• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.21-21
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• 1993

The imaging areas of currently available optical detectors are relatively small to cope with large image areas such as telescope focal Planes. One Possibility to obtain large detection areas is to assemble mosaics of Charge Coupled Devices(CCDs) and drive them simultaneously. Parallel driving of many CCDs together rules out the possibility of individual tuning; however such optimisation is very important when the ultimate low light level performance is required particularly for new devices. In this work, a new concept has been developed for an entirely novel approach where the drive waveforms are multiplexed and interleaved. This simultaneously reduces the number of leadout connections and permits individual optimisation efficiently. The controller has been designed to include one electronic of component produced by CAD software where most of the digital circuits are integrated to minimise the component count and improve the efficiency of the system greatly. The software has an open architecture to permit convenient modificationl by the user to fit their specific purposes. The desire of controller allows great flexibility of system parameters by the softwa re, specifically for the compatibility to deal with any number of mixed CCDs and in any format within the practical limit. The system has been integrated to test the performance and the result is discussed for readout noise, system linearity and cross-talk between the CCDs. The system developed in this work can be applicable not only for astro nomical observation with a telescope but also in other related fields for low light level detection systems such as spectroscopic application, remote sensing and X-ray detecti13n systems with large sensing areas and high resolution.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-25
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• 2023

In this paper, I briefly introduce recently terminated, current, and future scientific spacecraft missions for in situ and remote-sensing observations of Earth's and other planetary magnetospheres as of February 2023. The spacecraft introduced here are Geotail, Cluster, Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms / Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun (THEMIS / ARTEMIS), Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS), Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG), Cusp Plasma Imaging Detector (CuPID), and EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft (EQUULEUS) for recently terminated or currently operated missions for Earth's magnetosphere; Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI), Gateway, Solar wind Magneto-sphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), HelioSwarm, Solar-Terrestrial Observer for the Response of the Magnetosphere (STORM), Geostationary Transfer Orbit Satellite (GTOSat), GEOspace X-ray imager (GEO-X), Plasma Observatory, Magnetospheric Constellation (MagCon), self-Adaptive Magnetic reconnection Explorer (AME), and COnstellation of Radiation BElt Survey (CORBES) approved for launch or proposed for future missions for Earth's magnetosphere; BepiColombo for Mercury and Juno for Jupiter for current missions for planetary magnetospheres; Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) and Europa Clipper for Jupiter, Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) for Uranus, and Neptune Odyssey for Neptune approved for launch or proposed for future missions for planetary magnetospheres. I discuss the recent trend and future direction of spacecraft missions as well as remaining challenges in magnetospheric research. I hope this paper will be a handy guide to the current status and trend of magnetospheric missions.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.169-181
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• 2023

Recently, in order to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, which is the main cause of global warming, Korea has declared carbon emission reduction targets and carbon neutral. Accurate assessment of regional emissions and atmospheric CO₂ concentrations is becoming important as a result. In this study, we identified the spatiotemporal differences between satellite-based atmospheric CO₂ concentration and CO₂ emissions for the Korean Peninsula region using column-averaged CO₂ dry-air mole fraction from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and emission inventory. And we explained these differences using solar-induced fluorescence (SIF), a photosynthetic reaction index according to vegetation growth. The Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Research Center (GIR) and Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) emissions continued to increase in Korea from 2014 to 2018, but the satellite-based atmospheric CO₂ concentration decreased in 2018, respectively. Regionally, GIR and EDGAR emissions increased in 2018 in Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheongbuk-do, but satellite-based CO₂ concentrations decreased for the corresponding years. In addition, the correlation analysis between emissions and satellite-based CO₂ concentration showed a low correlation of 0.22 (GIR) and 0.16 (EDGAR) in Seoul and Gangwon-do. Atmospheric CO₂ concentrations showed a different correlation with SIF by region. In the CO₂-SIF correlation analysis for the growing season (May to September), Seoul and Gyeonggi-do showed a negative correlation coefficient of -0.26, Chungcheongbuk-do and Gangwon-do showed a positive correlation coefficient of 0.46. Therefore, it can be suggested that consideration of the CO₂ absorption process is necessary for analyzing the relationship between the atmospheric CO₂ concentration and emission inventory.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.681-691
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• 2016

Using various satellite measurements in UV, visible and IR, diverse algorithms to retrieve aerosol information have been developed and operated to date. Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) onboard the Himawari 8 weather satellite was launched in 2014 and has 16 channels from visible to Thermal InfRared (TIR) in high temporal and spatial resolution. Using AHI, it is very valuable to retrieve aerosol optical properties over dark surface to demonstrate its capability. To retrieve aerosol optical properties using visible and Near InfRared (NIR) region, surface signal is very important to be removed which can be estimated using minimum reflectivity method. The estimated surface reflectance is then used to retrieve the aerosol optical properties through the inversion process. In this study, we retrieve the aerosol optical properties over dark surface, but not over bright surface such as clouds, desert and so on. Therefore, the bright surface was detected and masked using various infrared channels of AHI and spatial heterogeneity, Brightness Temperature Difference (BTD), etc. The retrieval result shows the correlation coefficient of 0.7 against AERONET, and the within the Expected Error (EE) of 49%. It is accurately retrieved even for low Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD). However, AOD tends to be underestimated over the Beijing Hefei area, where the surface reflectance using the minimum reflectance method is overestimated than the actual surface reflectance.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.89-102
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• 2021

Even in an era where 8-meter class telescopes are common, small telescopes are considered very valuable research facilities since they are available for rapid follow-up or long term monitoring observations. To maximize the usefulness of small telescopes in Korea, we established the SomangNet, a network of 0.4-1.0 m class optical telescopes operated by Korean institutions, in 2020. Here, we give an overview of the project, describing the current participating telescopes, its scientific scope and operation mode, and the prospects for future activities. SomangNet currently includes 10 telescopes that are located in Australia, USA, and Chile as well as in Korea. The operation of many of these telescopes currently relies on operators, and we plan to upgrade them for remote or robotic operation. The latest SomangNet science projects include monitoring and follow-up observational studies of galaxies, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, symbiotic stars, solar system objects, neutrino/gravitational-wave sources, and exoplanets.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.979-989
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• 2022

In hydrological surveys, observation through representative location is essential due to temporal and spatial limitations and constraints. Regarding the use of hydrological data and the accuracy of the data, there are still insufficient observatories to be used in a specific watershed. In addition, since there is virtually no standard for the location of the current evapotranspiration, this study proposes a method for determining the location of the evapotranspiration. To determining the location of evapotranspiration, a grid is selected in consideration of the operating range of the Flux Tower using the eddy covariance measurement method, which is mainly used to measure evapotranspiration. The grid of representative location was calculated using the factors affecting evapotranspiration and satellite data of evapotranspiration. The grid of representative location was classified as good, fair, and poor. As a result, the number of good grids calculated was 54. It is judged that the classification of the grid has been achieved regarding topography and land use as a characteristic that appeared in the classification of the grid. In particular, in the case of elevation or city area, there was a large deviation, and the calculated good grid was judged to be a group between the two distributions.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 2024

Cloud coverage is a key factor in determining whether to proceed with observations. In the past, human judgment played an important role in weather evaluation for observations. However, the development of remote and robotic observation has diminished the role of human judgment. Moreover, it is not easy to evaluate weather conditions automatically because of the diverse cloud shapes and their rapid movement. In this paper, we present the development of a cloud monitoring program by applying a machine learning-based Python module "cloudynight" on all-sky camera images obtained at Miryang Arirang Astronomical Observatory (MAAO). The machine learning model was built by training 39,996 subregions divided from 1,212 images with altitude/azimuth angles and extracting 16 feature spaces. For our training model, the F1-score from the validation samples was 0.97, indicating good performance in identifying clouds in the all-sky image. As a result, this program calculates "Cloudiness" as the ratio of the number of total subregions to the number of subregions predicted to be covered by clouds. In the robotic observation, we set a policy that allows the telescope system to halt the observation when the "Cloudiness" exceeds 0.6 during the last 30 minutes. Following this policy, we found that there were no improper halts in the telescope system due to incorrect program decisions. We expect that robotic observation with the 0.7 m telescope at MAAO can be successfully operated using the cloud monitoring program.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.545-554
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• 2013

Augustine is an active stratovolcano located in southwest of Cook Inlet, about 290 kilometers southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. Between January 11 and 28, 2006, the volcano erupted explosively 14 times. We collected twelve permanent GPS stations operating by Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) from 2005 to 2011. All data processing was carried out using Bernese GPS Software V5.0 with IGS precise orbit. Static baseline processing by fixing AC59 station was applied for the volcano activity monitoring. AC59 is the nearest (about 24.5 km) station to Augustine volcano, and located on North America Plate including Augustine Island. The test results show inflation (9.7 cm/yr) and deflation (-9.2 cm/yr) of volcano before and after eruption around crater clearly. After volcano activity has reached a plateau, some of the GPS stations installed north of the volcano show ground subsidence phenomenon caused by compaction of pyroclastic flows. These results indicate the possibility of using surface deformation observed by GPS for monitoring and prediction of volcano activity.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.443-459
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• 2013

Located on Java subduction zone, Merapi volcano is an active stratovolcano with a volcanic activity cycle of 1-5 years. Merapi's eruptions were relatively small with VEI 1-3. However, the most recent eruption occurred in 2010 was quite violent with VEI 4 and 386 people were killed. In this study, we have attempted to study the characteristics of Merapi's eruptions during 18 years using optical Landsat images. We have collected a total of 55 Landsat images acquired from July 6, 1994 to September 1, 2012 to identify pyroclastic flows and their temporal changes from false color images. To extract areal extents of pyroclastic flows, we have performed supervised classification after atmospheric correction by using COST model. As a result, the extracted dimensions of pyroclastic flows are nearly identical to the CVP monthly reports. We have converted the thermal band of Landsat TM and ETM+ to the surface temperature using NASA empirical formula and calculated time-series of the mean surface temperature in the area of peak temperature surrounding the crater. The mean surface temperature around the crater repeatedly showed the tendency to rapidly rise before eruptions and cool down after eruptions. Although Landsat satellite images had some limitations due to weather conditions, these images were useful tool to observe the precursor changes in surface temperature before eruptions and map the pyroclastic flow deposits after eruptions at Merapi volcano.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.171-180
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• 2011

MAI (multiple aperture SAR interferometry) method has been recently developed to improve the measurement accuracy of along-track surface deformation. By means of split-beam SAR processing, this novel technique produces forward- and backward-looking interferograms, which are combined to generate an MAI interferogram. The along-track surface deformation can then be derived from the MAI interferogram. The achieved accuracy of the along-track surface deformation is approximately 8 cm for interferograms with a coherence of 0.6. It is commonly recognized that the topographic phase on an MAI interferogram can be ignored. However, in this paper, we have generated an MAI interferogram from an ALOS P ALSAR interferometric pair spanning the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and shown that the topographic phase distortion on the MAI interferogram can reach to about $3.45{\times}10^{-4}$ rad./m. This distortion corresponds to an along-track surface deformation of about 98 cm. We have proposed an efficient method to remove the topographic phase distortion. After correcting the distortion, the topographic phase distortion on the MAI interferogram is reduced to about $7.82{\times}10^{-6}$ rad./m. This means that the proposed method can effectively remove the topographic distortion on the MAI interferogram to improve along-track surface deformation measurement.