No abstract

Many large dams have been constructed for water supply, irrigation, flood control and hydropower in Korea for the last century. Meanwhile, recent studies indicated that the artificial reservoirs impounded by these dams are major sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere and relevant to global budget of green house gases. However, limited information is available on the seasonal variations of CO2 evasion from the reservoirs located in the temperate monsoon regions including Korea. The objectives of this study were to estimate daily Net Atmospheric Flux (NAF) of CO2 in Daecheong Reservoir located in Geum River basin of Korea, and analyze the influencing parameters that characterize the variation of NAF. Daily pH and alkalinity (Alk) data collected in wet year (2012) and dry year (2013) were used for estimating the NAFs in the reservoir. The dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) was computed using the pH and Alk measurements supposing an equilibrium state among the carbonate species. The results showed seasonal variations of NAF; negative NAFs from May to October when the primary production of the reservoir increased with water temperature increase, while positive NAF for the rest of the period. Overall the reservoir acted as sources of CO2 to the atmosphere. The estimated NAFs were 2,590 and 771 mg CO2 m -2 d -1 in 2012 and 2013, respectively, indicating that the NAFs vary a large extent for different hydrological years. Statistical analysis indicated that the NAFs are negatively correlated to pH, water temperature, and Chl-a concentration of the reservoir.

No abstract