• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.275-285
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• 2012

In this study, we present preliminary results of precise orbit determination (POD) using satellite laser ranging (SLR) observations for International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) Associate Analysis Center (AAC). Using SLR normal point observations of LAGEOS-1, LAGEOS-2, ETALON-1, and ETALON-2, the NASA/GSFC GEODYN II software are utilized for POD. Weekly-based orbit determination strategy is applied to process SLR observations and the post-fit residuals check, and external orbit comparison are performed for orbit accuracy assessment. The root mean square (RMS) value of differences between observations and computations after final iteration of estimation process is used for post-fit residuals check. The result of ILRS consolidated prediction format (CPF) is used for external orbit comparison. Additionally, we performed the precision analysis of each ILRS station by post-fit residuals. The post-fit residuals results show that the precisions of the orbits of LAGEOS-1 and LAGEOS-2 are 0.9 and 1.3 cm, and those of ETALON-1 and ETALON-2 are 2.5 and 1.9 cm, respectively. The orbit assessment results by ILRS CPF show that the radial accuracies of LAGEOS-1 and LAGEOS-2 are 4.0 cm and 5.3 cm, and the radial accuracies of ETALON-1 and ETALON-2 are 30.7 cm and 7.2 cm. These results of station precision analysis confirm that the result of this study is reasonable to have implications as preliminary results for administrating ILRS AAC.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.329-336
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• 2012

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute researchers have installed and operated magnetometers at Bohyunsan Observatory to measure the Earth's magnetic field variations in South Korea. In 2007, we installed a fluxgate magnetometer (RFP-523C) to measure H, D, and Z components of the geomagnetic field. In addition, in 2009, we installed a Overhauser proton sensor to measure the absolute total magnetic field F and a three-axis magneto-impedance sensor for spectrum analysis. Currently three types of magnetometer data have been accumulated. In this paper, we use the H, D, Z components of fluxgate magnetometer data to investigate the characteristics of mid-latitude geomagnetic field variation. To remove the temporary changes in Earth's geomagnetic filed by space weather, we use the international quiet days' data only. In other words, we performed a superposed epoch analysis using five days per each month during 2008-2011. We find that daily variations of H, D, and Z shows similar tendency compared to previous results using all days. That is, H, D, Z all three components' quiet intervals terminate near the sunrise and shows maximum 2-3 hours after the culmination and the quiet interval start from near the sunset. Seasonal variations show similar dependences to the Sun. As it becomes hot season, the geomagnetic field variation's amplitude becomes large and the quiet interval becomes shortened. It is well-known that these variations are effects of Sq current system in the Earth's atmosphere. We confirm that the typical mid-latitude geomagnetic field variations due to the Sq current system by excluding all possible association with the space weather.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.169-183
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• 2024

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) developed the Geochang satellite laser ranging (SLR) system for the scientific research on the space geodesy as well as for the national space missions including precise orbit determination and space surveillance. The operation system was developed based on the server-client communication structure, which controls the SLR subsystems, provides manual and automatic observation modes based on the observation algorithm, generates the range data between satellites and SLR stations, and carry out the post-processing to remove noises. In this study, we analyzed the requirements of operation system, and presented the development environments, the software structure and the observation algorithm, for the server-client communications. We also obtained laser ranging data for the ground target and the space geodetic satellite, and then analyzed the ranging precision between the Geochang SLR station and the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) network stations, in order to verify the operation system.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.253-261
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• 2018

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) has been developing the space optical and laser tracking (SOLT) system for space geodesy, space situational awareness, and Korean space missions. The SOLT system comprises satellite laser ranging (SLR), adaptive optics (AO), and debris laser tracking (DLT) systems, which share numerous subsystems, such as an optical telescope and tracking mount. It is designed to be capable of laser ranging up to geosynchronous Earth orbit satellites with a laser retro-reflector array, space objects imaging brighter than magnitude 10, and laser tracking low Earth orbit space debris of uncooperative targets. For the realization of multiple functions in a novel configuration, the SOLT system employs a switching mirror that is installed inside the telescope pedestal and feeds the beam path to each system. The SLR and AO systems have already been established at the Geochang station, whereas the DLT system is currently under development and the AO system is being prepared for testing. In this study, the design and development of the SOLT system are addressed and the SLR data quality is evaluated compared to the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) tracking stations in terms of single-shot ranging precision. The analysis results indicate that the SLR system has a good ranging performance, to a few millimeters precision. Therefore, it is expected that the SLR system will not only play an important role as a member of the ILRS tracking network, but also contribute to future Korean space missions.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2019

The Optical Wide-field patroL-Network (OWL-Net) is a global optical network for Space Situational Awareness in Korea. The primary operational goal of the OWL-Net is to track Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites operated by Korea and to monitor the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) region near the Korean peninsula. To obtain dense measurements on LEO tracking, the chopper system was adopted in the OWL-Net's back-end system. Dozens of angle-only measurements can be obtained for a single shot with the observation mode for LEO tracking. In previous work, the reduction process of the LEO tracking data was presented, along with the mechanical specification of the back-end system of the OWL-Net. In this research, we describe an integrity assessment method of time-position matching and verification of results from real observations of LEO satellites. The change rate of the angle of each streak in the shot was checked to assess the results of the matching process. The time error due to the chopper rotation motion was corrected after re-matching of time and position. The corrected measurements were compared with the simulated observation data, which were taken from the Consolidated Prediction File from the International Laser Ranging Service. The comparison results are presented in the In-track and Cross-track frame.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.37-45
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• 2021

We have analyzed 42 research papers regarding on the solar astronomy written by North Korea scientists to investigate the current status of astronomical activities in North Korea. The papers are surveyed from the 'Bulletin of Astronomy', the 'Physics', the 'Bulletin of Academy of Science', and the 'Natural Science' in North Korea, and SCI journals. In addition, we refer to the presentation material announced in the 2015 IAU by director of Pyongyang Astronomical Observatory (PAO) and the 2013 OAD/IAU reports. We have analyzed the papers statistically according to three criteria such as research subject, research field, and research members. The main research subjects are the sunspot (28%), observation system (21%), and space environments (19%). The research fields are distributed with data analysis (50%), numerical method (29%), and instrument development (21%). There have been 25 and 9 researchers in the solar astronomy and space environment, respectively since 1995. North Korea's solar research activities were also investigated in three area: instrument, solar physics, and international research linkage. PAO has operated two of sunspot telescope and solar horizontal telescope for spectroscopy and polarimetry, but there is no specific information on solar radio telescopes. North Korea has cooperated in solar research with Europe and China. We expect that the results of this study will be used as useful resource in supporting astronomical cooperation between South and North Korea in the future.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.51-57
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• 2022

Cosmic radiation exposure of the flight crews in Korea has been managed by Radiation Safety Management around Living Life Act under Nuclear Safety and Security Commission. However, the domestic flight crews are excluded from the Act because of relatively low route dose exposure compared to that of international flight crews. But we found that the accumulated total annual dose of domestic flight crews is far from negligible because of relatively long total flight time and too many flights. In this study, to suggest the necessity of management of domestic flight crews' radiation exposure, we statistically analyzed domestic flight crew's accumulative annual dose by using cosmic radiation estimation models of the Civil Aviation Research Institute (CARI)-6M, Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation for Aviation Safety (NAIRAS), and Korean Radiation Exposure Assessment Model (KREAM) and compared with in-situ measurements of Liulin-6K LET spectrometer. As a result, the average exposure dose of domestic flight crews was found to be 0.5-0.8 mSv. We also expect that our result might provide the basis to include the domestic flight crews as radiation workers, not just international flight attendants.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2016

The Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) is a wide-field photometric system installed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). Here, we present the overall technical specifications of the KMTNet observation system, test observation results, data transfer and image processing procedure, and finally, the KMTNet science programs. The system consists of three 1.6 m wide-field optical telescopes equipped with mosaic CCD cameras of 18k by 18k pixels. Each telescope provides a 2.0 by 2.0 square degree field of view. We have finished installing all three telescopes and cameras sequentially at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in South Africa, and the Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in Australia. This network of telescopes, which is spread over three different continents at a similar latitude of about -30 degrees, enables 24-hour continuous monitoring of targets observable in the Southern Hemisphere. The test observations showed good image quality that meets the seeing requirement of less than 1.0 arcsec in I-band. All of the observation data are transferred to the KMTNet data center at KASI via the international network communication and are processed with the KMTNet data pipeline. The primary scientific goal of the KMTNet is to discover numerous extrasolar planets toward the Galactic bulge by using the gravitational microlensing technique, especially earth-mass planets in the habitable zone. During the non-bulge season, the system is used for wide-field photometric survey science on supernovae, asteroids, and external galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.64.2-64.2
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• 2012

The SPICA (SPace Infrared Telescope for Cosmology & Astrophysics) project is a next-generation infrared space telescope optimized for mid- and far-infrared observation with a cryogenically cooled 3m-class telescope. It will achieve the high resolution as well as the unprecedented sensitivity from mid to far-infrared range. The FPC (Focal Plane Camera) is a Korean-led near-infrared instrument as an international collaboration. The FPC-S and FPC-G are responsible for the scientific observation in the near-infrared and the fine guiding, respectively. The FPC-G will significantly reduce the alignement and random pointing error through the observation of guiding stars in the focal plane. We analyzed the pointing requirement from the focal plane instruments. The feasibility study was performed to achieve the requirements. Here, we present the role of SPICA/FPC as a fine guiding camera.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.34.1-34.1
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• 2017

The GMT-Consortium Large Earth Finder (G-CLEF) is the very first light instrument of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The instrument is a fiber feed, optical band echelle spectrograph that is capable of extremely precise radial velocity measurement, and has been being developed through the international consortium consisted of five astronomical institutes including Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (OCIW), and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). The Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the G-CLEF was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts in April 2015. It is scheduled to have Critical Design Review (CDR) in March 2018. Flexure Control Camera (FCC) is one of the KASI's major contributions to the G-CLEF project. In this presentation, we describe the current critical design status, and structural and thermo-elastic analyses results on the G-CLEF FCC.