• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.183-194
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• 2011

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is widely used because of high resolution imaging capability in all weather and day/night condition. In this paper development of Spotlight SAR simulator is proposed for image quality analysis. Proposed SAR simulator is based on the SAR system design parameters so that SAR image performance can be expected which is essential throughout the full system development procedure from the initial concept design stage to the final in-flight calibration and validation stage. The raw data of ideal point target is first generated by taking account of the flight and imaging geometry and the various SAR system design parameters, and the Spotlight image formation algorithm is implemented in order to obtain the point target response. Finally the image quality of the generated raw data is analyzed in terms of spatial resolution, peak to sidelobe ratio and integrated sidelobe ratio.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.6_1
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• pp.969-979
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• 2018

This paper presents reflection symmetry of polarimetric SAR over the Amazon rainforest in terms of correlation coefficients between the pairs of HH- and HV-pol and VV- and VH-pol data by ALOS PALSAR. The reflection symmetry is defined as a non-zero correlation between HH- and HV-pol and VV- and VH-pol over natural distributed targets, and is a fundamental assumption for cross-talk calibration coefficient computation and for three-component decomposition for polarimetric SAR data. The Amazon rainforest is especially one of the common global reference sites for the reflection symmetry. The correlation coefficients for the pairs of reflection symmetry obtained in this study range from 0.018 to 0.097. The results imply that there exists a non-negligible dependency between co-pol and cross-pol in the distributed natural targets, and consequently the non-zero correlation must be considered as a potential contribution to errors of spaceborne SAR polarimetry to some extent.

• Current Industrial and Technological Trends in Aerospace
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2010

The demand for Satellite Images is continuously increasing owing to the various applications of optical satellite images. However, the acquisition of optical images has a limitation due to problems of weather and day & night. because an optical satellite makes images with reflections of sunlight. Therefore, SAR Satellite, which uses electromagnetic waves to make an image, gives increased demand to various applications. It also makes increased interest. In this paper, a calibration and validation system, which is an essential element for high quality Radar images, is studied.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_3
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• pp.1349-1359
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• 2021

Acquisition of precise position and velocity information of GNSS-INS (Global Navigation Satellite System; Inertial Navigation System) sensors in obtaining SAR SLC (Single Look Complex) images from raw data using BPA (Backprojection Algorithm) was regarded decisive. Several studies on BPA were accompanied by Kalman Filter for sensor noise oppression, but often implemented once where insufficient information was given to determine whether the filtering was effectively applied. Multiple operation of Kalman Filter on GNSS-INS sensor was presented in order to assess the effective order of sensor noise calibration. FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave)-SAR raw data was collected from twice airborne experiments whose GNSS-INS information was practically and repeatedly filtered via Kalman Filter. It was driven that the FMCW-SAR raw data with diverse path information could derive different order of Kalman Filter with optimum operation of BPA image restoration.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.639-647
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• 2018

This paper presents TerraSAR-X and KOMPSAT-5 sigma nought variation according to season and antenna observation configuration in Mongolia. Two types of landcover including bare surface and cropland were examined. The seasonal variation of sigma nought in cropland was about 7 dB and particularly a significant sigma nought reduction occurred after harvest. On the contrary, the Mongolia bare surface provides a consistent sigma nought values for several years with an annual variation less than 2.5 dB of standard deviation. However, the bare soil was relatively sensitive to look-direction (or ascending or descending mode) as well as incidence angle while the cropland was almost independent of antenna look-direction and small incidence angle changes. Although the look-directional variation of bare surface sigma nought was observed in this study, the look-direction anisotropic nature of the surface was not well examined. A further study would be required to account for this feature with various SAR observation configurations.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.299-309
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• 2013

A comprehensive SAR(Synthetic Aperture Radar) simulation is considered to be a complicated task since a full knowledge of the signal propagation characteristics, antenna pattern, system internal errors and interference noises should be taken into account. In high resolution target application modes, the time varying nature of target RCS(Radar Cross Section) strongly affects the generated SAR images. In this paper, in-depth SAR simulations are performed and analyzed incorporating the STK tools and MATLAB software. STK provides realistic orbit parameters while its radar module helps to extract accurate radiometric parameters of ground targets. SAR raw data corresponding to a given target is generated and processed using MATLAB simulator. The performance is measured by PSLR(Peak Sidelobe Ratio) and ISLR(Integrated Sidelobe Ratio) for a point target, which can be used as reference parameters for accurate radiometric calibration. Finally, high resolution target simulations are performed by adopting time varying target RCS characteristics.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1204-1211
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• 2012

Measurement and analysis results of the extracted radiation-patterns from the field-experiments which were conducted to acquire the generic technology for calibration and validation of the satellite SAR system(Synthetic Aperture Radar) are presented in this study. Prototype of active transponder is adjustable within maximum 63.1 dBsm of RCS (Radar Cross Section) and includes the receiving-function with external receiver. To increase an accuracy of these field experiments, we repetitively measured satellite SAR systems of the same operating mode(i.e., COSMO-SkyMed No. 2 & 3, hh-pol., strip-map himage mode, 3 m resolution). Then, the reliability of experimental results was cross-checked through analysis of the RCS of active transponder on SAR image. The property of azimuth radiation patterns of satellite SAR system extracted from them has $0.352^{\circ}$ of HPBW(half-power beamwidth), $0.691^{\circ}$ of FNBW(first-null beamwidth), and 11.17 dB of PSLR(peak to side lobe ratio), respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 2012

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has been employed in various fields due to its capability to generate high resolution images regardless of weather and visibility. This paper presents a performance analysis on the image formation of high resolution SAR according to various slant range distance and synthetic aperture lengths using a range migration algorithm simulator. Although the visual performance on the SAR image is more accurate, a numeric analysis resulted in a comparable measurement. More specifically, raw data were generated for an ideal point target upon imaging geometries and design parameters such as slant range distance and synthetic aperture lengths. Finally, spatial resolution, peak to sidelobe ratio and integrated sidelobe ratio are drawn to provide SAR capabilities in the initial concept design, final in-flight calibration and validation stages.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.32-39
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• 2013

Although space-borne satellites are useful in obtaining information all around the world, they cannot observe at a suitable time and place. In order to overcome these limitations, an airborne remote sensing system was developed in this study. It is composed of a SAR sensor and a thermal infrared sensor. Additionally GPS, IMU, and thermometer/hygrometer were attached to the plane for radiometric and geometric calibration. The brightness of SAR image varies depending on surface roughness, and capillary waves on the sea surface, which are easily generated by sea winds, induce the surface roughness. Thus, sea surface wind can be estimated using the relationship between quantified SAR backscattering coefficient and the sea surface wind. On the other hand, thermal infrared sensor is sensitive to measure object's temperature. Sea surface temperature is obtained from the thermal infrared sensor after correcting the atmospheric effects which are located between sea surface and the sensor. Using these two remote sensing sensors mounted on airplane, four test flights were carried out along the west coast of Korea. The obtained SAR and thermal infrared images have shown that these images were useful enough to monitor coastal environment and estimate marine meteorology data.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.31.4-32
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• 2008

The microwave instruments are used many areas of the space remote sensing and space science applications. The imaging radar of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is well known microwave radar sensor for earth surface and ocean research. Unlike radar, microwave radiometer is passive instrument and it measures the emission energy of target, i.e. brightness temperature BT, from earth surface and atmosphere. From measured BT, the geophysical data like cloud liquid water, water vapor, sea surface temperature, surface permittivity can be retrieved. In this paper, the radiometer characteristics, system configuration and principle of BT measurement are described. Also the radiometer instruments TRMM, GPM, SMOS for earth climate, and ocean salinity research are introduce. As first korean microwave payload on STSAT-2, the DREAM (Dual-channels Radiometer for Earth and Atmosphere Monitoring) is described the mission, system configuration and operation plan for life time of two years. The main issues of DREAM unlike other spaceborne radiometers, will be addressed. The calibration is the one of main issues of DREAM mission and how it contribute on the space borne radiometer. In conclusion, the radiometer instrument to space science application will be considered.