• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2020

Modern radar system requires high spectral purity and low phase noise characteristics for very low RCS target detection and high resolution SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) image. This paper presents a new X-band high stable frequency synthesizer for high performance radar system, which combines DAS (Direct Analog Synthesizer) and DDS (Direct Digital Synthesizer) techniques, in order to cope with very low phase noise and high frequency agility requirements. This synthesizer offers more than 10% operating bandwidth in X-band frequency and fast agile time lower than 1 usec. Also, the phase noise at 10kHz offset is lower than -136dBc/Hz, which shows an improvement of more than 10dB compared to the current state of art frequency synthesizer. This architecture can be applied to L-band and C-band application as well. This frequency synthesizer is able to used in modern AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar system and high resolution SAR application.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.567-577
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• 2016

SqueeSAR is a new technique to combine Persistent Scatterer (PS) and Distributed Scatterer (DS) for deformation monitoring. Although many PSs are available in urban areas, SqueeSAR analysis can be beneficial to increase the PS density in not only natural targets but also smooth surfaces in urban environment. The height of each targets is generally required to remove topographic phase in interferometric SAR processing. The result of PSInSAR analysis to use PS only is not affected by DEM resolution because the height error of initial input DEM at each PSs is precisely compensated in PS processing chain. On the contrary, SqueeSAR can be affected by DEM resolution and precision since it includes spatial average filtering for DS targets to increase a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this study we observe the effect of DEM resolution on deformation measurement by PSInSAR and SqueeSAR. With ALOS-1 PALSAR L-band data, acquired over Daejeon city, Korea, two different DEM data are used in InSAR processing for comparison: 1 m LIDAR DEM and SRTM 1-arc (~30 m) DEM. As expected the results of PSInSAR analysis show almost same results independently of the kind of DEM, while the results of SqueeSAR analysis show the improvement in quality of the time-series in case of 1-m LIDAR DSM. The density of InSAR measurement points was also improved about five times more than the PSInSAR analysis.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.209-220
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• 2002

We carried out studies on SAR image intensity and interferometric phase over oyster sea farms. Strong backscattering was observed in amplitude images, and that was considered as a radar signal double bouncing from horizontal bars. These sea farming structures are not visible in satellite optical images except IKONOS image, so that it demonstrates the value of radar remote sensing as an effective tool in support of sea farm detection. The intensity of the image is sensitive to system parameters including wavelength, polarization, and look direction, but does not correlate to tide height. We found that the strongest backscattering can be obtained by L-band HH-polarization with a look direction perpendicular to the horizontal bar. We also succeeded in generating 21 coherent JERS-1 SAR interferometric pairs over the oyster farms. The general trend of the fringe rate of the interferometric phases appeared to be governed by altitude of ambiguity. The general trend was modeled by an inverse function and removed to have a residual phase. The residual phase showed a linear relation with the tide height. The results demonstrate for the first time that SAR can possibly be used to estimate sea level. However, the r.m.s. error of a regression line is 11.7 cm, and that is so far too large to make reliable assessments of sea level in practical applications. Further studies is required to improve the accuracy specifically using multi-polarization SAR data.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.148-153
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• 1999

Baikdu-san was a very active volcano during the Cenozoic era and is believed to be formed in late Cenozoic era. Recently it was also reported that there was a major eruption in or around 1002 A.D. and there are evidences which indicate that it is still an active volcano and a potential volcanic hazard. Remote sensing techniques have been widely used to monitor various natural hazards, including volcanic hazards. However, during an active volcanic eruption, volcanic ash can basically cover the sky and often blocks the solar radiation preventing any use of optical sensors. Synthetic aperture radar(SAR) is an ideal tool to monitor the volcanic activities and lava flows, because the wavelength of the microwave signal is considerably longer that the average volcanic ash particle size. In this study we have utilized several sets of SAR data to evaluate the utility of the space-borne SAR system. The data sets include JERS-1(L-band) SAR, and RADARSAT(C-band) data which included both standard mode and the ScanSAR mode data sets. We also utilized several sets of auxiliary data such as local geological maps and JERS-1 OPS data. The routine preprocessing and image processing steps were applied to these data sets before any attempts of classifying and mapping surface geological features. Although we computed sigma nought ($\sigma$$^{0}$) values far the standard mode RADARSAT data, the utility of sigma nought image was minimal in this study. Application of various types of classification algorithms to identify and map several stages of volcanic flows was not very successful. Although this research is still in progress, the following preliminary conclusions could be made: (1) sigma nought (RADARSAT standard mode data) and DN (JERS-1 SAR and RADARSAT ScanSAR data) have limited usefulness for distinguishing early basalt lava flows from late trachyte flows or later trachyte flows from the old basement granitic rocks around Baikdu-san volcano, (2) surface geological structure features such as several faults and volcanic lava flow channels can easily be identified and mapped, and (3) routine application of unsupervised classification methods cannot be used for mapping any types of surface lava flow patterns.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.365-374
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• 2017

SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) is an effective tool for monitoring areas damaged by disasters. Full PolSAR (Polarimetric SAR) enhances SAR's capabilities by providing specific scattering mechanisms. Thus, full PolSAR data have been widely used to analyze the situation when disasters occur. To interpret full PolSAR data, model-based decomposition methods are frequently used due to its easy physical interpretation of PolSAR data and computational efficiency. However, these methods present problems. One of the key problems is the overestimation of the volume scattering component. To minimize the volume scattering component, the OA (Orientation Angle) compensation method is widely utilized. This paper shows that the effect of the OA compensation was analyzed over landslide affected areas. In this paper, the OA compensation is applied by using the OA estimated from the maximum relative Hellinger distance. We conducted an experiment using two full polarimetric ALOS/PALSAR (Advanced Land Observing Satellite/Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar)-2 data collected over Mocoa, Colombia which was seriously damaged by the 2017 Mocoa landslide. After OA compensation, the experimental results showed volume scattering power decreased, while the double-bounce and surface scattering power increased. Particularly, significant changes were noted in urban areas. In addition, after OA compensation, the separability of the double-bounce and surface scattering components are improved over the damaged building areas. Furthermore, changes in the OA can discriminate visually between the damaged building areas and undamaged areas. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the effect of OA compensation improved the influence of the double-bounce and surface scattering components, and OA changes can be useful for detecting damaged building areas.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.41 no.11
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• pp.1653-1660
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• 2016

The synthetic aperture rardar (SAR) is an active sensor using microwaves. It transmits a microwave signal, called a chirp pulse, and receives the reflected signal in a moving platform such as satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle. Since this sensor uses microwaves that can penetrate the atmosphere, SAR generates the images regardless of light and weather conditions. However SAR operates on the moving platform, the Doppler shift and the side-looking observation method should be considered. In addtion, a residual image or ghost image can be occurred according to selection of the pulse repetition frequency (PRF). In this paper, a range design of the PRF for the L-band spaceborne SAR system is studied for prevention of SAR image distortion. And the system is studied for prevention of SAR image distortion. And the system parameter and the PRF are calibrated iteratively according to the proposed system design procedure and design constraints. The MATLAB based on SAR system simulator has been developed to verify the validity of calculated PRF. The developed simulator assumes that SAR sensor is operated by the PRF calculated from the design. The results of the simulator show that the targets in image has a valid peak to side-lobe ratio (PSLR) so that the PRF can be used for the spaceborne SAR sensor.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.303-316
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• 2005

Strong radar returns were observed in oyster sea farms, and coherent interferometric pairs were successfully constructed. Tide height in coastal area is possible to be measured by using interferometric phase and intensity of SAR data. This SAR application technique for measuring the tide height in the near coastal zone can be further improved when applied to double bounce dominant areas. In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of polarimetric signature in the oyster farm structures. Laboratory experiments were carried out using Ku-band according to the target scale. Radar returns from vertical poles are stronger than those from horizontal Pole by 10.5 dB. Single bounce components were as strong as double bounce components and more sensitive to antenna look direction. Double bounce components show quasi-linear relation with the height of vertical poles, which implies double bounce is more useful to determine water level than total power. A L-band NASA/IPL airborne SAR (AIRSAR) image was classified into single-, double-bounce, and volume scattering components. It is observed that oyster farms are not always characterized by double bounced scattering. Double bounce is a main scattering mechanism in oyster farms standing above seawater, while single bounce is stronger than double bounce when bottom tidal flats are exposed to air. Ratios of the normalized single to double bounce components in the former and latter cases were 0.46 and 5.62, respectively. It is necessary to use double bounce dominant sea farms for tide height measurement by DInSAR technique.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.1125-1135
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• 2022

Damages by heavy snow does not occur very often, but when it does, it causes damage to a wide area. To mitigate snow damage, it is necessary to know, in advance, the depth of snow that causes damage in each region. However, snow depths are measured at observatory locations, and it is difficult to understand the spatial distribution of snow depth that causes damage in a region. To understand the spatial distribution of snow depth, the point measurements are interpolated. However, estimating spatial distribution of snow depth is not easy when the number of measured snow depth is small and topographical characteristics such as altitude are not similar. To overcome this limit, satellite images such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can be analyzed using Differential Interferometric SAR (DInSAR) method. DInSAR uses two different SAR images measured at two different times, and is generally used to track minor changes in topography. In this study, the spatial distribution of snow depth was estimated by DInSAR analysis using dual polarimetric IW mode C-band SAR data of Sentinel-1B satellite operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). In addition, snow depth was estimated using geostationary satellite Chollian-2 (GK-2A) to compare with the snow depth from DInSAR method. As a result, the accuracy of snow cover estimation in terms with grids was about 0.92% for DInSAR and about 0.71% for GK-2A, indicating high applicability of DInSAR method. Although there were cases of overestimation of the snow depth, sufficient information was provided for estimating the spatial distribution of the snow depth. And this will be helpful in understanding regional damage-causing snow depth.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.375-384
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• 2013

Most of regions within the city of Mokpo, located on the southwest coast of the Korean Peninsula, are subjected to significant subsidence because about 70% of the city is land reclaimed from the sea (Kim et al., 2005). In this study, we aimed to estimate the rate of subsidence over Mokpo by using PALSAR L-band dataset from 2006 to 2010. Time series analysis was performed as well using GPS surveying data from 2010 to 2012. Results from these two independent datasets are then compared and analyzed over the common period of time. GPS data processing provides the results of seasonal variation on the surface, that is, via repeatedly rising and falling in association with the periodic cycle. Therefore, a time series analysis was performed to calculate the rate of ground subsidence. The deformation rates calculated for the same point are 3.89cm/yr and 2.65cm/yr from the GPS data and SAR data, respectively. SAR and GPS data processing results show a very similar pattern in terms of magnitude of annual subsidence. Thus, if the two datasets are integrated together, new modeling on ground subsidence is feasible. Lastly, subsidence was detected in a landfill area in the city of Mokpo, which has been continuously occurring through 2012.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.538-541
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• 2005

Tidal flats develop along the south coast ofthe Korean peninsula. These areas are famous for sea farming. Specially, strong and coherent radar backscattering signals are observed over oyster sea farms that consist of artificial structures. Tide height in oyster farm is possible to measure by using interferometric phase and intensity of SAR data. It is assumed that the radar signals from oyster farm could be considered as double-bouncing returns by vertical and horizontal bars. But, detailed backscattering mechanism and polarimetric characteristics in oyster farm had not been well studied. We could not demonstrate whether the assumption is correct or not and exactly understand what the properties of back scattering were in oyster farm without full polarimetric data. The results of AIRSAR L-band POLSAR data, experiments in laboratory and JERS-l images are discussed. We carried out an experiment simulating a target structure using vector network analyser (Y.N.A.) in an anechoic chamber at Niigata University. Radar returns from vertical poles are stronger than those from horizontal poles by 10.5 dB. Single bounce components were as strong as double bounce components and more sensitive to antenna look direction. Double bounce components show quasi-linear relation with height of vertical poles. As black absorber replaced AI-plate in bottom surface, double bounce in vertical pole decreased. It is observed that not all oyster farms are characterized by double bounced scattering in AIRSAR data. The image intensity of the double bounce dominant oyster farm was investigated with respect to that of oyster farm dominated by single bounce in JERS-l SAR data. The image intensity model results in a correlation coefficient (R2 ) of 0.78 in double bounce dominant area while that of 0.54 in single bouncing dominant area. This shows that double bounce dominant area should be selected for water height measurement using In8AR technique.