• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.201-212
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• 2023

The inscription of Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido (天象列次分野之圖) has the sun's locations at the equinoxes, which must have been copied from the astronomical treatises in Chinese historical annals, Songshu (宋書) and Jinshu (晉書). According to the treatises, an astronomer Wang Fan (王蕃, 228-266 CE) referred those values from a calendrical system called Qianxiangli (乾象曆, 223 CE), from which it is confirmed that it adopted the sun's location at the winter solstice of the $(21{\frac{1}{4}})^{th}$ du of the 8th lunar lodge Dou (斗) as the reference direction for equatorial lodge angles. This indicates that the sun's locations at equinoxes and solstices in the calendrical system are the same as those in Jingchuli (景初曆, 237 CE). Hence, we propose that the sun's location at the autumnal equinox in Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido should be corrected from 'wu du shao ruo' (五度少弱), meaning the $(5{\frac{1}{6}})^{th}$ du, to 'wu du ruo' (五度弱), meaning the $(4{\frac{11}{12}})^{th}$ du, of the first lunar lodge Jiao (角), as seen in Jingchuli. We reconstruct the polar coordinate system used in circular star charts, assuming that the mean motion rule was applied and its reference direction was the sun's location at the winter solstice. Considering the precession, we determined the observational epoch of the sun's location at the winter solstice to be t_o = -18.3 ± 43.0 adopting the observational error of the so-called archaic determinatives (古度). It is noteworthy that the sun's locations at equinoxes inscribed in Cheonsang Yeolcha Bunyajido originated from Houhan Sifenli (後漢 四分曆) of the Latter Han dynasty (85 CE), while the coordinate origin in the star chart is related to Taichuli (太初曆) of the Former Han dynasty (104 BCE).

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2013

The geomagnetic activity shows the semiannual variation stronger in vernal and autumnal equinoxes than in summer and winter solstices. The semiannual variation has been explained by three main hypotheses such as Axial hypothesis, Equinoctial hypothesis, and Russell-McPherron Effect. Many studies using the various geomagnetic indices have done to support three main hypotheses. In recent, Oh & Yi (2011) examined the solar magnetic polarity dependency of the geomagnetic storm occurrence defined by Dst index. They reported that there is no dependency of the semiannual variation on the sign of the solar polar fields. This study examines the solar magnetic polarity dependency of quiet time geomagnetic activity. Using Dxt index (Karinen & Mursula 2005) and Dcx index (Mursula & Karinen 2005) which are recently suggested, in addition to Dst index, we analyze the data of three-year at each solar minimum for eight solar cycles since 1932. As a result, the geomagnetic activity is stronger in the period that the solar magnetic polarity is anti-parallel with the Earth's magnetic polarity. There exists the difference between vernal and autumnal equinoxes regarding the solar magnetic polarity dependency. However, the difference is not statistically significant. Thus, we conclude that there is no solar magnetic polarity dependency of the semiannual variation for quiet time geomagnetic activity.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 2010

We have carried out all-sky imaging of OH Meinel, $O_2$ atmospheric and OI 557.7 nm airglow layers in the period from July of 2001 through September of 2005 at Mt. Bohyun, Korea ($36.2^{\circ}$ N, $128.9^{\circ}$ E, Alt = 1,124 m). We analyzed the images observed during a total of 153 clear moonless nights and found 97 events of band-type waves. The characteristics of the observed waves (wavelengths, periods, and phase speeds) are consistent with internal gravity waves. The wave occurrence shows an approximately semi-annual variation, with maxima near solstices and minima near equinoxes, which is consistent with other studies of airglow wave observations, but not with those of mesospheric radar/lidar observations. The observed waves tended to propagate westward during fall and winter, and eastward during spring and summer. Our ray tracing study of the observed waves shows that majority of the observed waves seemed to originate from mesospheric altitudes. The preferential directions and the apparent source altitudes can be explained if the observed waves are secondary waves generated from primary waves that have been selected by the filtering process and break up at the mesospheric altitudes.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2016

The East African ionosphere (3°S-18°N, 32°E-50°E) was mapped using Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements from ground-based GPS receivers situated at Asmara, Mekelle, Bahir Dar, Robe, Arbaminch, and Nairobi. Assuming a thin shell ionosphere at 350 km altitude, we project the Ionospheric Pierce Point (IPP) of a slant TEC measurement with an elevation angle of >10° to its corresponding location on the map. We then infer the estimated values at any point of interest from the vertical TEC values at the projected locations by means of interpolation. The total number of projected IPPs is in the range of 24-66 at any one time. Since the distribution of the projected IPPs is irregularly spaced, we have used an inverse distance weighted interpolation method to obtain a spatial grid resolution of 1°×1° latitude and longitude, respectively. The TEC maps were generated for the year 2008, with a 2 hr temporal resolution. We note that TEC varies diurnally, with a peak in the late afternoon (at 1700 LT), due to the equatorial ionospheric anomaly. We have observed higher TEC values at low latitudes in both hemispheres compared to the magnetic equatorial region, capturing the ionospheric distribution of the equatorial anomaly. We have also confirmed the equatorial seasonal variation in the ionosphere, characterized by minimum TEC values during the solstices and maximum values during the equinoxes. We evaluate the reliability of the map, demonstrating a mean error (difference between the measured and interpolated values) range of 0.04-0.2 TECU (Total Electron Content Unit). As more measured TEC values become available in this region, the TEC map will be more reliable, thereby allowing us to study in detail the equatorial ionosphere of the African sector, where ionospheric measurements are currently very few.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2014

As the prediction of geomagnetic storms is becoming an important and practical problem, conditions in the Earth's magnetosphere have been studied rigorously in terms of those in the interplanetary space. Another approach to space weather forecast is to deal with it as a probabilistic geomagnetic storm forecasting problem. In this study, we carry out detailed statistical analysis of solar wind parameters and geomagnetic indices examining the dependence of the distribution on the solar cycle and annual variations. Our main findings are as follows: (1) The distribution of parameters obtained via the superimposed epoch method follows the Gaussian distribution. (2) When solar activity is at its maximum the mean value of the distribution is shifted to the direction indicating the intense environment. Furthermore, the width of the distribution becomes wider at its maximum than at its minimum so that more extreme case can be expected. (3) The distribution of some certain heliospheric parameters is less sensitive to the phase of the solar cycle and annual variations. (4) The distribution of the eastward component of the interplanetary electric field BV and the solar wind driving function BV2, however, appears to be all dependent on the solar maximum/minimum, the descending/ascending phases of the solar cycle and the equinoxes/solstices. (5) The distribution of the AE index and the Dst index shares statistical features closely with BV and $BV^2$ compared with other heliospheric parameters. In this sense, BV and $BV^2$ are more robust proxies of the geomagnetic storm. We conclude by pointing out that our results allow us to step forward in providing the occurrence probability of geomagnetic storms for space weather and physical modeling.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.7 no.4 s.17
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• pp.191-198
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• 1998

The form of Pantheon in Rome is graphically analyzed in relation to the angle of the Sun that varies through four seasons of the year. These are worked out in the Autocad drawing files for exactitude and efficiency. Some of the results suggest that the Pantheon is carefully designed to predict the equinoxes and the solstices.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.460-466
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• 2011

Kameun temple was constructed in A.D. 682 after 46 year after Chumsungdae was constructed. This paper discusses the scientific implication of Taegeuk stone rods of Kameun temple site through the geometric analysis of their engraved figures. So we can estimate that the west Taegeuk of Kameun temple site has 2 circles comparing the path of the moon with that of the sun leading to the asymmetry in its emblem(Taegeuk) and the east Taegeuk of Kameun temple site has 1 circle representing the path of the sun. The Taegeuks along with around 30 equilateral triangles representing the north latitude $35.8^{\circ}$ give the explicit information of period of the orbit of the moon and the sun. These mathematical methods can explain some relics structure of antiquity with a few historical expounds.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.395-401
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• 2015

Recently, many research studies have been carried out on the efficiency of light-shelf daylighting systems, especially comparing performance improvements and the limitations of reflective surfaces and their lighting performance. In this study, a crystal face reflective surface is proposed. The objective of the study is to evaluate the lighting performance of a crystal face light-shelf through a performance study. The performance study was carried out in a full scale test-bed in order to calculate the light distribution and energy consumption utilizing the standard indoor illumination as an index. The conclusions of the performance study are as follows. 1) The optimal angle of incidence for daylighting for both the operable flat type light-shelf and the crystal face light-shelf are taken in the natural environment on the dates of the winter and summer solstices, as well as the autumn and spring equinoxes. 2) The application and installation of the crystal face light-shelf can produce a 29.9%~34.3% increase of light distribution within the indoor space. However, the increase of light distribution can also lead to a decrease in the uniformity ratio, a design challenge that should be considered when applying a crystal face light-shelf. 3) It is possible to achieve a 7.98%~13.3% greater reduction in energy consumption when applying a crystal face light-shelf than when applying a flat type light-shelf. The increase in the number of crystal faces should concur with the analysis of the energy reduction. A limitation of the study is that only one predetermined pattern was performance tested for a crystal face light-shelf. In order to carry out further research on crystal face light-shelves, additional performance studies are needed based on alternative patterns and designs.