• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.212-218
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• 2010

The radar backscatter from various earth surfaces is sensitive to the frequency of the incident wave. This study examined the radar sensitivities for surface parameters such as soil moisture content and surface roughness of both bare and vegetated surfaces at X-band. Because L-band frequencies are often used for sensing the surface parameters, the sensitivities of X-band are also compared with those of the L-band. The sensitivities of the X-band radar backscatter were examined with respect to soil moisture content and surface roughness of rough bare soil surfaces. These sensitivities were also examined using the same parameters for vegetated surfaces for various vegetation densities and incidence angles. Use of the X-band radar for soil moisture detection was as effective as L-band radar for bare soil surfaces. For vegetated surfaces, the soil moisture could be detected using an X-band radar at lower incidence angles, where the upper limit of the incidence angles was dependent on vegetation density.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.33-36
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• 2008

This paper presents soil moisture retrieval from measured polarimetric backscattering coefficients of a vegetated surface. Based on the analysis of the quite complicate first-order radiative transfer scattering model for vegetated surfaces, a simplified scattering model is proposed for an inversion algorithm. Extraction of the surface-scatter component from the total scattering of a vegetation canopy is addressed using the simplified model, and also using the three-component decomposition technique. The backscattering coefficients are measured with a polarimetric L-band scatterometer during two months. At the same time, the biomasses, leaf moisture contents, and soil moisture contents are also measured. Then the measurement data are used to estimate the model parameters for vv-, hh-, and vh-polarizations. The scattering model for tall-grass-covered surfaces is inverted to retrieve the soil moisture content from the measurements using a genetic algorithm. The retrieved soil moisture contents agree quite well with the in-situ measured soil moisture data.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.427-436
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• 2008

This paper presents radar remote sensing of soil moisture and surface roughness for vegetated surfaces. A precise volume scattering model for a vegetated surface is derived based on the first-order radiative transfer technique. At first, the scattering mechanisms of the scattering model are analyzed for various conditions of the vegetation canopies. Then, the scattering model is simplified step by step for developing an appropriate inversion algorithm. For verifying the scattering model and the inversion algorithm, the polarimetric backscattering coefficients at 1.85 GHz, as well as the ground truth data, of a tall-grass field are measured for various soil moisture conditions. The genetic algorithm is employed in the inversion algorithm for retrieving soil moisture and surface roughness from the radar measurements. It is found that the scattering model agrees quite well with the measurements. It is also found that the retrieved soil moisture and surface roughness parameters agree well with the field-measured ground truth data.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.399-415
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• 2014

The intensity of stormwater runoff is particularly acute across cities located in arid climates. During flash floods loose sediment and pollutants are typically transported across sun-hardened surfaces contributing to widespread degradation of water quality. Rapid, dense urbanization exacerbates the problem by creating continuous areas of impervious surfaces, perforated only by a few green patches. Our work demonstrates how the latest techniques in remote sensing can be used to routinely measure urban land cover types, impervious cover, and vegetated areas. In addition, multiple regression models can then infer relationships between urban land use and land cover types with stormwater quality data, initially sampled at discrete monitoring sites, and then extrapolated annually across an arid city; in our case, the city of Phoenix in Arizona, USA. Results reveal that from 30 storm event samples, solids and heavy metal pollutants were found to be highly related with general impervious surfaces; in particular, with industrial and commercial land use types. Repercussions stemming from this work include support for public policies that advocate environmental sustainability and the more recent focus on urban livability. Also, advocacy for new urban construction and re-development that both steer away from vast unbroken impervious surfaces, in place of more fragmented landscapes that harmonize built and green spaces.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.496-507
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• 2006

A hybrid approach integrating both high-resolution and hyperspectral data sets was used to map vegetation cover of a coastal lowland area in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Three common grass species (broomsedge, natal redtop, and pili) and other non-grass species, primarily shrubs, were focused in the study. A 3-step, hybrid approach, combining an unsupervised and a supervised classification schemes, was applied to the vegetation mapping. First, the IKONOS 1-m high-resolution data were classified to create a binary image (vegetated vs. non--vegetated) and converted to 20-meter resolution percent cover vegetation data to match AVIRIS data pixels. Second, the minimum noise fraction (MNF) transformation was used to extract a coherent dimensionality from the original AVIRIS data. Since the grasses and shubs were sparsely distributed and most image pixels were intermingled with lava surfaces, the reflectance component of lava was filtered out with a binary fractional cover analysis assuming that tile total reflectance of a pixel was a linear combination of the reflectance spectra of vegetation and the lava surface. Finally, a supervised approach was used to classify the plant species based on tile maximum likelihood algorithm.

• The Korean Journal of Quaternary Research
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• v.18 no.2 s.23
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• pp.67-73
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• 2004

Dissected erosional surfaces are widely distributed in the western part of Korea (e.g. Icheon, Chungju, Jecheon, Seosan). The deposits with thickness of less than 2m occur on the smooth bedrock surface are composed of poorly sorted subangular gravels with less than 20cm diameter. However, only weathered mantle of granites without the gravel layer are observed at some outcrops. The results of grain size analysis of deposits of Icheon district revealed that the characteristic of the gain size distribution is very similar with the results of sheetflood deposits presented by Blair (1999) in the Death Valley. Loess layer with buried soil layers of MIS7 covers the sheetflood deposits. The loess layer implies that the sheetflood deposits occurred before MIS7 based on the typical Loess sequences presented by Naruse et al.(2003). On the other hand, the climate of Korean Peninsula in MIS2 was very dry and cold (Yoon and Hwnag, 2003) by pollen analysis. This is because Yellow Sea was completely emerged during the MIS2(e.g. Sau\ito, 1998). So, it is thought that the climate in Korean Peninsula of not only MIS2 but also other glacial ages such as MIS8 was similar with present Mongolian climates. Tanaka et al.(2005) pointed out that Hortonian overlandflow occurs in grass vegetated granite basin in Mongolia. Therefore, dissected piedmont gentle slopes in the western Korea were possibly formed by sheetflood erosion during probably MIS8 as pediment widely distributed in Mongolia.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1149-1151
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• 2003

We performed a validation study of the MODIS active fire detection algorithm using high resolution SPOT image as the reference data set. Fire with visible smoke plumes are detected in the SPOT scenes, while the hotspots in MODIS data are detected using NASA's new version 4 fire detection algorithm. The detection performance is characterized by the commission error rate (false alarms) and the omission error rate (undetected fires). In the Sumatra and Kalimantan study area, the commission rate and the omission rate are 27% and 34% respectively. False alarms are probably due to recently burnt areas with warm surfaces. False negative detection occur where there are long smoke plumes and where fires occur in densely vegetated areas.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.333-333
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• 2017

Recently, long-lasting landscape of the Naesung Stream has been changed due to encroachment of vegetation. To analyze patterns and causes of these changes, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) has been carried out long-term monitoring research for the 56.8 km long study reach of the Naeseong Stream. Using the consecutive airborne LiDAR survey data obtained from 2012~2016, changes of channel bed forms such as bars could be detected. For the last four years of monitoring, mid-channel bars has been formed along the straight reaches and the existing bars showed vertical accretion caused by deposition on the vegetated surfaces.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2002

Recently, the flux community in Korea established a new regional flux network, so-called KoFlux, which will provide an infrastructure for collecting, synthesizing, and analysing long-term measurements of energy and mass exchange between the atmosphere and the various vegetated surfaces. KoFlux requires the collection of long time series of raw data, and a large amount of data are expected to accumulate due to continuous flux observations at each KoFlux sites. Therefore, we need a systematic and efficient tool to manage these raw data. As a part of this effort, a computer program far processing raw data measured from micrometeorological field experiments was developed for the flux community in Korea. In this paper, we introduce this program for processing raw data to estimate fluxes and other turbulent statistics and explain the micrometeolological processes coded in this data-processing program. Also, we show some examples on how to run the program and handle the outputs for the unique purpose of research interest.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.12-23
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• 2017

The Naeseong Stream is a meandering sand-bed stream flowing through mountains and has so long maintained its geomorphological uniqueness characterized by extensive braided bare bars. Recently, its long-lasting landscape has been changed due to encroachment of vegetation. In this study being a part of long-term monitoring research morphological changes of the 56.8 km long study reach of the Naeseong Stream, which occurred during the period of 2012 - 2016 were analyzed. Airborne LiDAR and terrestrial cross-section surveys were carried out. Hydrological and on-site investigation data were also collected. Among the main four sites, two bend reaches showed point bars enlarged, while along the other two straight reaches mid-channel bars were either newly formed or increased in area and height. At the highest deposition point of each bar, vertical changes which were caused by one or two times of sediment deposition amounted to 0.6 - 1.4 m. On the contrary channel bed degradation was not obvious. Overall morphological changes in the study reach were attributed to deposition of sediment which occurred during the flood in July 2016 on the bar surfaces vegetated during the precedent dry seasons. These kind of geomorphological processes are thought to be the same as those related to the existing mid-channel islands along the mid- and downstream reach of the Naeseong Stream.