• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1153-1164
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• 2024

In recent years, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have been used to search for lost or stolen radioactive sources to avoid radiation exposure for operators. To achieve autonomous localization of radioactive sources, the UGVs must have the ability to automatically determine the next radiation measurement location instead of following a predefined path. Also, the radiation field of radioactive sources has to be reconstructed or inverted utilizing discrete measurements to obtain the radiation intensity distribution in the area of interest. In this study, we propose an effective source localization framework and method, in which UGVs are able to autonomously explore in the radiation area to determine the location of radioactive sources through an iterative process: path planning, radiation field reconstruction and estimation of source location. In the search process, the next radiation measurement point of the UGVs is fully predicted by the design path planning algorithm. After obtaining the measurement points and their radiation measurements, the radiation field of radioactive sources is reconstructed by the Gaussian process regression (GPR) model based on machine learning method. Based on the reconstructed radiation field, the locations of radioactive sources can be determined by the peak analysis method. The proposed method is verified through extensive simulation experiments, and the real source localization experiment on a Cs-137 point source shows that the proposed method can accurately locate the radioactive source with an error of approximately 0.30 m. The experimental results reveal the important practicality of our proposed method for source autonomous localization tasks.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.279-281
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• 2003

This study is intended to give information on agricultural nonpoint source pollution and transport related to fertilizer application and irrigation practice. Field-simulated soil columns were set up and leaching studies on fertilizer components such as nitrogen and phosphorus were performed. Nitrogen and phosphorus in the leachate showed different trends in each column and nonpoint source pollution in agricultural areas may be expected to depend on planted crops, soil conditions, and climate as well as irrigation and fertilizing management.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.348-351
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• 2003

Trichloroethylene, which is one of the representative DNAPL, has been found in underground water sources as a result of the manufactural use, and disposal of the chemical. In this research, in situ air sparging method was chosen to reduce the TCE concentration from the source zone. The concentration reduction in the source zone resulting from air sparging is simulated using the modified STOMP Water-Air operational mode in a two dimensional axisymmetric domain and bench scale test is conducted to analyze the performance of air sparging. The results of laboratory tests are compared with numerical simulations.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.409-417
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• 2012

SWAT model was applied for the Nakdong River Basin to characterize water quality variability and assess the feasibility of using the load duration curve to water quality management. The basin was divided into 67 sub-basins considering various watershed environment, and rainfall runoff and pollutant loading were simulated based on 6 year measurements of meteo-hydrological data, discharge data of treatment plants, and water quality data (SS, T-N and T-P). The results demonstrate that non-point source loads during wet season increase by 80 ~ 95% of total loads. Although the rate of water flow governs the amount of SS that is transported to the main streams, nutrient concentrations are highly elevated during dry season by being concentrated. This phenomenon is more pronounced in the lower basin, receiving large amounts of urban point source discharges such as treated sewages. Also, the load duration curves (LDC) demonstrate dominant source problems based on the load exceedances, showing that SS concentrations are associated with the rainy season and nutrients, such as T-P, may be more concentrated at low flow and more diluted at higher flow. Overall, the LDC method could be used conveniently to assess watershed characteristics and pollutant loads in watershed scale.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.65-76
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• 2019

Despite the expansion of sewage treatment facilities to reduce pollutants in the tributaries of the Han River, water pollution accidents such as fish deaths continue to frequently occur. The purpose of this study was to identify the pollutant sources using water quality and stable isotope ratio (${\delta}^{15}N$, ${\delta}^{13}C$, ${\delta}^{15}N-NH_4$, ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_3$) analysis results in the three inflow tributaries (Gulpocheon (GP), Anyangcheon (AY) and Sincheon (SC)) of the Han River. Water quality was analyzed in June and October from 2013 to 2017, and the results showed that the concentrations of nutrients, such as T-N, $NO_3-N$, and T-P, were increased at GP4, AY3, SC3, and SC4, which lie downstream of sewage treatment facilities. The results of ${\delta}^{15}N$ for June 2017 indicated that the source of nitrogen was sewage or livestock excreta at GP4 and SC4, and organic fertilizers at AY3 and SC3. ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_3$ results suggested that the source of nitrogen was related to organic sewage, livestock or manure at GP4, AY3 and SC4. Therefore, GP4 and SC4 were more influenced by effluent from sewage treatment facilities than by their tributaries, AY3 and SC3 were considered to be influenced more by their tributary than effluent from sewage treatment facilities. With the results of this study, the source of contamination (sewage treatment facility effluent) of river inflow downstream of Han River could be confirmed using water quality and stable isotope ratio.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.905-913
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• 2011

This study was conducted to characterize the discharge feature of pollutant load from the upper and lower watershed influencing on the water quality of South Han River using the empirical equation and Factor Analysis. The results of regression analysis between flow rate and pollutant load were as follows. In the streams of the upper watershed of South Han river, $BOD_5$ and $COD_{Mn}$ were increased as the flow rate was increased. Also, steep increases in SS and TP were observed with positive correlation with the flow rate while change in TN was slightly shown. On the other hand, in the streams of the lower watershed of South Han river, $BOD_5$ was negatively correlated with the flow rate, being decreased with the increase in the flow rate. However, changes in $COD_{Mn}$, TN, SS, and TP showed a similar trend with those observed in the upper watershed. With Factor Analysis of the water quality and various components, it was appeared that the flow rate, SS, and TP were significantly correlated each other and they were indicated as the principal component influencing on water quality in the streams of the upper watershed. In contrast, $BOD_5$, $COD_{Mn}$ and TOC were significantly correlated each other and they were included as the principal pollution component of the streams in the lower watershed. From these results, it was conclusive that the upper watershed of South Han River was mainly affected by non point source pollutants while the lower watershed was influenced by point source pollutants from the developed areas.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.171-178
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• 2006

In advanced countries, state-of-the-art temperature monitoring technique is widely used for effective use of geothermal resources. But these kind of modern tools such as Thermal Line Sensor has not been applied to find geothermal characteristics of alluvium and riverbed in domestic area. In this research, state-of-the-art thermal line temperature sensor monitoring was introduced. And long term field test using this type of sensor was performed to find geothermal characteristics of alluvium and riverbed and evaluate the availability for heat energy source. As a result, temperature monitoring technique through thermal line sensor was very effective to obtain basic geothermal information of alluvium deposit and riverbed. Also, it was found that the groundwater temperature phase showed its potential of utilization as a energy source of heat pump. It is estimated that further study shows a specific corelation between temperature monitoring data and its availability as a energy source.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 2010

The objective of this study was to estimate the $PM_{2.5}$ source apportionment at the Pinnacles National Monument IMPROVE site in western coastal USA. The PMF was applied to identify the existing sources and apportion the $PM_{2.5}$ mass to each source. To analyze local source impacts from various wind directions, the NPR analysis was performed using source contribution results with the wind direction values measured at the site. Also, PSCF was applied to identify the locations by point sources relative to the back trajectories. A total of 1,634 samples were collected from March 1988 to May 2004 by IMPROVE sampler and 32 chemical species were analyzed by PIXE, PESA, XRF, IC, and TOR methods. The PMF modeling identified seven sources and the average mass was apportioned to gasoline vehicle, secondary sulfate, aged sea salt, secondary nitrate, wood/field burning, diesel emission, and soil, respectively. In this study, the average mass was apportioned to gasoline vehicle (33.0%), secondary sulfate (25.7%), aged sea salt (17.8%), and secondary nitrate (10.1%). Also, this study suggests the possible role for source apportionment study of $PM_{2.5}$ at similar areas such as wildness, national park, and coastal areas in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.122-127
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to calculate atmospheric environmental capacity for $PM_{10}$, $NO_2$ and $SO_2$ using a rollback model in Chungju. From the results of this study, the source contributions for $PM_{10}$ and $NO_2$ was the following order: line source > area source > point source. However, the source contributions for $SO_2$ was the following: point source > area source > line source. While the atmospheric environmental capacity of $NO_2$ and $SO_2$ was enough to meet the regional air quality target, $PM_{10}$ emission needs to be reduced by 5%.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.676-681
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• 2013

For underwater vehicles, the use of sensors such as cameras and laser scanners is limited by the difference in environment compared to robots designed to work on dry land. In underwater environments, if use is made of sound signals, valuable information can be obtained. The most important application is the localization of underwater sound sources. The estimated location of a sound source can be used to control underwater robots or submarines. Thus, the purpose of this research is to estimate the source's direction and location in a noisy underwater environment. The direction of the sound source is obtained using two hydrophones. Furthermore, if we assume that the robot or sound source is moving, the location of the sound source is estimated using more than two estimated directions. The feasibility of the developed algorithm is examined by experiments in a water tank and in the ocean.