• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.319-332
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• 2011

The objectives of this study are to analyze the satellite visibility at the randomly established ground sites, to determine the five optimal ground sites to perform the optical surveillance and tracking of domestic satellites, and to verify the acquisition of the optical observation time sufficient to maintain the precise ephemeris at optimal ground sites that have been already determined. In order to accomplish these objectives, we analyzed the visibility for sun-synchronous orbit satellites, low earth orbit satellites, middle earth orbit satellites and domestic satellites as well as the continuous visibility along with the fictitious satellite ground track, and calculate the effective visibility. For the analysis, we carried out a series of repetitive process using the satellite tool kit simulation software developed by Analytical Graphics Incorporated. The lighting states of the penumbra and direct sun were set as the key constraints of the optical observation. The minimum of the observation satellite elevation angle was set to be 20 degree, whereas the maximum of the sun elevation angle was set to be -10 degree which is within the range of the nautical twilight. To select the candidates for the optimal optical observation, the entire globe was divided into 84 sectors in a constant interval, the visibility characteristics of the individual sectors were analyzed, and 17 ground sites were arbitrarily selected and analyzed further. Finally, five optimal ground sites (Khurel Togoot Observatory, Assy-Turgen Observatory, Tubitak National Observatory, Bisdee Tier Optical Astronomy Observatory, and South Africa Astronomical Observatory) were determined. The total observation period was decided as one year. To examine the seasonal variation, the simulation was performed for the period of three days or less with respect to spring, summer, fall and winter. In conclusion, we decided the optimal ground sites to perform the optical surveillance and tracking of domestic satellites and verified that optical observation time sufficient to maintain the precise ephemeris could be acquired at the determined observatories.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.287-305
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• 2016

Over the past half century, satellites have continuously expanded their roles in remote sensing applications. As the number of satellites to be launched are expected to continuously increase in coming years, the research on satellite payloads will be in high demands. Earth Observation (EO) satellites are nowadays widely utilized for various purposes. Especially, Agriculture and forestry applications are considered as their major application areas. Since about 85% of domestic land cover is classified as forest or cropland areas, it would be reasonable to suggest that the demand for these satellites should be of high priority. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis is performed on the technical specifications of satellite payloads that may be applicable to agricultural applications. We attempted to build a solid database on payload specifications by collecting relevant information available from various related institutes and academic research works. A number of experts involved in national agricultural research and satellite development programs have been invited to investigate required payload design. Based on the current technology development status and future plan, multiple options for future satellite payload designs have been suggested bearing in mind that the results may be applicable to the future agriculture and forestry satellite payload design. The proposed payload specifications are analyzed in depth through satellite operation simulations under the mission of observing the national agriculture areas. The proposed design scheme and simulation results may be used as technical references to satellite payload design for future space missions.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.225-232
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• 2011

We have designed and manufactured the Earth observation camera (EOC) of multi-purpose infrared imaging system (MIRIS). MIRIS is a main payload of the STSAT-3, which will be launched in late 2012. The main objective of the EOC is to test the operation of Korean IR technology in space, so we have designed the optical and mechanical system of the EOC to fit the IR detector system. We have assembled the flight model (FM) of EOC and performed environment tests successfully. The EOC is now ready to be integrated into the satellite system waiting for operation in space, as planned.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.138-141
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• 2006

In developing algorithms to retrieve the sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface wind speed from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) aboard the AQUA and the Advanced Earth Observation Satellite-II (ADEOS-II), data from the SeaWinds aboard ADEOS-II were helpful. Since features of the ocean microwave emission (Tb) related with ocean wind are not well understood, in case of using only AMSR data, combination of AMSR and SeaWinds revealed pronounced features about the ocean Tb. Two results from combinations of the two sensors were shown in this paper. One result was obtained at wind speeds over about 6m/s, in which the ocean Tb varies with the air-sea temperature difference, even though the SeaWinds wind speed is fixed at the same values. The ocean Tb increases as the air-sea temperature difference becomes negative, i.e., the boundary condition becomes unstable. This result indicates that the air temperature should be included in AMSR SST algorithm. The second result was obtained from comparison of two wind speeds between AMSR and SeaWinds. There is a small difference of two wind speeds, which might be related with several mechanisms, such as evaporation and plankton.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.407-411
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• 2012

Space-borne remote sensing is an effective and inexpensive way to identify crop fields and detect the crop condition. We examined the multi-temporal spectral characteristics of rice fields in South Korea to detect their phenological development and condition. These rice fields are compact, small-scale parcels of land. For the analysis, moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and RapidEye images acquired in 2011 were used. The annual spectral tendencies of different crop types could be detected using MODIS data because of its high temporal resolution, despite its relatively low spatial resolution. A comparison between MODIS and RapidEye showed that the spectral characteristics changed with the spatial resolution. The vegetation index (VI) derived from MODIS revealed more moderate values among different land-cover types than the index derived from RapidEye. Additionally, an analysis of various VIs using RapidEye satellite data showed that the VI adopting the red edge band reflected crop conditions better than the traditionally used normalized difference VI.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.525-527
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• 2003

Recently, the spatial resolution of earth observation satellites is significantly increased to a few meters. Such high spatial resolution images definitely will provide lots of information for detail-thirsty remote sensing users. However, it is more difficult to develop automated image algorithms for automated image feature extraction and pattern recognition. In this study, we propose a two-stage procedure to extract road information from high resolution satellite images. At first stage, a watershed segmentation technique is developed to classify the image into various regions. Then, a knowledge is built for road and used to extract the road regions. In this study, we use panchromatic and multi-spectral images of the IKONOS satellite as test dataset. The experiment result shows that the proposed technique can generate suitable and meaningful road objects from high spatial resolution satellite images. Apparently, misclassified regions such as parking lots are recognized as road needed further refinement in future research.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2011

The needs for satellite formation flying are gradually increasing to perform the advanced space missions in remote sensing and observation of the space or Earth. Formation flying in low Earth orbit can perform the scientific missions that cannot be realized with a single spacecraft. One of the various techniques of satellite formation flying is the determination of the precise baselines between the satellites within the formation, which has to be in company with the precision validation. In this paper, the baseline of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) A and B was determined with the real global positioning system (GPS) measurements of GRACE satellites. And baseline precision was validated with the batch and sequential processing methods using K/Ka-band ranging system (KBR) biased range measurements. Because the proposed sequential method validate the baseline precision, removing the KBR bias with the epoch difference instead of its estimation, the validating data (KBR biased range) are independent of the data validated (GPS-baseline) and this method can be applied to the real-time precision validation. The result of sequential precision validation was 1.5~3.0 mm which is similar to the batch precision validation.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.333-344
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• 2011

An optical tracking system has advantages for observing geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites relatively over other types of observation system. Regular surveying for unidentified space objects with the optical tracking system can be an early warning tool for the safety of five Korean active GEO satellites. Two strategies of positioning on the observed image of Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite 1 are tested and compared. Photometric method has a half root mean square error against streak method. Also eccentricity method for initial orbit determination (IOD) is tested with simulation data and real observation data. Under 10 minutes observation time interval, eccentricity method shows relatively better IOD results than the other time interval. For follow-up observation of unidentified space objects, at least two consecutive observations are needed in 5 minutes to determine orbit for geosynchronous orbit space objects.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.103-112
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• 2012

We demonstrate the preliminary results of ship detection application using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and automatic identification system (AIS) together. Multi-frequency and multi-temporal SAR images such as TerraSAR-X and Cosmo-SkyMed (X-band), and Radarsat-2 (C-band) are acquired over the West Sea in South Korea. In order to compare with SAR data, we also collected an AIS data. The SAR data are pre-processed considering by the characteristics of scattering mechanism as for sea surface. We proposed the "Adaptive Threshold Algorithm" for classification ship efficiently. The analyses using the combination of the SAR and AIS data with time series will be very useful to ship detection or tracing of the ship.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.99-104
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• 2005

The major role of a spacecraft structure is to keep and support the spacecraft safely in all the launch environment, on-orbit condition and during ground-transportation and handling. In a satellite development, a structural and thermal model (STM) is developed for two goals ; demonstration of a structural and a thermal stability. In the structure point of view, STM is used to verify the static/dynamic characteristics of structure in the initial stage of development. In this paper, the structure design/analysis of high resolution LEO earth observation satellite STM is described. Also, a low level sine vibration test is performed and compared to the results of finite element analysis.