• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.297-313
• /
• 2009

Long-term trends and distribution patterns of water quality were investigated in the Gunsan coastal areas of Yellow Sea, Korea from 1972 to 2006. Water samples were collected at 6 stations and physicochemical parameters were analyzed including water temperature, salinity, suspended solids(SS), chemical oxygen demand(COD), dissolved oxygen(DO) and nutrients. Spatial distribution patterns of temperature, DO and SS were not clear among stations but the seasonal variations were distinct except COD and SS. The trend analysis by principal component analysis(PCA) during 24 years revealed the significant variations in water quality in the study area. Spatial water qualities were clearly classified into 3 clusters by PCA; station cluster 1, 2~4, and 5~6. Annual water qualities were clearly classified into 4 surface water clusters and 5 bottom water clusters by PCA. By this multi-variate analysis. The annual trends were summarized as follows; Salinity, pH and DO tended to increase since late 1970's, COD to increase since 1987, and SS to decrease and nutrients to increase in Gunsan coastal waters due to the input of fresh water from land same as in Kyoungin coastal area, Asan coastal area and Choensoo bay.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.57-65
• /
• 2007

The objective of this study was to evaluate chemical water quality by hourly monitoring(25hr) of Saemangeum esturary. For this study, we selected 2 sites like a Mangyong Bridge(St. 6) and Dongjin Bridge(St. 7). Inflow of salt water was not detected during low tide(maximum 553, 508cm) of all stations, while the salinity rises were detected in spring tide(750cm). When 602m of maximum tide was reached, salinity concentration was increased at St. 7, while there was no change in St. 6. Therefore, We know that salinity variation is greatly influenced by tide height at survey site. Also, significant variance of salinity(p<0.05) was found between St. 6 and St. 7 because dike construction made the flood tide move into the Dongjin river. Total suspened solids(TSS) concentration was increased because of the river runoff at St. 6, and also the turbulance and resuspension according to salt intrusion at St. 7. During the high tide, the water discharge from the sea seemed to dilute the nutrient but to elevate TSS concentration in St. 7. Silicate and nitrate concentrations in the studied site were decreased by the mixing of sea water, whereas the evident trend of phosphate concentration was not found. This result can be explained by the phosphorus condition. Phosphorus exists inactive when it is affected by hydrated iron and adsorbed onto suspended matters. Compared to the environmental conditions of the St. 6 and St. 7, physical factors such as temperature, dissolved oxygen and TSS have statistically no significant difference(p<0.001), but nutrient concentrations were higher at St. 6 than St. 7. It could be suggested from these results that it is important to control the discharge of fresh water by sewage treatment plants located in St. 6 for water quality management.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.467-473
• /
• 2006

The EM 120, a newly installed multibeam echo sounder on RM Onnuri, has several advantages over the previously installed SeaBeam 2000 in performance and thus data quality. The EM 120 system provides a bottom topographic map with high resolution by (1) increasing the number of beams, (2) increasing the across track swath range, (3) measuring the more accurate sound velocity within the water column, and (4) improving stabilization for pitching, rolling, and yawing of the ship. This study compares EM 120 and SeaBeam 2000 echo sounders in terms of the data quality from the same survey area in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, NE Pacific. Our result shows that the EM 120 provides more precise topographic data than the SeaBeam 2000. Although overall trends of data, such as topographic direction and relief, are similar for both echo sounders, the water depths measured by the EM 120 are shallower than that of SeaBeam 2000 by 80 to 90 meters.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.19-36
• /
• 2013

Physiochemical characters of sea waters during summer flood- and winter dry-seasons and their spatial variations were investigated along the coastal area off the eastern South Sea, Korea. Using the hierarchical clustering method, in this study, we present comprehensive analyses of coastal waters masses and their seasonal variations. The results revealed that the coastal water of the study area was classified into six water masses (A to F). During summer season, the surface water was mainly occupied by the coastal pseudo-estuarine water (water mass B) with low salinity and high nutrients and the river-dominated coastal water (water mass C) with low nutrients, respectively. The bottom water was dominated by cold water (water mass D) with very low temperature, high salinity and high nutrients, compared to masses of surface water. Notably, the water mass B, with high concentrations of nutrients (silicate and nitrogen) and low salinity, which is strongly controlled by the water quality of river freshwater, seems to play an important role in controlling the water quality and further regulating physical processes on ecosystem in the eastern coastal area of South Sea. The water mass D (bottom cold water) coupled with a strong thermocline, which exists in near-bottom layer along the western margin of Korea Strait, has a low temperature, pH and DO, but abundant nutrients. This water mass disappears in winter owing to strong vertical mixing, and subsequently may act as a pool for nutrients during winter dry-season. On the other hand, vertically well-mixed water column during the winter season was typically occupied by the Tsushima (water mass E) and the coastal water (water mass F) with a development of coastal front formed in a transition zone between them. These winter water masses were characterized by low nutrient concentration and balance in N/P ratio, compared with summer season with high nutrient concentrations and strong N-limitation. Accordingly, the analysis of water masses will help one to better chemical and biological processes in coastal area. In most of the study area, characteristically, the growth of phytoplankton community is limited by nitrogen, which is clearly different with coastal environment of West Sea of Korea, with a relative lack of phosphorus. It showed the western and the southern coasts in Korea are substantially different from each other in environmental and ecological characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.622-629
• /
• 2011

We investigated the effect of the discharged water from Bong Stream, which is located in the drainage area of Gangjinman area on the bacteriological water quality in the coastal area after rainfall events. Following 12.5 mm of rainfall, water discharged from Bong Stream had a very limited effect on bacteriological water quality in adjacent area and the affected area did not extend to the designated area. On the other hand, after 23 mm rainfall, the density of fecal coliform at stations located in the designated area was higher than at stations located in the adjacent area. The degree of bacteriological contamination at the surveyed stations in the coastal area after rainfall events did not show a relationship with distance from the shoreline. These results indicate that the direction of spread and the range of contaminants from the drainage area were affected by tides at the time of the survey. Therefore, a detailed survey of the effects of tides on the diffusion characteristics of the contaminants from Bong Stream is needed to establish a proper management plan for the surveyed area.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.13-27
• /
• 2022

The Yeongsan River estuary was altered by a sea dike built in 1981 and the sluice gates in the dike were extended recently in 2014. The construction has caused changes in water properties and hydrodynamics and also produced disturbances including hypoxia and algal blooms. We analyzed the water quality and chlorophyll-a data (2009-2018) collected seasonally at 3 stations (Sts. 1-3) along the channel of the estuary by the Marine Environmental Monitoring System. Variations in water quality and chlorophyll-a (an index of phytoplankton biomass) were examined and their stressors were also identified by statistics including correlation and multivariate principal component analyses (PCA). The water quality was mainly affected by freshwater discharge from the dike. Salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll-a were especially affected by the discharge and the effect enhanced during summer and at the upper region near the sea dike decreasing downstream. Three factors were extracted for each station in the PCA accounting for 66.07-72.42% of the variations. The first was an external factor associated with freshwater discharge and the second and third were seasonal or biological factors. The results indicate that the water quality is more affected by short-termed and episodic events such as freshwater discharge than seasonal events and the influence of freshwater discharge on water quality is more extensive than that previously reported. This suggests that the boundary of the estuary should be extended to take into account the findings of this study and a management strategy linked to the freshwater zone is required to manage the integrity and water quality of the Yeongsan River estuary.

• Journal of Korean Port Research
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.123-132
• /
• 1999

It is very important to quantitatively assess the movement of sea water and pollutant dispersion before or after constructing shore structures such as breakwater considering marine environment and long-term utilization of those structures. This assesment is possible through the use of simulation models designed to predict water movement and pollutant dispersion in a certain area. In this study the numerical computations were carried out to predict the sea water quality in the Ilgwang Harbor located at the east coast of Pusan. The flow patters were investigated before and after the development of Ilgwang Harbor. The computational models adopting ADI Method (Alternating Direction Implicit Method) were used here and were already verified from the previous studies. As a results of this study the tidal exchange in Ilgwang Harbor after development proved to be worse due to the increased semi-enclosed at the harbor limit. In order to improve the water quality of this area after development a new method was proposed to improve water quality in the semi-enclosed bay by creation and control of tidal residual currents. For this purpose the unsymmetric structures so called bottom roughness were introduced in this study. The simulation was carried out on the basis of the study by Komatsu et. al. and Gug and we made a conclusion that it is possible to generate a new tidal residual current and to increase the tidal exchange by application of bottom roughness arrangement.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.170-174
• /
• 1998

The water quality of offshore waters around the Korean coast was evaluated by bioassay using gametes, embryoss and early development systems of a sea urchin species Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. The results show that despite the inflows of several river systems, the west coast maintain the grade II water. This is thought to be due to the decrease in pollutant input resulting from the purification of inflow rivers (e.g., the control of waste water discharge and the construction of sewage treatment facilities), and the dilution of pollutants by a strong tidal mixing with a large difference between the ebb and flood tides. However, Asan, Hampyong and Chonsu bays, where circulations of water are relatively poor, and the Kunsan and Mokpo harbors which are influenced by pollutants from neighboring cities have shown the grade III water. The south coast has maintain the grade II or III because developments of sea urchins were moderately or strongly inhibited. Also, Kangjin, Duekryang, Kwangyang, Masan, and Jinhae bays where water circulations are relatively poor, show the grade III water, with strong inhibitions of the early development of sea urchins. The east coast has maintained the grade I and II due to monotonous coastlines and smooth circulation of sea water. However, Chongcho Lake shows the worst water quality due to the breakwater which is constructed to maintain port functions.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.349-366
• /
• 2007

Seasonal variations of various physicochemical components (temperature, salinity, pH, DO, COD, DOC, nutrients-silicate, DIN, DIP) and potential limiting factor for phytoplankton primary production were studied in the surface water of semi-enclosed Masan Bay. Seasonal variations of nutrient concentrations, with lower values in summer and winter, and higher in fall, are probably controlled by freshwater loadings to the bay, benthic flux and magnitude of occurrence of phytoplankton communities. Their spatial distributional patterns are primarily dependent on physical mixing process between freshwater and coastal seawater, which result in a decreasing spatial gradient from inner to outer part of the bay. In the fall season of strong wave action, the major part of nutrient inputs (silicate, ammonium, dissolved inorganic phosphorus) comes from regeneration (benthic flux) at sediment-water interface. During the summer period, high Si:DIN and Si:DIP and low DIN:DIP relative to Redfield ratios suggest a N- and secondarily P-deficiency. During other seasons, however, silicate is the potential limiting factor for primary production, although the Si-deficiency is less pronounced in the outer region of the bay. Indeed, phytoplankton communities in Masan Bay are largely affected by the seasonal variability of limiting nutrients. On the other hand, the severe depletion of DIN (relatively higher silicate level) during summer with high freshwater discharge probably can be explained by N-uptake of temporary nanoflagellate blooms, which responds rapidly to pulsed nutrient loading events. In Masan Bay, this rapid nutrient consumption is considerably important as it can modify the phytoplankton community structures.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
• /
• v.2
• /
• pp.909-912
• /
• 2006

In this paper a method for remotely-sensed assessment of eutrophication was experimented. The water samples were collected for analysis of COD (chemical oxygen demand) and nutrients concentration, and the remote sensing reflectance data at the sampling points were synchronously measured using above-water method in two cruises, which were conducted in the Pearl River Estuary in January 2003 and January 2004 respectively. Based on the in-situ data the local algorithms for estimation of concentration of nutrients (P and N) and COD were developed by Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. The algorithms were then applied to atmospheric-corrected SeaWiFS data and the COD and nutrients concentration in Pearl River Estuary were estimated. And then the assessment of eutrophication was carried out by comparison of the estimated nutrients and COD value with the water quality standard. The results show that the whole estuary is seriously in eutrophication.