Validation of an artificial neural network model for landslide susceptibility mapping

The aim of this study was to validate an artificial neural network model at Youngin, Janghung, and Boeun, Korea, using the geographic information system (GIS). The factors that influence landslide occurrence, such as the slope, aspect, curvature, and geomorphology of topography, the type, material, drainage, and effective thickness of soil, the type, diameter, age, and density of forest, distance from lineament, and land cover were either calculated or extracted from the spatial database and Landsat TM satellite images. Landslide susceptibility was analyzed using the landslide occurrence factors provided by the artificial neural network model. The landslide susceptibility analysis results were validated and cross-validated using the landslide locations as study areas. For this purpose, weights for each study area were calculated by the artificial neural network model. Among the nine cases, the best accuracy (81.36%) was obtained in the case of the Boeun-based Janghung weight, whereas the Janghung-based Youngin weight showed the worst accuracy (71.72%).     

Drought modeling and products of random variables with exponential kernel

The distribution of products of random variables arises explicitly in many environmental problems. This has increased the need to have available the widest possible range of statistical results on products of random variables. In this paper, we study the exact distribution of P=XY when X is an exponential random variable and Y comes from one of exponential, gamma, Weibull, Pareto or log-normal families. An application of the results is provided to drought data from Nebraska.     

Groundwater occurrence on Jeju Island, Korea

Jeju Island is a volcanic island composed predominantly of permeable basalts. The island is poor in surface water but abundant in groundwater. No actual perennial streams exist and the water resources on the island are dependent almost entirely on groundwater. The groundwater bodies on the island are classified into three general categories: high level, basal and parabasal groundwaters. The parabasal groundwater is further subdivided into lower and upper parabasal groundwaters due to the position of the Seogwipo Formation, which is made up of sedimentary rocks with a low permeability. The distribution of each groundwater type was evaluated through analyses of the spatial distribution of the Seogwipo Formation and the hydraulic gradient of the groundwater. Basal groundwater emerges extensively along the coast of the eastern sector, less commonly along the coast of the western sector. Parabasal groundwater occurs extensively over most of the island except for the southern sector, where it occurs only locally in the coastal area. This paper presents a summary of several studies on the occurrence and features of groundwater resources on Jeju Island, the largest island in Korea.     

A Middle Ordovician Drowning Unconformity on the Northeastern Flank of the Okcheon (Ogcheon) Belt, South Korea

The Maggol Limestone of Ordovician age was deposited in the Taebaeksan (Taebacksan) Basin which occupies the northeastern flank of the Okcheon (Ogcheon) Belt of South Korea. Carbonate facies analysis in conjunction with conodont biostratigraphy suggests that an overall regression toward the top of the Maggol Limestone probably culminated in subaerial exposure of platform carbonates in the early Middle Ordovician (earliest Darriwilian). Elsewhere this subaerial exposure event is manifested as a major paleokarst unconformity at the Sauk-Tippecanoe sequence boundary beneath the Middle Ordovician succession and its equivalents, most in notably North America and North China. Due to its global extent, this paleokarst unconformity has been viewed as a product of second- or third-order eustatic sea level fall during the early Middle Ordovician. The Sauk-Tippecanoe sequence boundary in South Korea, however, appears to be a discrete marine-flooding surface in the upper Maggol Limestone. Strata beneath this surface represent by a thinning-upward stack of exposure-capped tidal flat-dominated cycles that are closely associated with multiple occurrences of paleokarst-related solution-collapse breccias. This marine-flooding surface is onlapped by a thick succession of thin-bedded micritic limestone that is eventually overlain by a Middle Ordovician condensed section. This physical stratigraphic relationship suggest that second- and third-order eustatic sea level fall may have been significantly tempered by regional tectonic subsidence near the end of Maggol deposition. The tectonic subsidence is also evidenced by the occurrence of coeval off-platform lowstand siliciclastic quartzite lenses as well as debris flow carbonate breccias (i.e., the Yemi Breccia) in the basin. With continued tectonic subsidence, a subsequent rise in the eustatic cycle caused drowning and deep flooding of the carbonate platform, forming a discrete marine-flooding surface that may be referred to as a drowning unconformity. This tectonic interpretation contrasts notably with the slowly subsiding carbonate platform model for the basin as has been previously suggested. Thus, it is proposed that the Taebaeksan Basin in the northeastern flank on the Okcheon Belt evolved from a slowly subsiding carbonate platform to a rapidly subsiding intracontinental rift basin during the early Middle Ordovician.     

Photometric behaviour of the Be star EW Lacertae

The night-to-night and short-term variations inUBV light curves of EW Lac which were made during 1982–1984 at Yonsei University Observatory are discussed. The long-term variability in the photometric behaviour of the star is examined with our own data as well as those of Harmanecet al. (1980).Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.Yonsei University Observatory Contribution No. 23.     

The structure and evolution of trade relations between countries along the Belt and Road

Trade facilitation is one of the five main agendas of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Social network analysis has helped understand the complexity of trade networks, but existing studies tend to overlook the fact that not all bilateral trade relations are equally important to a country. To fill this gap in the literature, this paper focuses on the top 2 trade relations networks to illuminate the structure and evolution of B&R trade relations, the relative positions of different countries, and changes in the composition of trade communities (e.g., the community leaders) and the changing patterns of trade between them. We find rich dynamics over time both inter- and intra-communities. The overall international trade networks of B&R countries experienced a leadership change from Russia to China on one hand, some temporary communities experienced emergence, disappearance (e.g. the Kuwait- and Thailand-led communities) or reemergence (e.g. Poland-led community), and a community membership was generally consistent on the other hand. Since the future impacts of China’s BRI will depend on the degree of integration of the connected regions, some countries with stable and high centrality indices (e.g. Russia, Singapore, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Poland, Hungary and Romania) could be selected by China as strategic regional partners, and countries with a strategically important geographical position but weak trade links (e.g. Myanmar, Pakistan, and Belarus) should be prioritized.     

Uncoupled analysis of stabilizing piles in weathered slopes

This paper describes a simplified numerical approach for analyzing the slope/pile system subjected to lateral soil movements. The lateral one-row pile response above and below the critical surface is computed by using load transfer approach. The response of groups was analyzed by developing interaction factors obtained from a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element study. An uncoupled analysis was performed for stabilizing piles in slope in which the pile response and slope stability are considered separately. The non-linear characteristics of the soil–pile interaction in the stabilizing piles are modeled by hyperbolic load transfer curves. The Bishop's simplified method of slope stability analysis is extended to incorporate the soil-pile interaction and evaluate the safety factor of the reinforced slope. Numerical study is performed to illustrate the major influencing parameters on the pile-slope stability problem. Through comparative studies, it has been found that the factor of safety in slope is much more conservative for an uncoupled analysis than for a coupled analysis based on three-dimensional finite element analysis.     

Optimal design of added viscoelastic dampers and supporting braces

This paper presents a simultaneous optimization procedure for both viscoelastic dampers (VEDs) and supporting braces installed in a structure. The effect of supporting braces on the control efficiency of VEDs is also investigated. To apply a general gradient‐based optimization algorithm, closed‐form expressions for the gradients of objective function and constraints are derived. Also, the constraint on the dynamic behavior of a structure is embedded in the gradient computation procedure to reduce the number of variables in the optimization. From numerical analysis of an example structure, it was found that when sufficient stiffness cannot be provided for the supporting braces, the flexibility of the brace should be taken into account in the design of the VED to achieve the desired performance of the structure. It was also observed that, as a result of the proposed optimization process, the size of the supporting brace could be reduced while the additional VED size (to compensate for the loss of the control effect) was insignificant. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.