• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.639-647
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• 2018

This paper presents TerraSAR-X and KOMPSAT-5 sigma nought variation according to season and antenna observation configuration in Mongolia. Two types of landcover including bare surface and cropland were examined. The seasonal variation of sigma nought in cropland was about 7 dB and particularly a significant sigma nought reduction occurred after harvest. On the contrary, the Mongolia bare surface provides a consistent sigma nought values for several years with an annual variation less than 2.5 dB of standard deviation. However, the bare soil was relatively sensitive to look-direction (or ascending or descending mode) as well as incidence angle while the cropland was almost independent of antenna look-direction and small incidence angle changes. Although the look-directional variation of bare surface sigma nought was observed in this study, the look-direction anisotropic nature of the surface was not well examined. A further study would be required to account for this feature with various SAR observation configurations.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1204-1211
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• 2012

Measurement and analysis results of the extracted radiation-patterns from the field-experiments which were conducted to acquire the generic technology for calibration and validation of the satellite SAR system(Synthetic Aperture Radar) are presented in this study. Prototype of active transponder is adjustable within maximum 63.1 dBsm of RCS (Radar Cross Section) and includes the receiving-function with external receiver. To increase an accuracy of these field experiments, we repetitively measured satellite SAR systems of the same operating mode(i.e., COSMO-SkyMed No. 2 & 3, hh-pol., strip-map himage mode, 3 m resolution). Then, the reliability of experimental results was cross-checked through analysis of the RCS of active transponder on SAR image. The property of azimuth radiation patterns of satellite SAR system extracted from them has $0.352^{\circ}$ of HPBW(half-power beamwidth), $0.691^{\circ}$ of FNBW(first-null beamwidth), and 11.17 dB of PSLR(peak to side lobe ratio), respectively.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.34 no.6_3
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• pp.1457-1468
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• 2018

The sigma naught (${\sigma}^0$) equation is essential to calculate geo-physical properties from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images for the applications such as ground target identification,surface classification, sea wind speed calculation, and soil moisture estimation. In this paper, we are suggesting new Kompsat-5 (K5) Radar Cross Section (RCS) and ${\sigma}^0$ equations reflecting the final SAR processor update and absolute radiometric calibration in order to increase the application of K5 SAR images. Firstly, we analyzed the accuracy of the K5 RCS equation by using trihedral corner reflectors installed in the Kompsat calibration site in Mongolia. The average difference between the calculated values using RCS equation and the measured values with K5 SAR processor was about $0.2dBm^2$ for Spotlight and Stripmap imaging modes. In addition, the verification of the K5 ${\sigma}^0$ equation was carried out using the TerraSAR-X (TSX) and Sentinel-1A (S-1A) SAR images over Amazon rainforest, where the backscattering characteristics are not significantly affected by the seasonal change. The calculated ${\sigma}^0$ difference between K5 and TSX/S-1A was less than 0.6 dB. Considering the K5 absolute radiometric accuracy requirement, which is 2.0 dB ($1{\sigma}$), the average difference of $0.2dBm^2$ for RCS equation and the maximum difference of 0.6 dB for ${\sigma}^0$ equation show that the accuracies of the suggested equations are relatively high. In the future, the validity of the suggested RCS and ${\sigma}^0$ equations is expected to be verified through the application such as sea wind speed calculation, where quantitative analysis is possible.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.414-422
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• 2013

This paper describes a 10-bit 10-MS/s asynchronous successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) using a split-capacitor-based differential digital-to-analog converter (DAC). SAR logic and comparator are asynchronously operated to increase the sampling frequency. The time-domain comparator with an offset calibration technique is used to achieve a high resolution. The proposed 10-bit 10-MS/s asynchronous SAR ADC with the area of $140{\times}420{\mu}m^2$ is fabricated using a 0.18-${\mu}m$ CMOS process. Its power consumption is 1.19 mW at 1.8 V supply. The measured SNDR is 49.95 dB for the analog input frequency of 101 kHz. The DNL and INL are +0.57/-0.67 and +1.73/-1.58, respectively.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.35-38
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• 2008

2010년 발사 예정인 다목적위성 5호의 주 탑재체는 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)이다. 다목적위성 5호의 영상자료 품질을 확보하기 위해 SAR 영상자료에 대한 발사 후 검보정이 현재 한국항공우주연구원에서 준비 작업이 진행 중이다. 본 논문에서는 다목적 위성 5호 검보정 준비 작업 중에서 검보정 site에 대한 시뮬레이션 결과에 대해 설명하고자 한다. SAR 위성 검보정 작업을 위해서는 Corner Reflector가 필수 검보정 장비이고, Corner Reflector(CR)를 다목적위성 5호 beam들의 incidence angle에 따라 적절한 개수를 적절한 위치에 검보정 site 요구조건을 만족하는 위치에 배치해야한다. 한반도내에 15개의 CR들을 가장 요구조건에 만족할 수 있는 적절한 위치에 배치한 후에, 다목적위성 5호의 검보정 site에 대한 시뮬레이션을 수행해 본 결과, 15개의 CR만으로는 다목적위성 5호의 beam들을 모두 검보정할 수 없다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 결론적으로 검보정 site 요구조건을 좀 더 만족하고 CR의 개수를 30개 이상 배치할 수 있는 몽고 등의 외국 지역까지 확인해 볼 필요성이 있다.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2010.04a
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• pp.28.2-28.2
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• 2010

영상레이더 위성으로부터 획득된 SAR 영상의 상대적/절대적 방사(radiometric) 정밀도를 만족시키기 위해서는 궤도상에서 검보정을 수행하여야 한다. 일반적으로 상대 방사 정밀도의 보정을 위해서는 아마존 일대와 같이 일정한 지표 반사도를 지니는 넓은 지역을 촬영함으로써, 지상에서 모델링된 안테나 패턴의 이상 유무를 검증한다. 절대 방사 정밀도를 결정하기 위해서는 보정계수(calibration constant)를 구해야 하는데, 이를 위해서 RCS(radar cross section) 값이 기 알려져 있는 지상의 CR(corner reflector)를 관측해야 한다. 대부분의 SAR 위성의 경우, 각 입사각별로 여러 개의 빔(beam)이 독립적으로 운용되고, 위성의 경로가 각 pass 사이 거의 일정한 간격을 가지기 때문에, 지상의 CR들에 대한 빔의 접근성이 상당히 제약을 많이 받게 된다. 즉, 개별 빔이 촬영할 수 있는 CR의 개수 및 동일 CR에 대한 촬영 빈번도가 많이 작을 수 있다는 것을 의미한다. 특히, CR이 빔폭의 중심에서 관측되어야 하는 요구사항이 추가로 반영될 경우 그 빈도수는 더욱더 영향을 받게된다. 이 연구에서는 고도 550 km, 28일의 지상반복주기(repeat ground track)를 가지는 여명 궤도(dawn-dusk orbit)를 가정하고, 각 빔별로 그 빔에 할당된 하나의 CR만을 촬영해야 된다는 조건하에, 빔 접근성의 요구사항을 최대로 만족시킬 수 있는 CR의 좌표들을 구하였다. 동시에, J2항만을 고려한 이상적 28일 지상반복궤도를 적용한 경우와 모든 중력섭동항을 적용한 최적궤도를 적용한 경우를 비교하여, 실질적 검보정 일정을 수립하였다.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.723-730
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• 2012

The radar cross section(RCS) of a trihedral corner reflector(TCR) should be accurately computed when it is used as an external calibration target for a satellite synthetic aperture radar(SAR) calibration campaign. This paper presents the RCS analysis on a trihedral corner reflector which is installed on a calibration site, using the wave reflection from the rough surface and the wave diffraction from the TCR edges. The results in this paper show quantitatively the effect of the front surface on the RCS of a TCR. The difference of the RCS between a TCR in air and a TCR on a ground surface is computed by including the interaction term which consists of the edge diffraction from the TCR edges and the surface reflection from the front rough surface. The reflection coefficient of a randomly rough surface is a function of the surface roughness and dielectric constant of the surface. The RCS of $10{\lambda}$ size TCR on a ground is 0.46 dB higher than TCR in air at 9.65 GHz, and this can reach at maximum 1.55 dB depending on a surface condition and TCR size. The effect of the front surface on the RCS of a TCR increases, as the surface roughness decreases, the soil moisture increases, and the size of TCR in wavelength decreases.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.32-39
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• 2013

Although space-borne satellites are useful in obtaining information all around the world, they cannot observe at a suitable time and place. In order to overcome these limitations, an airborne remote sensing system was developed in this study. It is composed of a SAR sensor and a thermal infrared sensor. Additionally GPS, IMU, and thermometer/hygrometer were attached to the plane for radiometric and geometric calibration. The brightness of SAR image varies depending on surface roughness, and capillary waves on the sea surface, which are easily generated by sea winds, induce the surface roughness. Thus, sea surface wind can be estimated using the relationship between quantified SAR backscattering coefficient and the sea surface wind. On the other hand, thermal infrared sensor is sensitive to measure object's temperature. Sea surface temperature is obtained from the thermal infrared sensor after correcting the atmospheric effects which are located between sea surface and the sensor. Using these two remote sensing sensors mounted on airplane, four test flights were carried out along the west coast of Korea. The obtained SAR and thermal infrared images have shown that these images were useful enough to monitor coastal environment and estimate marine meteorology data.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.163-168
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• 2008

Ship detection from satellite remote sensing is a crucial application for global monitoring for the purpose of protecting the marine environment and ensuring marine security. It permits to monitor sea traffic including fisheries, and to associate ships with oil discharge. An automatic ship detection approach for RADARSAT Fine Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image is described and assessed using in situ ship validation information collected during field experiments conducted on August 6, 2004. Ship detection algorithms developed here consist of five stages: calibration, land masking, prescreening, point positioning, and discrimination. The fine image was acquired of Ulsan Port, located in southeast Korea, and during the acquisition, wind speeds between 0 m/s and 0.4 m/s were reported. The detection approach is applied to anchoring ships in the anchorage area of the port and its results are compared with validation data based on Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) radar. Our analysis for anchoring ships, above 68 m in length (LOA), indicates a 100% ship detection rate for the RADARSAT single beam mode. It is shown that the ship detection performance of SAR for smaller ships like barge could be higher than the land-based radar. The proposed method is also applied to estimate the ship's dimensions of length and breadth from SAR radar cross section(RCS), but those values were comparatively higher than the actual sizes because of layover and shadow effects of SAR.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1050-1060
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• 2009

In this paper, a X-Band T/R-module for SAR(Synthetic Aperture Radar) systems based on active phased array antennas is designed and fabricated. The T/R modules have a and width of more than 800 MHz centered at X-Band and support dual, switched polarizations. The output power of the module is 7 watts over a wide bandwidth. The noise figure is as low as 3.9 dB. Phase and amplitude are controlled by a 6-bit phase shifter and a 6-bit digital attenuator, respectively. Further the fabricated T/R module has est and calibration port with directional coupler and power divider. Highly integrated T/R module is achieved by using LTCC(Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic) multiple layer substrate. RMS gain error is less than 0.8 dB max. in Rx mode, and RMS phase error is less than $4^{\circ}$ max. in Rx/Tx phase under all operating frequency band, or the T/R module meet the required electrical performance m test. This structure an be applied to active phase array SAR Antennas.