Journal of the Korean Geographical Society ISSN:1225-6633(Print) 대한지리학회지

For effective fine dust concentration management, Korea has introduced and is operating a fine dust warning system. Currently, fine dust zones in Korea are managed by applying the criteria set by each municipality. There are limitations in terms of management, such as the frequency of fine dust alerts being calculated differently due to inconsistent criteria setting by municipality. For the management of high-concentration fine dust, it will be possible to identify the phenomenon using time-series fine dust concentration patterns. In this study, a method of classifying zones for each province was proposed using the concentration grades of fine dust (PM10) and ultrafine dust (PM2.5). To this end, a time series concentration array was created by converting the concentration values ​​observed at air pollution monitoring stations into national standard concentration classes. Next, the information sequence analysis method was used to measure the quantitative similarity of the time series concentration sequence by Si, Gun, and Gu. After that, subzones were classified through divisive hierarchical cluster analysis and representative concentration arrays of the clusters were generated. The results were presented so that the spatial distribution could be confirmed by visualizing the results of cluster analysis in administrative units of Si, Gun, and Gu. As a result of the analysis, detailed fine dust management zones were derived according to the time series concentration patterns of PM10 and PM2.5 for each province. Through the method presented in this study, it will be possible to establish a concentration-based consistent management zone for fine dust in Korea, and it is expected that this zone will help with efficient distribution of disaster prevention resources and establishment of strategies for fine dust.