• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers Conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.10-13
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• 1996

Satellite-borne altimeters are one of the most important global ocean measurement and monitoring techniques available to modern oceanographers. While the U.S. Navy's GEOdetic SATellite (GEOSAT) mission in the mid-eighties firmly established its value, the full potential of satellite altimetry was not realized until the launch of the NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon precision altimeter in 1992. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.39-42
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• 2006

The paper reports on the first experimental evidence for space-observed manifestation of the open ocean tsunami in the microwave radar backscatter (in C- and Ku-bands). Significant variations of the radar cross section synchronous with the sea level anomaly were found in the geophysical data record of the altimetry satellite Jason-1 for the track which crossed the head wave of the catastrophic tsunami of 26 December 2004. The simultaneous analysis of the available complementary data provided by the satellite three-channel radiometer enabled us to exclude meteorological factors as possible causes of the observed signal modulation. A possible physical mechanism of modulation of short wind waves due to transformation of the thin boundary layer in the air by a tsunami wave is discussed. The results open new possibilities of monitoring tsunamis from space..

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.133-136
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• 2006

The mesoscale eddy field in the North Pacific Ocean, simulated by a high resolution eddy-resolving OGCM ($1/12^{\circ}C$ horizontal resolution), was analyzed, and compared with satellite altimetry data of TOPEX/Poseidon. High levels of eddy kinetic energy (EKE) appear near the Kurosho, North Equatorial Current (NEC), and Subtropical Countercurrent (STCC) in the western part of the subropical gyre. In particlure, it was found that the EKE level of the STCC has a well-defined annual cycle, but no distinct annual cycle of the EKE exists in any other zonal current of the North Pacific Ocean.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.554-560
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• 2017

Accurate altimetry is required for the reliable flight control of drones or unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), and the radar altimeter is commonly used owing to its accuracy for the ground level. Due to the limitation for size, weight and power consumption, the frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar is appropriate for drone because it has lower complexity than that of pulse Doppler (PD) radar. Especially, fast-ramp FMCW radar, which transmits linear FM signal during very short period, is generally utilized, because it is robust for the ego-motion of drone. Therefore, we present the design and implementation results of the radar signal processor (RSP) for fast-ramp FMCW radar system. The proposed RSP was designed with Verilog-HDL and implemented with Altera Cyclone-IV FPGA device. Implementation results show that the proposed RSP includes 27,523 logic elements, 15,798 registers and memory of 138Kbits and can measure the altimeter at the rate of 100Hz with the operating frequency of 50MHz.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2018

Previous studies have indicated a great regional difference in Sea Level Rise (SLR) in the Pacific and it has been suggested that this is linked to climate variability over the past two decades. In this study, we seek to identify the possible linkage between regional sea level and Pacific climate variability from altimetry-based sea level data (1993-2012) and further investigate how the Pacific sea level has changed spatially and temporally over the past 60 years from long-term sea level reconstruction data (1953-2008). Based on the same method as Zhang and Church (2012), the Inter-annual Climate Index (ICI) associated with the El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o-Southern$ Oscillation (ENSO) and the Decadal Climate Index (DCI) associated with Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) are defined and then the multiple variable linear regression is used to analyze quantitatively the impact of inter-annual and decadal climate variability on the regional sea levels in the Pacific. During the altimeter period, the ICI that represents ENSO influence on inter-annual time scales strongly impacts in a striking east-west "see-saw mode" on sea levels across the tropical Pacific. On the other hand, the decadal sea level pattern that is linked to the DCI has a broad meridional structure that is roughly symmetric in the equator with its North Pacific expression being similar to the PDO, which largely contributes to a positive SLR trend in the western Pacific and a negative trend in the eastern Pacific over the two most recent decades. Using long-term sea level reconstruction data, we found that the Pacific sea levels have fluctuated in the past over inter-annual and decadal time scales and that strong regional differences are presented. Of particular interest is that the SLR reveals a decadal shift and presents an opposite trend before and after the mid-1980s; i.e., a declining (rising) trend in the western (eastern) Pacific before the mid-1980s, followed by a rising (declining) trend from the mid-1980s onward in the western (eastern) Pacific. This result indicates that the recent SLR patterns revealed from the altimeters have been persistent at least since the mid-1980s.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.121-133
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• 2019

Natural variability associated with a variety of large-scale climate modes causes regional differences in sea level rise (SLR), which is particularly remarkable in the Pacific Ocean. Because the superposition of the natural variability and the background anthropogenic trend in sea level can potentially threaten to inundate low-lying and heavily populated coastal regions, it is important to quantify sea level variability associated with internal climate variability and understand their interaction when projecting future SLR impacts. This study seeks to identify the dominant modes of sea level variability in the tropical Pacific and quantify how these modes contribute to regional sea level changes, particularly on the two strong El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ events that occurred in the winter of 1997/1998 and 2015/2016. To do so, an adaptive data analysis approach, Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD), was undertaken with regard to two datasets of altimetry-based and in situ-based steric sea levels. Using this EEMD analysis, we identified distinct internal modes associated with El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) varying from 1.5 to 7 years and low-frequency variability with a period of ~12 years that were clearly distinct from the secular trend. The ENSO-scale frequencies strongly impact on an east-west dipole of sea levels across the tropical Pacific, while the low-frequency (i.e., decadal) mode is predominant in the North Pacific with a horseshoe shape connecting tropical and extratropical sea levels. Of particular interest is that the low-frequency mode resulted in different responses in regional SLR to ENSO events. The low-frequency mode contributed to a sharp increase (decrease) of sea level in the eastern (western) tropical Pacific in the 2015/2016 El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$ but made a negative contribution to the sea level signals in the 1997/1998 El $Ni{\tilde{n}}o$. This indicates that the SLR signals of the ENSO can be amplified or depressed at times of transition in the low-frequency mode in the tropical Pacific.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.59-65
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• 2014

Recently, increasing demand for 'Digital Elevation Model(DEM)' to climate change research and various development by global warming in the Arctic region. So we need to verify the accuracy to utilize DEM. In this research, we verified 'ASTER GDEM' and 'GIMP DEM' in several DEM which constructed in the Greenland that most of the area is covered ice sheet. We divided greenland into two part, ice sheet area and non ice sheet area by using the ESA globcover. Then, comparing a difference between 'ASTER DEM', 'GIMP DEM' and ICESat elevation data to verify the accuracy. As a result, GIMP DEM has higher accuracy in ice sheet area and ASTER GDEM has higher accuracy in non-ice sheet area.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.363-370
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• 2015

The current waveform model of a laser altimeter is based on a Gaussian laser beam of fundamental mode, while the flattened Gaussian beam has many advantages such as nearly constant energy distribution on the center of the cross-section. Following the theory of the flattened Gaussian beam and the waveform theory of the laser altimeter, some of the primary parameters of the received waveform were derived, and a laser altimetry waveform simulator and waveform processing software were programmed and improved under the circumstance of a flattened Gaussian beam. The result showed that the bias between theoretical and simulated waveforms was less than 3% for every order mode, the waveform width and range error would increase as target slope or order number rose. Under higher order mode, the shapes of the received waveforms were no longer Gaussian, and could be fitted more precisely as a generalized Gaussian function with power bigger than 2. The flattened beam got much better performance for a multi-surface target, especially when the small surface is far from the center of the laser footprint. This article provides the waveform theoretical basis for the use of a flattened Gaussian beam in a laser altimeter.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.352-355
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• 2006

In this study, the seasonal and inter-annual variation of sea surface current in the Gulf of Thailand were revealed through the use of WOD temperature and salinity data and monthly sea surface dynamic heights (SSDH) from TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-2 altimetry data during 1995-2001. The mean dynamic height and mean geostrohic current were derived from the climatological data while SSDH data gave monthly dynamic heights and their geopstrophic currents. The mean geostrophic current showed strong southward and westward flow of South China Sea water along the gulf entrance. Counterclockwise eddy in the inner gulf and the western side of the gulf entrance associated with upwelling in the area. Seasonal geostrophic currents show basin-wide counterclockwise circulation during the southwest monsoon season and clockwise circulation during the northeast monsoon season. Upwelling was enhanced during the southwest monsoon season. The circulation patterns varied seasonally and inter-annually probably due to the variation in wind regime. And finally we found that congregation, spawning, and migration routes of short-bodied mackerel conform well with coastal upwelling and surface circulation in the gulf.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.633-633
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• 2002

We investigated the distributions of sea ice using various microwave remote sensing techniques in the part of Drake passage, Antarctica, between the area 45-75$^{\circ}$W and 55-66$^{\circ}$S. We used Topex/Poseidon(T/P) radar altimeter, ERS-1 altimeter, ERS-2 scatterometer, Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), and DMSP Special Sensor Microwave/Imager(SSM/I) data. The sea ice distributions were estimated between May and Jun., 1995 and Oct. and Nov., 1998. The two altimeter measurements (T/P and ERS-1) showed good coherence with the results from the radiometer data in the given period when the ice concentration of 20% and greater was selected. The scatterometer data also showed good correlation with altimetry-implied sea ice surface. The maximum and minimum values of sea ice distribution were appeared in Aug. and Feb., respectively. In general, the sea ice distributions estimated from radar altimeter, radioneter, and scatterometer are well correlated.