• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.481-491
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• 2014

Blue-ice area is a glacial ice field in ice sheet, ice shelf and glaciers where snow ablation and sublimation is larger than snowfall. As the blue-ice area has large influences on the meteorite concentration mechanism and ice mass balance, it is required to quantify the concentration of blue-ice. We analyzed spectral reflectance characteristics of blue-ice, snow and cloud by using MODIS images obtained over blue-ice areas in McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica, from 2007 to 2012. We then developed Normalized Difference Blue-ice Index (NDBI) algorithm which quantifies the concentration of blue-ice. Snow and cloud have a high reflectance in visible and near-infrared (NIR) bands. Reflectance of blue-ice is high in blue band, while that lowers in the NIR band. NDBI is calculated by dividing the difference of reflectance in the blue and NIR bands by the sum of reflectances in the two bands so that NDBI = (Blue-NIR)/(Blue + NIR). NDBI calculated from the MODIS images showed that the blue-ice areas have values ranging from 0.2 to 0.5, depending on the exposure and concentration of blue-ice. It is obviously different from that of snow and cloud that has values less than 0.2 or rocks with negative values. The change of NDBI values in the blue-ice area has higher correlation with snow depth ($R^2=0.699$) than wind speed ($R^2=0.012$) or air temperature ($R^2=0.278$), all measured at a meteorological station installed in McMurdo Dry Valleys. As the snow depth increased, the NDBI value decreased, which suggests that snow depth can be estimated from NDBI values over blue-ice areas. The NDBI algorithm developed in this study will be useful for various polar research fields such as meteorite exploration, analysis of ice mass balance as well as the snow depth estimation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.106 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2017

This study aimed to investigate orographic precipitation and green dam (water conservation function) characteristics in a deciduous forest watershed in the region of Mt. Ungseok, Sancheong, Gyeongnam, South Korea. The rainfall and runoff of the watershed were monitored for six years (2011~2016) at the weather station and at the weir of the watershed, respectively. During the study period, the rainfall in the watershed (mountainous area) was larger than that of the meteorological station (flat area) nearest to the watershed. Besides, compared to the normal year (1981~2010), the rainfall has increased and the seasonal distribution of rainfall of the mountainous area has changed. These changes might have been caused by climate change. The runoff ratio was highest in spring, followed by winter, summer and fall, whilst the runoff was highest in summer, followed by spring, fall and winter. This difference seems to be due to the melting of snow in dry spring and intensive rainfall in summer. The total runoff in the watershed was calculated as $10,143.8ton{\cdot}ha{\cdot}yr^{-1}$.