• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.383-389
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• 2009

The main objective of the research is a feasibility study on the intertidal zone using a X-band radar satellite, TerraSAR-X. The TerraSAR-X data have been acquired in the west coast of Korea where large tidal flats, Ganghwa and Yeongjong tidal flats, are developed. Investigations include: 1) waterline and backscattering characteristics of the high resolution X-band images in tidal flats; 2) polarimetric signature of halophytes (or salt marsh plants), specifically Suaeda japonica; and 3) phase and coherence of interferometric pairs. Waterlines from TerraSAR-X data satisfy the requirement of horizontal accuracy of 60 m that corresponds to 20 cm in average height difference while current other spaceborne SAR systems could not meet the requirement. HH-polarization was the best for extraction of waterline, and its geometric position is reliable due to the short wavelength and accurate orbit control of the TerraSAR-X. A halophyte or salt marsh plant, Suaeda japonica, is an indicator of local sea level change. From X-band ground radar measurements, a dual polarization of VV/VH-pol. is anticipated to be the best for detection of the plant with about 9 dB difference at 35 degree incidence angle. However, TerraSAR-X HH/TV dual polarization was turned to be more effective for salt marsh monitoring. The HH-HV value was the maximum of about 7.9 dB at 31.6 degree incidence angle, which is fairly consistent with the results of X-band ground radar measurement. The boundary of salt marsh is effectively traceable specifically by TerraSAR-X cross-polarization data. While interferometric phase is not coherent within normal tidal flat, areas of salt marsh where the landization is preceded show coherent interferometric phases regardless of seasons or tide conditions. Although TerraSAR-X interferometry may not be effective to directly measure height or changes in tidal flat surface, TanDEM-X or other future X-band SAR tandem missions within one-day interval would be useful for mapping tidal flat topography.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.3-17
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• 2004

Space-borne Earth observation technique is one of the most cost effective and rapidly advancing Earth science research tools today and the potential field and micro-wave radar applications have been leading the discipline. The traditional optical imaging systems including the well known Landsat, NOAA - AVHRR, SPOT, and IKONOS have steadily improved spatial imaging resolution but increasing cloud covers have the major deterrent. The new Earth observation satellites ENVISAT (launched on March 1 2002, specifically for Earth environment observation), ALOS (planned for launching in 2004 - 2005 period and ALOS stands for Advanced Land Observation Satellite), and RADARSAT-II (planned for launching in 2005) all have synthetic aperture radar (SAR) onboard, which all have partial or fully polarimetric imaging capabilities. These new types of polarimetric imaging radars with repeat orbit interferometric capabilities are opening up completely new possibilities in Earth system science research, in addition to the radar altimeter and scatterometer. The main advantage of a SAR system is the all weather imaging capability without Sun light and the newly developed interferometric capabilities, utilizing the phase information in SAR data further extends the observation capabilities of directional surface covers and neotectonic surface displacements. In addition, if one can utilize the newly available multiple frequency polarimetric information, the new generation of space-borne SAR systems is the future research tool for Earth observation and global environmental change monitoring. The potential field strength decreases as a function of the inverse square of the distance between the source and the observation point and geophysicists have traditionally been reluctant to make the potential field observation from any space-borne platforms. However, there have recently been a number of potential field missions such as ASTRID-2, Orsted, CHAMP, GRACE, GOCE. Of course these satellite sensors are most effective for low spatial resolution applications. For similar objects, AMPERE and NPOESS are being planned by the United States and France. The Earth science disciplines which utilize space-borne platforms most are the astronomy and atmospheric science. However in this talk we will focus our discussion on the solid Earth and physical oceanographic applications. The geodynamic applications actively being investigated from various space-borne platforms geological mapping, earthquake and volcano .elated tectonic deformation, generation of p.ecise digital elevation model (DEM), development of multi-temporal differential cross-track SAR interferometry, sea surface wind measurement, tidal flat geomorphology, sea surface wave dynamics, internal waves and high latitude cryogenics including sea ice problems.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2005

We construct improved geocentric digital elevation model (DEM), estimate tidal dynamics and ice stream velocity over Sulzberger Ice Shelf, West Antarctica employing differential interferograms from 12 ERS tandem mission Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images acquired in austral fall of 1996. Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimetry profiles acquired in the same season as the SAR scenes in 2004 are used as ground control points (GCPs) for Interferometric SAR (InSAR) DEM generation. 20 additional ICESat profiles acquired in 2003-2004 are then used to assess the accuracy of the DEM. The vertical accuracy of the OEM is estimated by comparing elevations with laser altimetry data from ICESat. The mean height difference between all ICESat data and DEM is -0.57m with a standard deviation of 5.88m. We demonstrate that ICESat elevations can be successfully used as GCPs to improve the accuracy of an InSAR derived DEM. In addition, the magnitude and the direction of tidal changes estimated from interferogram are compared with those predicted tidal differences from four ocean tide models. Tidal deformation measured in InSAR is -16.7cm and it agrees well within 3cm with predicted ones from tide models. Lastly, ice surface velocity is estimated by combining speckle matching technique and InSAR line-of-sight measurement. This study shows that the maximum speed and mean speed are 509 m/yr and 131 m/yr, respectively. Our results can be useful for the mass balance study in this area and sea level change.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.19-31
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• 2024

Ports are vital social infrastructures that significantly influence both people's lives and a country's economy. In South Korea, the aging of port infrastructure combined with the increased frequency of various natural disasters underscores the necessity of displacement monitoring for safety management of the port. In this study, the time-series displacements of Yeongilman Port and surrounding areas in Pohang, South Korea, were measured by applying Permanent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PSInSAR) to Sentinel-1 SAR images collected from the satellite's ascending (February 2017-July 2023) and descending (February 2017-December 2021) nodes, and the displacement associated with the 2017 Pohang earthquake in the port was analyzed. The southern (except the southernmost) and central parts of Yeongilman Port showed large displacements attributed to construction activities for about 10 months at the beginning of the observation period, and the coseismic displacement caused by the Pohang earthquake was up to 1.6 cm of the westward horizontal motion and 0.5 cm of subsidence. However, little coseismic displacement was observed in the southernmost part of the port, where reclamation was completed last, and in the northern part of the oldest port. This represents that the weaker the consolidation of the reclaimed soil in the port, the more vulnerable it is to earthquakes, and that if the soil is very weakly consolidated due to ongoing reclamation, it would not be significantly affected by earthquakes. Summer subsidence and winter uplift of about 1 cm have been repeatedly observed every year in the entire area of Yeongilman Port, which is attributed to volume changes in the reclaimed soil due to temperature changes. The ground of the 1st and 2nd General Industrial Complexes adjacent to Yeongilman Port subsided during the observation period, and the rate of subsidence was faster in the 1st Industrial Complex. The 1st Industrial Complex was observed to have a westward horizontal displacement of 3 mm and a subsidence of 6 mm as the coseismic displacement of the Pohang earthquake, while the 2nd Industrial Complex was analyzed to have been little affected by the earthquake. The results of this study allowed us to identify the time-series displacement characteristics of Yeongilman Port and understand the impact of earthquakes on the stability of a port built by coastal reclamation.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.192-192
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• 2017

In this paper we showed the application of European Space Agency's C-band Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to identify land subsidence in a heavily groundwater pumping area. We used the repeat pass satellite interferometry method in combination with persistent scattering (PS) interferometric technique to generate and analyze twenty-eight interferograms for the period October 2014 to November 2016. The interferometry results show that land subsidence is more pronounced in the urban areas. Excessive groundwater pumping in the study area is believed to be the main reason for land subsidence. The results are compared with the subsidence rate measured by GPS as reported in other studies and with the mean change in total water storage field of GRACE solutions provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) and the Center for Space Research (CSR). The comparison shows persistently decreasing trends during the period of study. A strong reliance of the trend of land subsidence on the temporal decline in total water storage proposes that much of the land subsidence can be attributed to heavy pumping of the groundwater.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry, and Cartography Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.337-343
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• 2004

Spatial information could be obtained from spaceborne high resolution optical and synthetic aperture radar(SAR) images. However, some satellite images do not provide physical sensor information instead, rational polynomial coefficients(RPC) are available. The objectives of this study are: (1) 3-dimensional ground coordinates were computed by applying rational function model(RFM) with the RPC for the stereo pair of Ikonos images and their accuracy was evaluated. (2) Interferometric SAR(InSAR) was applied to JERS-1 images to generate DEM and its accuracy was analysis. (3) Quality of the DEM generated automatically also analyzed for different types of terrain in the study site. The overall accuracy was evaluated by comparing with GPS surveying data. The height offset in the RPC was corrected by estimating bias. In consequence, the accuracy was improved. Accuracy of the DEMs generated from InSAR with different selection of GCP was analyzed. In case of the Ikonos images, the results show that the overall RMSE was 0.23327", 0.l1625" and 13.70m in latitude, longitude and height, respectively. The height accuracy was improved after correcting the height offset in the RPC. i.e., RMSE of the height was 1.02m. As for the SAR image, RMSE of the height was 10.50m with optimal selection of GCP. For the different terrain types, the RMSE of the height for urban, forest and flat area was 23.65m, 8.54m, 0.99m, respectively for Ikonos image while the corresponding RMSE was 13.82m, 18.34m, 10.88m, respectively lot SAR image.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2011

Since the radar satellite missions such as TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SkyMed were launched in 2007, the spatial resolution of spaceborne SAR(Synthetic Aperture Radar) images reaches about 1 meter at spotlight mode. In 2011, the first Korean SAR satellite, KOMPSAT-5, will be launched, operating at X-band with the highest spatial resolution of 1 m as well. The improved spatial resolution of state-of-the-art SAR sensor suggests expanding InSAR(Interferometric SAR) analysis in urban monitoring. By the way, the shadow and layover phenomena are more prominent in urban areas due to building structure because of inherent side-looking geometry of SAR system. Up to date the most conventional algorithms do not consider the return signals at the frontage of building during InSAR phase and SAR intensity simulation. In this study the new algorithm introducing multi-scattering in layover region is proposed for phase and intensity simulation, which is utilized a precise LIDAR DSM(Digital Surface Model) in urban areas. The InSAR phases simulated by the proposed method are compared with TerraSAR-X spotlight data. As a result, both InSAR phases are well matched, even in layover areas. This study will be applied to urban monitoring using high resolution SAR data, in terms of change detection and displacement monitoring at the scale of building unit.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.6_4
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• pp.1555-1565
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• 2018

Detection of subtle ground deformation of volcanoes plays an important role in evaluating the risk and possibility of volcanic eruptions. Ground-fixed observation equipment is difficult to maintain and cost-inefficient. In contrast, satellite remote sensing can regularly monitor at low cost. In this paper, following the study of Chadwick et al. (2006), which applied the interferometric SAR (InSAR) technique to the Sierra Negra volcano, Galapagos. In order to investigate the deformation of the volcano before 2005 eruption, the recent activities of this volcano were analyzed using Sentinel-1, the latest SAR satellite. We obtained the descending mode Sentinel-1A SAR data from January 2017 to January 2018, applied the Persistent Scatter InSAR, and estimated the depth and expansion quantity of magma in recent years through the Mogi model. As a result, it was confirmed that the activity pattern of volcano prior to the eruption in June 2018 was similar to the pattern before the eruption in 2005 and was successful in estimating the depth and expansion amount. The results of this study suggest that satellite SAR can characterize the activity patterns of volcano and can be possibly used for early monitoring of volcanic eruption.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.35 no.6_1
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• pp.933-944
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• 2019

This study analyzes the tide deformation of land boundary regions on the east (Region A) and west (Region B) sides of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica using Double-Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DDInSAR). A total of seven Sentinel-1A SAR images acquired in 2015-2016 were used to estimate the accuracy of tide prediction model and Young's modulus of ice shelf. First, we compared the Ross Sea Height-based Tidal Inverse (Ross_Inv) model, which is a representative tide prediction model for the Antarctic Ross Sea, with the tide deformation of the ice shelf extracted from the DDInSAR image. The accuracy was analyzed as 3.86 cm in the east region of Ross Ice Shelf and it was confirmed that the inverse barometric pressure effect must be corrected in the tide model. However, in the east, it is confirmed that the tide model may be inaccurate because a large error occurs even after correction of the atmospheric effect. In addition, the Young's modulus of the ice was calculated on the basis of the one-dimensional elastic beam model showing the correlation between the width of the hinge zone where the tide strain occurs and the ice thickness. For this purpose, the grounding line is defined as the line where the displacement caused by the tide appears in the DDInSAR image, and the hinge line is defined as the line to have the local maximum/minimum deformation, and the hinge zone as the area between the two lines. According to the one-dimensional elastic beam model assuming a semi-infinite plane, the width of the hinge region is directly proportional to the 0.75 power of the ice thickness. The width of the hinge zone was measured in the area where the ground line and the hinge line were close to the straight line shown in DDInSAR. The linear regression analysis with the 0.75 power of BEDMAP2 ice thickness estimated the Young's modulus of 1.77±0.73 GPa in the east and west of the Ross Ice Shelf. In this way, more accurate Young's modulus can be estimated by accumulating Sentinel-1 images in the future.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.501-512
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• 2015

Landfast sea ice (LFI) in Terra Nova Bay, East Antarctica where the Jangbogo Antarctic Research Station is located, has significant influences on marine ecosystem and the sailing of an icebreaker. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the spatio-temporal variation of the LFI in Terra Nova Bay. In this study, we chose interferometric pairs with the temporal baseline from 1 to 9 days out of a total of 62 COSMO-SkyMed synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images over Terra Nova Bay obtained from December 2010 to January 2012, and then constructed the coherence image of each pair. The LFI showed coherence values higher than 0.3 even in the interferometric SAR (InSAR) pairs of up to 9-days of temporal baseline. This was because the LFI was fixed at coastline and thus showed low temporal phase decorrelation. Based on the characteristics of the coherence on LFI, We defined the areas of LFI that show spatially homogeneous coherence values higher than 0.5. Pack ice (PI) and open water showed low coherence values due to large temporal phase decorreation caused by current and wind. Distinguishing PI from open water in the coherence images was difficult due to their similarly low coherence values. PI was identified in SAR amplitude images by investigating cracks on the ice. The extents of the LFI and PI were estimated from the coherence and SAR amplitude images and their temporal variations were analyzed. The extent of the LFI increased from March to July (maximum extent of $170.7km^2$) and decreased from October. The extent of the PI increased from February to May and decreased from May to July when the LFI increases dramatically. The extent of the LFI and air temperature showed an inverse correlation with a time lag of about 2 months, i.e., the extent of the LFI decreases after 2 months of the increase in the air temperature. Meanwhile the correlation between wind speed and the extent of the LFI was very low. This represents that the extent of LFI in Terra Nova Bay are influenced more by the air temperature than wind speed.