• 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.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.164-170
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• 2012

This paper presents that the comparison results of AT (Active Transponder) positions obtained from different measurements: the result of GPS device and evaluated position from the SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) image, and active transponders can be useful as GCPs(Ground Control Points) in SAR images. The X-band AT are installed on the wide-and-flat area to improve SCR(signal-to-clutter ration), and activated to represent impulse response function in order to operate as one point target in SAR images. Cosmo-SkyMed operating at X-band frequency are used to provide SAR images of AT. The comparison of AT position is performed by using the result of GPS device field measurement and AT SAR images. ENVI-SARscape S/W is used to evaluate AT position in the SAR images. From the comparison, it is shown that AT are useful as GCPs for SAR images.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.69-75
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• 2017

PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to evaluate different types of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) testing for characterizing the road cavity detection. The impulse and step-frequency-type GPR tests were conducted on a full-scale testbed with an artificial void installation. After analyzing the response signals of GPR tests for detecting the road cavity, the characteristics of each GPR response was evaluated for a suitable selection of GPR tests. METHODS : Two different types of GPR tests were performed to estimate the limitation and accuracy for detecting the cavities underneath the asphalt pavement. The GPR signal responses were obtained from the testbed with different cavity sizes and depths. The detection limitation was identified by a signal penetration depth at a given cavity for impulse and step-frequency-type GPR testing. The unique signal characteristics was also observed at cavity sections. RESULTS : The impulse-type GPR detected the 500-mm length of cavity at a depth of 1.0 m, and the step-frequency-type GPR detected the cavity up to 1.5 m. This indicates that the detection capacity of the step-frequency type is better than the impulse type. The step-frequency GPR testing also can reflect the howling phenomena that can more accurately determine the cavity. CONCLUSIONS :It is found from this study that the step-frequency GPR testing is more suitable for the road cavity detection of asphalt pavement. The use of step-frequency GPR testing shows a distinct image at the cavity occurrences.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.131-139
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• 2009

The existing vessel monitoring system using the ground surveillance radar has a difficulty in monitoring ships continuously due to the limited range of detecting ships. For resolving this problem, we carry out a research on ship detection which is to be the core technology of vessel monitoring system for ocean monitoring using SAR imagery. There are two different methods of detecting ships in SAR imagery: detection of the ship target itself and detection of the ship wake. In this paper, we mainly focus on algorithms which detect the ship itself, and also present the accuracy test after extracting positional and directional figures of the ships. After rectifying input SAR imagery using polynomial transformation, we use Wiener filter to remove speckle noises. A labeling technique and morphological filtering in conjunction with Otsu's method are used to automatically detect the ships based on the image processing domain. For ground truth data, information from a radar system is used, which allows assessing the accuracy of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method has the high potential in automatically detecting the ships and its positional/directional figures in a fast way.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.45-54
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• 2001

A three-dimensional finite difference time-domain modeling algorithm based on staggered grid and considering transmitting and receiving antennas has been developed to simulate Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey. This algorithm adopted the subcellular method to simulate the dipole antennas being used in GPR system and added resistors to reduce ringing caused by the reflections at the ends of an antenna. Comparison of the output voltages in the presence of the resistors for half-space said that the ringing and the amplitude of output voltage decreased as the number of resistors increased, and the antenna was designed based upon this result. Radiation patterns were derived to understand the distribution of electric field energy in the planes including or normal to the antenna. The electric field energy concentrated on vertical direction in the plane including antenna more than in normal plane.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.94-104
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• 2013

In solar system, Mars which has the most similar environment with the Earth has been steadily studied for the purpose of habitable environment for the future manned exploration and settlement. During the daytime, Martian ionosphere can be used for the ground-ground communications between lander and rover through the reflection of the radio wave from ionosphere. In addition, researches about Martian ionosphere provide the link of revolution of water and atmosphere. Martian ionospheric observations were performed by the occultation experiments onboard Mariner, Mars, Viking series during early Martian explorations as well as recent Mars Global Surveyor. Low frequency radar and plasma analyzer are on board Mars Express and Viking-1, 2 lander obtained the only vertical plasma density profile during their entry phase. In this paper, we studied the characteristics of scientific payloads observing Martian ionosphere and then analyzed the usability of ionospheric research according to the communication and climate on Mars.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.139-146
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• 2017

A ground moving target's velocity estimation algorithm applicable for a SAR-GMTI system using 2 channel displaced phase center antenna(DPCA) is proposed. In this algorithm, we assume target's across-track velocity can be estimated by along-track interferometry (ATI) and present a method to estimate target's along-track velocity. To accomplish this method, we first transform a radar-target geometry in which a moving target has zero velocity via altering a radar velocity such that target's velocity is reflected into it and next manipulate the spectral centers of the subapertures within the synthetic aperture. The validity of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through simulation results showing the performance of the target's velocity estimation and the enhancement of reconstructed target image quality in terms of resolution and SINR.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.65-76
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• 2021

There is a possibility of cavities occurring inside and behind the lining of an aged tunnel structure. In most cases, it is not easy to check the cavity because it exists in a place where visual inspection is impossible. Recently, attempts have been made to evaluate the condition of the tunnel lining and the backfill materials using non-destructive tests such as Ground Penetrating Radar, and various related model tests and numerical analysis studies have been conducted. In this study, the GPR signal characteristics for tunnel lining model testing were analyzed using gprMax software, which was compared with model test results. The numerical model applied to the model test reasonably simulated the electromagnetic wave signal according to the change of the material such as tunnel lining and internal cavity. Using the verified GPR model, B-scan data for the development of the GPR signal analysis technique were obtained, which can evaluate the thickness of the tunnel lining, the presence of the cavity, the effect of the waterproof membrane, and the frequency band.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.109-118
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• 2022

GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar), developed as a technology for geotechnical investigations such as sinkhole exploration, was used limitedly as a method to resolve undetectable lines in underground facility exploration. To improve the accuracy of underground facility data, the government made it possible to explore underground facilities using a non-metallic pipeline probe from July 2022. However, GPR has a problem in that the exploration rate is lowered in the soil with high moisture content, such as soft soil, such as clay layer, and there is a lot of variation in long-term accuracy. In this study, as a way to improve the accuracy of exploration considering the characteristics of GPR and the environment of underground facilities, we propose a GPR exploration method for underground facilities using permittivity constant correction and pattern analysis of GPR image data. Through this study, the accuracy of underground facility exploration and high reproducibility were derived as a result of field verification applying GPR frequency band and heterogeneous GPR.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.767-774
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• 2022

In this paper raw spectrum data were analyzed to suggest the moving forward of performance evaluation and quality control of wind profilers of four manufacturers operating in South Korea. For the analysis, the profile of the spectrum averaged by season and the profile of four statistical values (minimum, average, median, and maximum) calculated by Power Spectrum Density (PSD) were used. The quality of spectrum data was the best for LAP-3000, followed by YKJ3, PCL-1300, and CLC-11-H. In Cheorwon and Chupungnyeong, where PCL-1300 was installed, the variability of the spectrum due to ground clutter and non-meteorological signals was large, so ground clutter removal and signal processing such as moving average and multi-peak were required. In Gunsan and Paju, where CLC-11-H was installed, DC (Direct Current) bias and propagation folding were found, so it is necessary to remove the DC bias and limit the effective altitude for observation.