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

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.34.2-34.2
• /
• 2010

Cosmic rays registered by Neutron Monitors on the surface of the Earth are believed to be coming from outer space, and sometimes also from the exotic objects of the Sun. Ground level enhancement (GLE) is the sudden, sharp and short-lived increase in cosmic rays originated from the Sun. Since GLE is the signature in solar cosmic ray intensity, different solar factors erupted from the Sun can be responsible for causing it. In this context, an attempt has been made to determine quantitative relationships of GLEs > 5% with simultaneous solar, interplanetary and geophysical factors from 1997 through 2006 thereby searching the perpetrators which seem to be causing them. The study has revealed that solar flares are stronger ($0.71{\times}10-4$ w/m2) during GLE peaks than the solar flares ($1.10{\times}10-5$ w/m2) during GLE non-peaks and backgrounds. On the average, the solar wind plasma velocity and interplanetary magnetic field are found stronger during the GLE peaks than the GLE non-peaks and backgrounds indicating that the solar flares, in conjunction with interplanetary shocks, sometimes may cause GLE peaks. Direct proportionality of GLE peaks to simultaneous solar energetic particle (SEP) fluxes imply that the GLE peaks may often be caused by SEP fluxes. Although the high intensity of SEP fluxes are also seen extended few minutes even after GLE peaks, the mean (373.62 MeV) of the GLE associated SEP fluxes is much stronger than the mean (10.35 MeV) of the non-GLE associated SEP fluxes. Evidences are also supported by corresponding SEP fluences that the the mean fluence (${\sim}5.32{\times}107/cm2$) across GLE event was more intense than the mean fluence (${\sim}2.53{\times}106/cm2$) of SEP fluxes across non-GLE event.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.160-177
• /
• 2021

The Solar and Space Environment Division of the Korean Space Science Society investigated the use and possession of ground and satellite observations and models of solar and planetary data operated by domestic research institutes and universities. Based on the findings, we would like to introduce observational instruments, data, and models in solar and interplanetary fields in this paper to improve understanding and use of each data and explore opportunities for interdisciplinary research. The ground and satellite observations, which require a lot of investment, were mainly held by research institutes (National Meteorological Satellite Center, Polar Research Institute, Korean Space Weather, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and KAIST Satellite Research Institute), and model development was overwhelmingly carried out at Kyung Hee University. In solar and interplanetary fields, we introduce Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS), neutron monitors, and the analysis models [for the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) and Hinode/X-Ray Telescope (XRT) observations] in nonequilibrium ionization state as representatives. Survey on solar and interplanetary fields can be downloaded from the website of the Korean Space Science Society (http://ksss.or.kr/). The paper makes know the importance of long-term and continuous management of space science-related materials, and hopes to contribute to enhancing the status of domestic space science data by utilizing locally produced data by various personnel participating in space science research.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.178-198
• /
• 2021

The Solar Space Environment Division of the Korean Society of Space Science (KSSS) has recently conducted a survey among the domestic researchers affiliated with academia, national research institutes, and for-profit institutes of how the data and models in their professional research field are produced, maintained, and utilized. The primary purpose of this survey is to increase the awareness and utilization of the space environment data and models as well as to promote constructive collaborations among the domestic and international researchers. The models and data surveyed are categorized into three sub-fields: the solar and interplanetary space, the (terrestrial) magnetosphere, and the ionosphere and upper atmosphere. The present paper reports the survey results in the "Magnetosphere" category. The survey shows that the domestically produced data in this category are far less than the data produced in other categories. This can be understood in part as follows: Magnetospheric research relies heavily on the in-situ observations but the development and operation of space-hardened satellites require a significant investment. Nevertheless, the recent publications show an increasing trend of research using the data from the ground stations and the recently launched domestic space missions. In the modeling front, there are first-principles physics models covering from the magnetospheric scale to the sub-ion scale and the models geared towards the space weather prediction. The detailed survey results can be accessed from the KSSS website (http://ksss.or.kr/).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.82.2-82.3
• /
• 2019

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), in collaboration with the NASA Goddard Sparce Flight Center (GSFC), will develop a next generation coronagraph for the International Space Station (ISS). COronal Diagnostic EXperiment (CODEX) uses multiple filters to obtain simultaneous measurements of electron density, temperature, and velocity within a single instrument. CODEX's regular, systematic, comprehensive dataset will test theories of solar wind acceleration and source, as well as serve to validate and enable improvement of space-weather/operational models in the crucial source region of the solar wind. CODEX subsystems include the coronagraph, pointing system, command and data handling (C&DH) electronics, and power distribution unit. CODEX is integrated onto a standard interface which provides power and communication. All full resolution images are telemeters to the ground, where data from multiple images and sequences are co-added, spatially binned, and ratioed as needed for analysis.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.283-292
• /
• 2005

Ionosphere is deeply coupled to the space environment and introduces the perturbations to radio signal because of its electromagnetic characteristics. Therefore, the status of ionosphere can be estimated by analyzing the GPS signal errors which are penetrating the ionosphere and it can be the key to understand the global circulation and change in the upper atmosphere, and the characteristics of space weather. We used 9 GPS Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), which have been operated by Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) , to determine the high precision of Total Electron Content (TEC) and the pseudorange data which is phase-leveled by a linear combination with carrier phase to reduce the inherent noise. We developed the method to model a regional ionosphere with grid form and its results over South Korea with $0.25^{\circ}\;by\;0.25^{\circ}$ spatial resolution. To improve the precision of ionosphere's TEC value, we applied IDW (Inverse Distance Weight) and Kalman Filtering method. The regional ionospheric model developed by this research was compared with GIMs (Global Ionosphere Maps) preduced by Ionosphere Working Group for 8 days and the results show $3\~4$ TECU difference in RMS values.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.311-315
• /
• 2015

In this study, we estimated the topside scale height of plasma density (Hm) using the Swarm constellation and ionosondes in Korea. The Hm above Korean Peninsula is generally around 50 km. Statistical distributions of the topside scale height exhibited a complex dependence upon local time and season. The results were in general agreement with those of Tulasi Ram et al. (2009), who used the same method to calculate the topside scale height in a mid-latitude region. On the contrary, our results did not fully coincide with those obtained by Liu et al. (2007), who used electron density profiles from Arecibo Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) between 1966 and 2002. The disagreement may result from the limitations in our approximation method and data coverage used for estimations, as well as the inherent dependence of Hm on Geographic LONgitude (GLON).

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.111-118
• /
• 2007

We have studied energetic neutral atom (ENA) disturbances during the magnetic storm main phase that occurred on October 3,2001, using the ENA data from the HENA instrument onboard the IMAGE spacecraft. We find that the main phase is characterized by five ENA enhancement events that occurred quasi-periodically. The repetitive ENA enhancements are most significant in the highest energy (138-222 keV) oxygen channel and become less significant for hydrogen and in lower energies. Also they are separated by ${\sim}1.2$ to ${\sim}1.7$ hrs, which is well below an average period usually seen for other repetitive injection events.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.101-108
• /
• 2003

This study reports one approach for the classification of magnetic storms into recurrent patterns. A storm event is defined as a local minimum of Dst index. The analysis of Dst index for the period of year 1957 through year 2000 has demonstrated that a large portion of the storm events can be classified into a set of recurrent patterns. In our approach, the classification is performed by seeking a categorization that minimizes thermodynamic free energy which is defined as the sum of classification errors and entropy. The error is calculated as the squared sum of the value differences between events. The classification depends on the noise parameter T that represents the strength of the intrinsic error in the observation and classification process. The classification results would be applicable in space weather forecasting.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.58.1-58.1
• /
• 2017

National Youth Space Center has recently founded the Deokheung Optical Astronomy Observatory (DOAO) 1m Telescope, which accepts community observing applications since 2016. Standardization and calibration of the new observing facility are essential for astronomical research. In this poster, we present standardization processes and preliminary results for photometry of the Johnson-Cousins BVRI filter system. We selected sample data from a night in stable weather condition. After bias, dark, and flat corrections and photometry using ccdred and daophot package of IRAF, we derived standardized band pass parameters including color terms. The corrected photometry results of the BVRI filter system show reduced deviations from the standard magnitudes in the literature. In addition, we calculated atmospheric extinction coefficients and limiting magnitudes of the telescope system. We plan to extend these standardizing processes to flux calibration of narrow band filters, e.g. $H{\alpha}$ filter.