absorbance and photocatalytic reaction rate than ZnO. And $TiO_2$, prepared with CTAB whose concentration is 1/10 of that of precursor, shows 15% higher than that prepared without CTAB in final photocatalytic degradation ratio of brilliant blue FCF.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.284-289
• /
• 2003

Titanium mesoporous materials have received increasing attention as a new photocatalyst in the field for photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds. The photocatalytic degradation of chlorothalonil by mesoporous titanium oxo-phoswhate (Ti-MCM) was investigated in aqueous suspension for comparison with $TiO_2$, (Degussa, P25) using as an effective photocatalyst of organic pollutants. Mesoporous form of titanium Phosphate has been prepared by reaction of sulfuric acid and titanium isopropoxide in the presence or n-hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide. The XRD patterns of Ti-MCM are hexagonal phases with d-spacings of 4.1 nm. Its adsorption isotherm for chlorothalonil reached at reaction equilibrium within 60 min under dark condition with 28% degradation efficiency. The degradation ratio of chlorothalonil after 9 hours under the UV radiation condition (254 nm) exhibited 100% by Ti-MCM and 88% by $TiO_2$. However, these degradation kinetics in static state showed a slow tendency compared to that of stirred state because of a low contact between titanium matrices and chlorothalonil. Also, degradation efficiency of chlorothalonil was increased with decreasing initial concentration and with increasing pH of solution. As results of this study, it was clear that mesoporous titanium oxo-phosphate with high surface area and crystallinity could be used to photo- catalytic degradation of various organic pollutants.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.1149-1158
• /
• 2000

A radioisotope tracer experiment was carried out in the submerged fixed bioreactor of a dye wastewater treatment facility to evaluate the flow behaviors in the 6 compartments of the reactor and to find any possible factors which may affect to the efficiency of the process. Approximately 20mCi of $^{131}I$ was injected into the system as a tracer and 8 radiation detectors were placed in the 6 compartments and at the inlet and the outlet of the system to measure the change of the tracer concentration with time. Using the Perfect Mixers in Series Model the measured data were analyzed to calculate the mean residence time and the characteristic parameters of the flow in the system. The mean residence time of the system was calculated as 17 hours which is 76% of the designed MRT(22.3hr). Among the 6 compartments, the first compartment doesn't show the characteristic of perfect mixer, whereas, the other 5 compartments are working as perfect mixers. The output response of the first compartment is fit well with the simulated output of a model which consists of a perfect mixer with an exchange volume. It indicates that a quarter of the tank volume is working as a dead volume or an exchange volume. From the measured residence time distributions in each compartment, the appropriate sampling times after the change of operational condition of the electron beam accelerator were evaluated.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.556-563
• /
• 2007

We carried out a laboratory scale experiment about the characteristics of chemically active species produced in hybrid gas-liquid discharges. The electrode configuration which had high voltage electrode in the gas phase and ground electrode in the liquid was utilized while high voltage electrode has been typically positioned in the liquid in other studies. Our electrode was configured in such a way as to increase the energy efficiency of chemical reactions by creating a higher electrical field strength and a narrower pulse width than the typical electrode configuration. The highest ozone concentration was obtained at 45 kV which was the medium value in operating voltages. The decrease of solution conductivity increased the resistance of liquid phase and the electric field strength through the gas phase, so ozone gene-ration rate was enhanced. The increase of voltage promoted the production rate of hydrogen peroxide by increasing the electric field strength. In a lower voltage, the increase of solution conductivity increased the degradation rate of $H_2O_2$, so the $H_2O_2$ generation rate decreased. On the other hand, the effects of UV radiation, shock waves etc. increased the $H_2O_2$ generation rate as the solution conductivity increased. A higher rate of $H_2O_2$ generation can be achieved by mixing argon to oxygen which generates a stronger and more stable discharges.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.155-162
• /
• 2008

Inventories to be disposed of, reference turnup, and source terms for CANDU spent fuel were evaluated for geological disposal system design. The historical and projected inventory by 2040 is expected to be 14,600 MtU under the condition of 30-year lifetime for unit 1 and 40-year lifetime for other units in Wolsong site. As a result of statistical analysis for discharge burnup of the spent fuels generated by 2007, average and stand deviation revealed 6,987 MWD/MtU and 1,167, respectively. From this result, the reference burnup was determined as 8,100 MWD/MtU which covers 84% of spent fuels in total. Source terms such as nuclide concentration for a long-term safety analysis, decay heat, thermo-mechanical analysis, and radiation intenity and spectrum was characterized by using ORIGEN-ARP containing conservativeness in the aspect of decay heat up to several thousand years. The results from this study will be useful for the design of storage and disposal facilities.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.71-78
• /
• 2012

Eupatilin, one of representative medical components of mugwort, can be efficiently extracted from the 'Gangwha Sajabalssuk'. The Eupatilin content may depend on environmental factors such as soil and regional climate in addition to a genetic factor and Gangwha region has a profitable environmental condition for the mugwort growth. In this study, the climatological characteristics of Gangwha was analyzed in order to find the environmental condition of mugwort containing high Eupatilin in term of atmospheric, oceanographic and land variables. The climate of Gangwha is characterized by the relatively low daily temperature and large diurnal variation with plenty of solar radiation, long sunshine duration and less cloudiness. According to our correlation analysis, the long sunshine duration and the large diurnal temperature variation are highly correlated with the Eupatilin contents. The result implies that Gangwha has the favorable conditions for the cultivation and the habitat of the high-Eupatilin concentrated mugwort. Because of the sea surrounding Gangwha Island with low salinity and moderate wind, the salt contained in sea breeze is relatively low compared to other regions. Furthermore, Gangwha has clean atmospheric environment compared to other regions because the concentrations of toxic gases harmful to crop growth such as nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$), sulfite gas ($SO_2$) and fine dust (PM-10) are lower in the air. The ozone ($O_3$) concentration is moderate and within the level of natural production. It is also found that moderately coarse texture or fine loamy soils known as good for water drainage and for the growth and cultivation of the 'Gangwha-mugwort' are distributed throughout the areas around mountainous districts in Gangwha, coinciding with those of mugwort habitat.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 2013

The objectives of this study were to identify the characteristics of groundwater in the petroleum contaminated site and to evaluate the applicability of house-type landfarm facilities heated with briquette stoves in winter season. The six monitoring wells were installed at the site where pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature were all measured. Also groundwater contaminants, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and total petroleum hydrocarbon, were analyzed twice. House-type two landfarm facilities ($12m{\times}40m{\times}4.8m$) each installed with four briquette stoves were constructed. During four rounds treatment process, VOCs, moisture, temperature were monitored and soil contaminants were analyzed. The pH was 6.37 and considered subacid and DO was measured to be 3.12 mg/L. The temperature of groundwater was measured to be $9.48^{\circ}C$. The groundwater contaminants were detected only in the monitoring wells within the contaminated area or close to it showing that the groundwater contaminated area was similar to the soil contaminated area. During the landfarm process, 73.3% of VOCs concentration in interior gas was decreased and moisture was lowered from 17.7% to 13.4%. In the morning, at 8:00 am, the temperature was decreased showing soil ($5.5^{\circ}C$) > interior ($4.8^{\circ}C$) > exterior ($3.5^{\circ}C$). In the afternoon, at 2:00 pm, the temperature was soil ($8.6^{\circ}C$) < interior ($9.9^{\circ}C$) < exterior ($11.5^{\circ}C$) with solar radiation. The temperature difference between interior and exterior was $0.7^{\circ}C$ in the morning, but it was $1.6^{\circ}C$ in the afternoon. A total of 130 days were taken for four round landfarm processes. Each process was completed within 33 days showing 80% of cleanup efficiency ($1^{st}$ order dissipation rate(k) = 0.1771).

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.441-454
• /
• 2018

Since the permanent shutdown of Kori Unit 1 in 2017, a full-scale decommissioning project for a commercial nuclear reactor has been approaching. It is estimated that about 160,000 t of low-activity concrete waste will be produced from decommissioning of one unit of this commercial nuclear power reactor. Accordingly, it is necessary to review whether the effectiveness of the current regulatory framework for clearance waste (i.e. waste stream that meets activity concentration guidelines or dose criteria for clearance set forth in NSSC Notice No. 2017-65) can be maintained for the clearance of a bulk amount of concrete waste. In this regard, the IAEA SRS No. 44, which was used as a basis for revision of the Korean clearance regulations, is thoroughly analyzed and the radiological effects from four different clearance scenarios, along with input values and parameters derived from industrial practices in Korea, were evaluated. Though it is shown that the maximum annual dose from most recycling scenarios will be less than the clearance dose criterion for the normal scenario (i.e. an order of magnitude of $0.01mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$), the radiation dose, estimated with conservative assumptions for the banking scenario, may exceed the above clearance dose criteria. Therefore, for safe and sustainable clearance of the bulk amount of concrete waste, it is required to diversify the concrete waste processors, perform more detailed site-specific assessment, and apply limiting conditions to the banking scenario.