• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.41-53
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• 2014

The special observation using Radiosonde was performed to investigate precipitation events over the east coast of Korea during the winter season from 5 January to 29 February 2012. This analysis focused on the various indices to describe the characteristics of the atmospheric instability. Equivalent Potential Temperature (EPT) from surface (1000 hPa) to middle level (near 750 hPa) was increased when the precipitation occurred and these levels (1000~750 hPa) had moisture enough to cause the instability of atmosphere. The temporal evolution of Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) appeared to be enhanced when the precipitation fell. Similar behavior was also observed for the temporal evolution of Storm Relative Helicity (SRH), indicating that it had a higher value during the precipitation events. To understand a detailed structure of atmospheric condition for the formation of precipitation, the surface remote sensing data and Automatic Weather System (AWS) data were analyzed. We calculated the Total Precipitable Water FLUX (TPWFLUX) using TPW and wind vector. TPWFLUX and precipitation amount showed a statistically significant relationship in the north easterly winds. The result suggested that understanding of the dynamical processes such as wind direction be important to comprehend precipitation phenomenon in the east coast of Korea.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.117-127
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• 2015

Recently, research and development on satellite payloads are being developed such as the optical sensor, SAR etc. Satellite image for earth observation is being utilized both domestically and abroad. Advanced satellite payload technology has led to the collection and analysis of satellite images relying on the optical sensor. Currently, related organizations such as RDA(the Rural Development Administration) are collectively collaborating to plan a national project to develop a medium-sized satellite based on Korea's domestic technology independently. This paper investigated the cases of the past research on application of satellite images for agriculture and analyzed the technical specifications for satellite payload in each area of such application. Based on the results of the past surveys and consultation studies among local experts in satellite image application, we analyzed the current trends, plans and applications of domestic and overseas R&D in satellite payloads for earth observation in agriculture, and proposed the appropriate technical specifications for developing a future medium-sized satellite for agriculture. The proposed specifications were then incorporated into a simulated satellite to examine its performance to observe the Korean farming areas. The authors anticipate that the findings of this paper will form a useful technical basis for providing the appropriate specifications for developing future medium-sized satellite payloads to be used in agriculture and forestry, and enabling the end users to efficiently utilize the satellite.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.645-661
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• 2013

The synoptic, thermodynamic, and dynamic characteristics of a heavy snowfall event that occurred in Seoul metropolitan area on 27 to 28 December 2010 was investigated. During this period there was a distinctive case that was identified as a polar low. We analyzed surface and upper level weather charts, snowfall amount, sea surface temperature, satellite imagery, sounding, and the National Center for Environmental Prediction global $1^{\circ}{\times}1^{\circ}$ reanalysis data. The polar low developed in an area where there was strong baroclinicity in the lower level aided by strong conditional instability due to 925 hPa warm air advection and 700 hPa cold air advection. The development mechanism of polar low is due, in part, to the tropopause folding, which advected stratospheric air increasing potential vorticity in mid-level and inducing cyclonic vorticity and convergence in low-level. Eventually clouds developed and there were snowfall total of 10 cm in Seoul metropolitan area and as much as 20 cm in southern parts of Korea. During the snowfall development, there was a $-45^{\circ}C$ cold core at 500 hPa and shortwave maintained $3-5^{\circ}$ separation with surface trough, which favored the development of polar low located in the warm sector and cyclonic advection area. The height of the dynamical tropopause lowered to 700 hPa during the peak development and increase in potential vorticity allowed strong vertical motion to occur. Overall, there was a close relationship between the development of snowfall and tropopause undulation. The heaviest snowfall occurred east of the tropopause folding where strong cyclonic vorticity, vertical motion, and moisture advection all coincided while the polar low was passing through the Korean peninsula.

• Current Industrial and Technological Trends in Aerospace
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.3-13
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• 2008

The year 2007 marked two important anniversaries for space. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 50 years ago on October 4. 1957. The 40th anniversary of the United Nations treaty on outer space was also marked in 2007. 2008 and 2007 were full of dramatic events of space activity as well : Success of Japan's first large lunar explorer 'KAGUYA'(SELENE) and China's 'Chang'e 1', launch of ISS laboratory module, 'Colombus' and 'Kibo', test of China's ASAT, and success of Korea's first astronaut program and so on. International government space budgets reached $78.3 billion in 2007, a strong growth rate of 36% over 2006, and the recently released Global Exploration Strategy, The Framework for Coordination is a set of guidelines for international cooperation among 14 of the world's space agencies. Worldwide space industry revenue grew by 20% over 2005, $106.1 billion in 2006 and $173.9 billion expected in 2007. This paper discusses the issues related to the Earth observation R&D trend and market in detail. Korea's 2008 government space spending is \316.4 billion, 2007 space industry revenue was $106 million. Several research projects are now underway and STSAT 2 will be launched by KSLV-1 at the Naro Space Center within this year.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 1998.09a
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• pp.286-291
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• 1998

SAR has provided weather independent images on land and sea surface, which can be used for extracting various useful informations. Recently attempts to estimate wind field parameters from SAR images over the oceans have been made by various groups over the world. Although scatterometer loaded in ERS-1 and ERS-2 observes the global wind vector field at spatial resolution of 50 Km with accuracies of $\pm$2m/s in speed, the spatial resolution may not be good enough for applications in coastal regions. It is weil known the sea surface roughness is closely correlated to the wind field, but the wind retrieval algorithms from SAR images are yet in developing stage. Since the radar backscattering properties of the SAR images are principally the same as that of scatterometer, some previous studies conducted by other groups report the success in mesoscale coastal wind field retrievals using ERS SAR images. We have tested SWA (SAR Wind Algorithm) and CMOD4 model for estimation of wind speed using an ERS-1 SAR image acquired near Cheju Island, Korea, in October 11, 1994. The precise estimation of sigma nought and the direction of wind are required for applying the CMOD4 model to estimate wind speed. The wind speed in the test sub-image is estimated to be about 10.5m/s, which relatively well agrees to the observed wind speed about 9.0m/s at Seoguipo station. The wind speed estimation through the SWA is slightly higher than that of CMOD4 model. The sea surface condition may be favorable to SWA on the specific date. Since the CMOD4 model requires either wind direction or wind speed to retrieve the wind field, we should estimate the wind speed first using other algorithm including SWA. So far, it is not conclusive if the SWA can be used to provide input wind speed data for CMOD4 model or not. Since it is only initial stage of implementing the wind field retrieval algorithms and no in-situ observed data is currently avaliable, we are not able to evaluate the accuracy of the results at the moment. Therefore verification studies should be followed in the future to extract reliable wind field information in the coastal region using ERS SAR images.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.184-190
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• 2011

A compact imaging spectrometer (COMIS) was developed for a microsatellite STSAT-3. The satellite is now rescheduled to be launched into a low sun-synchronous Earth orbit (~700 km) by the end of 2012. Its main operational goal is the imaging of the Earth's surface and atmosphere with ground sampling distance of 27 m and 2 - 15 nm spectral resolution over visible and near infrared spectrum (0.4 - 1.05 ${\mu}m$). A flight model of COMIS was developed following an engineering model that had successfully demonstrated hyperspectral imaging capability and structural rigidity. In this paper we report the environmental test results of the flight model. The mechanical stiffness of the model was confirmed by a small shift of the natural frequency i.e., < 1% over 10 gRMS random vibration test. Electrical functions of the model were also tested without showing any anomalies during and after vacuum thermal cycling test with < $10^{-5}$ torr and $-30^{\circ}C\;-\;35^{\circ}C$. The imaging capability of the model, represented by a modulation transfer function (MTF) value at the Nyquist frequency, was also kept unvaried after all those environmental tests.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.44 no.4 s.316
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• pp.28-35
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• 2007

Airbone laser altimeters have been utilized for 3D topographic mapping of the earth, moon, and planets with high resolution and accuracy, which is a rapidly growing remote sensing technique that measures the round-trip time emitted laser pulse to determine the topography. The traveling time from the laser scanner to the Earth's surface and back is directly related to the distance of the sensor to the ground. When there are several objects within the travel path of the laser pulse, the reflected laser pluses are distorted by surface variation within the footprint, generating multiple echoes because each target transforms the emitted pulse. The shapes of the received waveforms also contain important information about surface roughness, slope and reflectivity. Waveform processing algorithms parameterize and model the return signal resulting from the interaction of the transmitted laser pulse with the surface. Each of the multiple targets within the footprint can be identified. Assuming each response is gaussian, returns are modeled as a mixture gaussian distribution. Then, the parameters of the model are estimated by LMS Method or EM algorithm However, each response actually shows the skewness in the right side with the slowly decaying tail. For the application to require more accurate analysis, the tail information is to be quantified by an approach to decompose the tail. One method to handle with this problem is proposed in this study.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.533-544
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• 2018

Rainfall is one of the most important meteorological variables in meteorology, agriculture, hydrology, natural disaster, construction, and architecture. Recently, satellite remote sensing is essential to the accurate detection, estimation, and prediction of rainfall. In this study, the accuracy of Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) product, a composite rainfall information based on Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite was evaluated with ground observation data in the inland of Korea. The Automatic Weather Station (AWS)-based rainfall measurement data were used for validation. The IMERG and AWS rainfall data were collocated and compared during one year from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. The coastal regions and islands were also evaluated irrespective of the well-known uncertainty of satellite-based rainfall data. Consequently, the IMERG data showed a high correlation (0.95) and low error statistics of Bias (15.08 mm/mon) and RMSE (30.32 mm/mon) in comparison to AWS observations. In coastal regions and islands, the IMERG data have a high correlation more than 0.7 as well as inland regions, and the reliability of IMERG data was verified as rainfall data.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.58.1-59
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• 2021

Exploration of asteroids' internal structure is essential for understanding their evolutional history. It also provides a fundamental information about the history of coalescence and collision of the solar system. Among several models of the internal structures, the rubble-pile model, confirmed by the near-Earth asteroid (25143) Itokawa by Hayabusa mission [1], is now widely regarded as the most common to asteroids with size ranging from 200 m to 10 km [2]. On the contrary, monolithic and core-mantle structures are also possible for small asteroids [3]. It is, however, still challenging to look through the interior of a target object using remote-sensing devices. In this presentation, we introduce our ongoing research conducted at Seoul National and propose an idea to infer the internal structure of Apophis using available instruments. Itokawa's research provides an important benchmark for Apophis exploration because both asteroids have similar size and composition [4][5]. We have conducted research on Itokawa's evolution in terms of collision and space weathering. Space weathering is the surface alteration process caused by solar wind implantation and micrometeorite bombardment [6]. Meanwhile, resurfacing via a collision acts as a counter-process of space weathering by exposing fresh materials under the matured layer and lower the overall degree of space weathering. Therefore, the balance of these two processes determine the space weathering degrees of the asteroid. We focus on the impact evidence on the boulder surface and found that space weathering progresses in only 100-10,000 years and modifies the surface optical properties (Jin & Ishiguro, KAS 2020 Fall Meeting). It is important to note that the timescale is significantly shorter than the Itokawa's age, suggesting that the asteroid can be totally processed by space weathering. Accordingly, our result triggers a further discussion about why Itokawa indicates a moderately fresh spectrum (Sq-type denotes less matured than S-type). For example, Itokawa's smooth terrains show a weaker degree of space weathering than other S-type asteroids [7]. We conjecture that the global seismic shaking caused by collisions with >1 mm-sized interplanetary dust particles induces granular convection, which hinders the progression of space weathering [8]. Note that the efficiency of seismic wave propagation is strongly dependent on the internal structure of the asteroid. Finally, we consider possible approaches to investigate Apophis's internal structure. The first idea is studying the space weathering age, as conducted for Itokawa. If Apophis indicates a younger age, the internal structure would have more voids [9]. In addition, the 2029 close encounter with Earth provides a rare natural opportunity to witness the contrast between before and after the event. If the asteroid exhibits a slight change in shape and space weathering degree, one can determine the physical structure of the internal materials (e.g., rubble-pile monolithic, thick or thin regolith layer, the cohesion of the materials). We will also consider a possible science using a seismometer.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.33 no.5_2
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• pp.699-708
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• 2017

The present study was to develop an approach for predicting soybean yield using a crop growth simulation model at the regional level where the detailed and site-specific information on cultivation management practices is not easily accessible for model input. CROPGRO-Soybean model included in Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) was employed for this study, and Illinois which is a major soybean production region of USA was selected as a study region. As a first step to predict soybean yield of Illinois using CROPGRO-Soybean model, genetic coefficients representative for each soybean maturity group (MG I~VI) were estimated through sowing date experiments using domestic and foreign cultivars with diverse maturity in Seoul National University Farm ($37.27^{\circ}N$, $126.99^{\circ}E$) for two years. The model using the representative genetic coefficients simulated the developmental stages of cultivars within each maturity group fairly well. Soybean yields for the grids of $10km{\times}10km$ in Illinois state were simulated from 2,000 to 2,011 with weather data under 18 simulation conditions including the combinations of three maturity groups, three seeding dates and two irrigation regimes. Planting dates and maturity groups were assigned differently to the three sub-regions divided longitudinally. The yearly state yields that were estimated by averaging all the grid yields simulated under non-irrigated and fully-Irrigated conditions showed a big difference from the statistical yields and did not explain the annual trend of yield increase due to the improved cultivation technologies. Using the grain yield data of 9 agricultural districts in Illinois observed and estimated from the simulated grid yield under 18 simulation conditions, a multiple regression model was constructed to estimate soybean yield at agricultural district level. In this model a year variable was also added to reflect the yearly yield trend. This model explained the yearly and district yield variation fairly well with a determination coefficients of $R^2=0.61$ (n = 108). Yearly state yields which were calculated by weighting the model-estimated yearly average agricultural district yield by the cultivation area of each agricultural district showed very close correspondence ($R^2=0.80$) to the yearly statistical state yields. Furthermore, the model predicted state yield fairly well in 2012 in which data were not used for the model construction and severe yield reduction was recorded due to drought.