2009, Vol.18, No.6

Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.51

pISSN : 1225-7184
https://journal.kci.go.kr/kseia

Spatiotemporal changes in the thermal environment in a large city, Seoul, Korea were analyzed using a thermal index, perceived temperature (PT), to standardize the weather conditions. PT is a standard index for the thermal balance of human beings in thermophysiological environment. For the analysis of PT, the data from long-term monitoring and intensive observations in and around the inner-city stream called ‘Cheonggye’ in Seoul, were compared with a reference data from the Seoul weather station. Long-term data were monitored by installing two automatic weather stations at 66m (S1) and 173m (S2) away from the center of the stream. Through the analysis of the data during the summer of 2006 and intensive observation periods, it was revealed that the stream’s effects on the PT extended up to the distance of the S1 site. In winter, the increase of the PT between pre- and post-restoration was stronger at S1, which was nearer than S2 from the stream. These results suggest that PT can be used as an effective model in analyzing the changes of the thermal environment in relation with the changes of water surface areas.

The serious problem facing two-dimensional finite element hydraulic model is the treatment of wet and dry areas. This situation is encountered in most practical river and coastal engineering problems, such as flood propagation, dam break analysis and so on. Especially, dry areas result in mathematical complications and require special treatment. The objective of this study is to investigate the wet and dry parameters that have direct relevance to model performance in situations where inundation of initially dry areas occurs. Several numerical simulations were carried out, which examined the performance of the marsh porosity method of RMA-2 model to investigate for application of parameters. Experimental channel with partly dry side slopes, straight channel with irregular geometry and Han river were performed for tests. As a result of this study, effectively applied marsh porosity method provide a reliable results for flow distribution of wet and dry area, it could be further developed to basis for extending to water quality and sediment transport analysis.

This study conducted a vulnerability assessment on Korea’s physical infrastructure to provide base data for developing strategies to strengthen Korea’s ability to adapt to climate change. The assessment was conducted by surveying professionals in the field of infrastructure and climate change science. A vulnerability assessment was carried out for seven climate change events: average temperature increases, sea level rise, typhoons and storm surges, floods and heavy rain, drought, severe cold, and heat waves. The survey asked respondents questions with respect to the consequences of each climate change event, the urgency of adaptation to climate change, and the scale of investment for adaptation to each climate change event. Thereafter, management priorities for infrastructure were devised and implications for policy development were suggested. The results showed that respondents expected the possibility of “typhoons and storm surges” and “floods and heavy rain” to be the most high. Respondents indicated that infrastructure related to water, transportation, and the built environment were more vulnerable to climate change. The most vulnerable facilities included river related facilities such as dams and riverbanks in the “water” category and seaports and roads in the “transport and communication” category. The results found were consistent with the history of natural disasters in Korea.