• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2022

Among the 13 species of otters in the world, only one Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is found in South Korea. In the Korean Peninsula, otter pelts were historically valuable and expensive commodities used for international trade, and otters have long been poached as hunting animals. Recent rapid economic development in South Korea has increased habitat fragmentation and loss, creating a continuing threat to the natural environment. Otters live only in the area of rivers and streams as a family group and are territorial (linear habitat). Due to these limited conditions of otter habitat, the population size of otter is lower than that of onshore mammals. According to recent research, DNA analyses using microsatellite markers have shown that only approximately 7-21 otter individuals inhabit river systems for a length of 50-230 km. Korea's urban streams are associated with many threats that hinder otters from inhabiting them. Many areas around the urban streams are surrounded by high concrete riverbanks, and the risk of roadkill is also high. Nevertheless, ecological restoration projects in the urban rivers will contribute greatly to the stable inhabitation of otters. Detailed otter conservation strategies, such as the elimination of threat factors, improvement of habitat environment, and restoration of food resources and shelter, will provide a positive restoration effect on otter and river ecosystems as well.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.288-296
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• 2004

This study was conducted from March to October 2003 to investigate the distribution status and environmental index of naturalized plants at 14 sites at rivers penetrating the downtown area of Gwangju Metropolitan City. The flora consisted of 309 taxa, 76 families, 211 genera, 273 species, 35 varieties and one form, while the naturalized plants consisted of 46 taxa, 14 families, 36 genera, 44 species and two varieties. The dominant species of Gwangju-cheon were nine taxa. Panicum dichotomiflorum, Rumex crispus, Chenopodium album, Trifolium repens, Veronica persica, Ambrosia artemisiifolia var. elatior, Aster pilosus, Bidens frondosa and Taraxacum offici-nale. The dominant species of Hwangryong River were five taxa: Rumex crispus, Trifolium repens, Oenothera odorata, Ambrosia artemisiifolia var. elatior and Erigeron canadensis. At Yeongsan River appeared 16 dominant species: Patspalum distichum, Ckenopodium ficifolium, Lepidium apetalum, Erigeron annuus and Xanthium strumarium in addition to the same dominant species of Gwangju-cheon and Hwangryong River The Urbanization Index (UI) was 17.2% and the Naturalized Index (NI) was 14.9% at urban rivers of Gwangju. The naturalized plants consisted of 16 taxa, which originated in both Europe and North America. Based upon the UI and NI, the urban rivers and their riversides must be considered a major corridor for the invasion of naturalized plants.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.171-177
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• 2007

Korean rivers and their surrounding environments have been used excessively for rice production in the past and more recently for construction of urban areas to accomodate the rapidly increasing population. Affected Korean rivers experience dramatic fluctuations in their water levels and have faster currents compared with those in other countries. In order to restore more natural conditions in rivers experiencing such conditions, we employed a partial restoration method, which is designed to achieve physical and biological stability simultaneously. Concrete blocks were introduced to increase the river's physical stability during floods, and terra cottem, a soil enhancer, was used to reduce water loss due to intense heat. These interventions increased the river's ability to hold water and thereby promoted plant growth. This restoration method increased vegetation coverage and species diversity in treated areas, and changed the species composition in treated areas to more closely approximate that of the control site. These results suggest that this method is effective in restoring damaged habitats to more natural conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.163-174
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• 2021

Heatwaves are one of the most common phenomena originating from changes in the urban thermal environment. They are caused mainly by the evapotranspiration decrease of surface impermeable areas from increases in temperature and reflected heat, leading to a dry urban environment that can deteriorate aspects of everyday life. This study aimed to calculate daily maximum ground surface temperature affecting heatwaves, to quantify the effects of urban thermal environment control through water cycle restoration while validating its feasibility. The maximum surface temperature regression equation according to the impermeable area ratios of urban land cover types was derived. The estimated values from daily maximum ground surface temperature regression equation were compared with actual measured values to validate the calculation method's feasibility. The land cover classification and derivation of specific parameters were conducted by classifying land cover into buildings, roads, rivers, and lands. Detailed parameters were classified by the river area ratio, land impermeable area ratio, and green area ratio of each land-cover type, with the exception of the rivers, to derive the maximum surface temperature regression equation of each land cover type. The regression equation feasibility assessment showed that the estimated maximum surface temperature values were within the level of significance. The maximum surface temperature decreased by 0.0450℃ when the green area ratio increased by 1% and increased by 0.0321℃ when the impermeable area ratio increased by 1%. It was determined that the surface reduction effect through increases in the green area ratio was 29% higher than the increasing effect of surface temperature due to the impermeable land ratio.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.spc
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• pp.54-57
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• 2005

It is important to assess the change of water environment in the present and past. In this study, present-day water quality standards are applied to the expressions in literary works to reconstruct the historical water environment including the quality. As the result, the historical reconstruction of water quality has been made distribution of water quality from 1905 to 1935 for the Sumida River in Tokyo.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.95-95
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• 2020

Urban flooding occurs in the form of internal-water inundation on roads and lowlands due to heavy rainfall. Unlike in the case of rivers, inundation in urban areas there is lacking in research on predicting and warning through measurement data. In order to analyze urban flood patterns and prevent damage, it is necessary to analyze flooding measurement data for various rainfalls. In this study, the pattern of urban flooding caused by rainfall was analyzed by utilizing the urban flooding measuring sensor, which is being test-run in the flood prone zone for urban flooding management. For analysis, 2019 rainfall data, surface water depth data, and water level data of a street inlet (storm water pipeline) were used. The analysis showed that the amount of rainfall that causes flooding in the target area was identified, and the timing of inundation varies depending on the rainfall pattern. The results of the analysis can be used as verification data for the urban inundation limit rainfall under development. In addition, by using rainfall intensity and rainfall patterns that affect the flooding, it can be used as data for establishing rainfall criteria of urban flooding and predicting that may occur in the future.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.99-104
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• 2019

In Korea, nonpoint pollutants have a significant effect on rivers' water quality, and they are discharged in very different ways depending on rainfall events. Therefore, preparing an optimal countermeasure against nonpoint pollutants requires much monitoring. The present study was conducted to help prepare a method for installing an automatic nonpoint pollutant measurement system for the cost-effective monitoring of the effect of nonpoint pollutants on rivers. In the present study, monitoring was performed at six sites of a river passing through an urban area with a basin area of $454.3km^2$. The results showed that monitoring could be performed for a relatively long time interval in the upstream and downstream regions, which are mainly comprised of forests, regardless of the rainfall amount. On the contrary, in the urban region, the monitoring had to be performed at a relatively short time interval each time when the rainfall intensity changed. This was because the flow rate was significantly dependent on the rainfall's intensity. The appropriate sites for installing an automatic measurement system were found to be a site before entering the urban region, a site after passing through the urban region, and the end of a river where the effects of nonpoint pollutant sources can be well-decided. The analysis also showed that the monitoring time should be longer for the rainfall events of a higher rainfall class and for the sites closer to the river end. This is because the rainfall runoff has a longer effect on the river. However, the effect of nonpoint pollutant sources was not significantly different between the upstream and the downstream in the cases of rainfall events over 100 mm.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.471-480
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• 2022

In this study, a integrated platform applied with various analysis and evaluation models and data collection modules was developed for urban river management. Modules applied to the integrated platform are data collection and provision module, flood analysis module, river evaluation module, and levee breach simulation module, which were selected and applied for efficient urban river management. The integrated platform collects data for application to analysis and evaluation modules from various institutions. The collected data is refined through pre-processing and stored. The stored data is used as input data for each module and is also provided as an Open API through the platform. The flood analysis module is provided to analyze and prepare for floods occurring in cities and rivers. The river evaluation module is used for river planning and management by evaluating rivers in various ways. Finally, the levee breach simulation module can be used to establish countermeasures by deriving a possible damage area due to levee breach through analysis of a virtual breach situation.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.61-93
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• 2019

This study is to apply Hedonic Price Method in analyzing residents' preferences for three types of urban green space (UGS, rivers, urban parks, and forests) near the apartment complexes in Seoul. Based on hedonic price function estimation results, residents in Seoul preferred for the urban amenity that was provided by the view and accessibility (in terms of both within 10 minutes and distance) of rivers and urban parks near the apartment complexes, but not forests. The annual benefits calculated using the shadow prices are about 550~600 thousand won for the urban park views and about 800 thousand won for the accessibility, which is 2-3 times higher than river views and accessibility. On the other hand, forest views and accessibility did not have significant effects on apartment prices, except the view of Bukhan mountain for the residents of Gangbuk area. Based on the empirical results, Seoul residents' preferences for urban parks would have important implications for the urban park sunset program that will be initiated from July 2020.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1553-1560
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• 2011

The study analyzes groundwater balance with regard to the water recharge and discharge which contain urbanization components in Suyeong-gu, Busan. It also verifies the reliability and accuracy improvement on the analysis of the balance. The result of the study is viewed as preliminary data which are useful to develop, utilize and manage groundwater. The average quantity of groundwater recharge is 6,014.1 $m^3$/day in the research area during the last ten year period(from 1998 to 2007). The outflow from drainage areas to rivers and coasts is 149.3 $m^3$/day, the inflow from rivers and coasts to drainage area is 439.9 $m^3$/day. The use of the water is 4,243.0 $m^3$/day. The outflow caused by subway in line No.2 and No.3 through Suyeong-gu and the one by building an underground electric complex is 1,500.0 $m^3$/day. The leakage of water works is 6514.9 $m^3$/day. The inflow and outflow of sewerage is 5082.2 $m^3$/day from groundwater to sewer. The amount of groundwater recharge, the inflow from rivers and coasts to drainage area, and the leakage of water works belong to the amount of groundwater inflow and the total amount is 12,968.9 $m^3$/day. The amount of outflow from drainage area to rivers and coasts, the use of groundwater, outflow by subway and underground electric complex tunnel and the amount of inflow of the water to sewerage belong to the amount of outflow of groundwater and the sum amount is 13,031.5 $m^3$/day. The gap between the amount of inflow and outflow of groundwater is 62.6 $m^3$/day, which is considered to reflect the trend that the short term drop in the amount of rainfall results in the amount of groundwater recharge and that the amount of outflow from drainage area to rivers and coasts decreases.