• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.270-279
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• 2005

Under the research project supported by Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), we have conducted the development of GPR systems for landmine detection. Until 2005, we have finished development of two prototype GPR systems, namely ALIS (Advanced Landmine Imaging System) and SAR-GPR (Synthetic Aperture Radar-Ground Penetrating Radar). ALIS is a novel landmine detection sensor system combined with a metal detector and GPR. This is a hand-held equipment, which has a sensor position tracking system, and can visualize the sensor output in real time. In order to achieve the sensor tracking system, ALIS needs only one CCD camera attached on the sensor handle. The CCD image is superimposed with the GPR and metal detector signal, and the detection and identification of buried targets is quite easy and reliable. Field evaluation test of ALIS was conducted in December 2004 in Afghanistan, and we demonstrated that it can detect buried antipersonnel landmines, and can also discriminate metal fragments from landmines. SAR-GPR (Synthetic Aperture Radar-Ground Penetrating Radar) is a machine mounted sensor system composed of B GPR and a metal detector. The GPR employs an array antenna for advanced signal processing for better subsurface imaging. SAR-GPR combined with synthetic aperture radar algorithm, can suppress clutter and can image buried objects in strongly inhomogeneous material. SAR-GPR is a stepped frequency radar system, whose RF component is a newly developed compact vector network analyzers. The size of the system is 30cm x 30cm x 30 cm, composed from six Vivaldi antennas and three vector network analyzers. The weight of the system is 17 kg, and it can be mounted on a robotic arm on a small unmanned vehicle. The field test of this system was carried out in March 2005 in Japan.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.263-266
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• 2003

In this paper, we propose a new progressive image transmission system including the image coding scheme that efficiently uses the relationship between the properties of a spatial image and its wavelet transform. Firstly, an original image is decomposed into several layers by the wavelet transform, and simultaneously decomposed into 2"x2" blocks. Each image is classified into two image types according to the standard deviations of its blocks. And then each block is categorized into two regions by different thresholds according to the image types, i.e., significant activity region (SAR) and insignificant activity region (IAR). Simulation results show that the proposed coding method has better performance than the EZW and SPIHT in terms of image quality and transmitted bit-rate. In addition, it can be applied to the applications requiring the progressive image transmission.nsmission.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.984-996
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• 2007

This paper presents techniques of 2-D scattering center extraction and 2-B ISAR(Inverse SAR) image formation for scattering wave which is scattered by a target. In general, 2-D IFFT is widely used to obtain 2-D scattering center and ISAR image of targets. But, this method has drawbacks, that is poor in a resolution aspect. To overcome these shortcomings with the FT(Fourier Transform)-based method, various techniques of high resolution signal processing were developed. In this paper, algorithms of 2-D scattering center extraction and ISAR image formation such as 2-D MEMP(Matrix Enhancement and Matrix Pencil), 2-D ESPRIT(Estimation of Signal Parameter via Rotational Invariance Techniques) are described. In order to show the performances of each algorithm, we use scattering wave of the ideal point scatterers and F-18 aircraft to estimate 2-D scattering center and abtain 2-D ISAR image.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.318-327
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• 2017

Synthetic Aperture Radars (SARs) that can be performed regardless of weather and day-and-night conditions have been developed for Earth remote sensing in recent decades. Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has developed and launched successfully the KOrea Multi-Purpose SATellit-5 (KOMPSAT-5) which is the first Korean SAR satellite in 2013, and is currently developing the KOMPSAT-6 which is the next generation series of the SAR satellite. This paper describes the development of the system performance analysis simulator which is necessary for spaceborne SAR payload design and analysis. The system performance analysis simulator consists of the antenna pattern generation simulator, the SAR performance analysis simulator, and the image quality analysis simulator. The simulation results of this research show that this simulator can be applicable as the design and analysis tool for the spaceborne SAR payload system during the design phase.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.475-487
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• 2010

Sea surface wind field was retrieved from high-resolution SIR-C SAR data by using CMOD algorithms off the east coast of Korea. In order to extract wind direction information from SAR data, a two-dimensional spectral analysis method was applied to the normalized radar cross section of the image. An $180^{\circ}$-ambiguity problem in the determination of wind direction was solved by selecting a direction nearest to the wind vector of the ECMWF reanalysis data. Comparison of the wind retrieval patterns with the ECMWF and NCEP/NCAR dataset showed RMS errors in the range of 1.30 to $1.72\;ms^{-1}$. In contrast, comparison of wind directions revealed large errors of greater than $60^{\circ}$, which is enormously higher than the permitted limit of about $20^{\circ}$ for satellite scatterometer winds. Compared with wind speed results from different algorithms, wind vectors based on commonly-used CMOD4 algorithm showed good agreement with those derived by other algorithms such as CMOD_IFR2 and CMOD5, particularly at medium winds from 4 to $8\;ms^{-1}$. However, apparent discrepancy appeared at low winds (< $4\;ms^{-1}$). This study also addressed an importance of accurate wind direction data to improve the accuracy of wind speed retrieval and discussed potential causes of wind retrieval errors from SAR data.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.164-169
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• 2010

Since the range and Doppler resolution of the synthetic aperture radar(SAR) image becomes very high, the target detection accuracy can be significantly increased, but the computational burden is also increased. The conventional single-cell based CFAR detector performs the target detection on every single cell basis, thus it causes the serious increment of the computational load. In this paper, the improved two-step MCA-CFAR detector is proposed for the improvement of the target detection as well as the reduction of computational load: the first step is to use the MCA-CFAR, and the second step is to use the single-cell based CFAR detection in the expected target area for final decision. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with the conventional single-cell based CFAR and MCA-CFAR on SAR images.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.55-65
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• 2014

Radar remote sensing is appropriate for rice monitoring because the areas where this crop is cultivated are often cloudy and rainy. Especially, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can acquire remote sensing information with a high temporal resolution in tropical and subtropical regions due to its all-weather capability. This paper analyzes the relationships between backscattering coefficients of rice measured by RADARSAT-2 SAR and growth parameters during a rice growth period. And we applied the relationships to crop monitoring of paddy rice in North Korea. As a result, plant height and Leaf Area Index (LAI) increased until Day Of Year (DOY) 234 and then decreased, while fresh weight and dry weight increased until DOY 253. Correlation coefficients revealed that Horizontal transmit and Horizontal receive polarization (HH)-polarization backscattering coefficients were correlated highly with plant height (r=0.95), fresh weight (r=0.92), vegetation water content (r=0.91), LAI (r=0.90), and dry weight (r=0.89). Based on the observed relationships between backscattering coefficients and variables of cultivation, prediction equations were developed using the HH-polarization backscattering coefficients. Concerning the evaluation for the applicability of the LAI distribution from RADARSAT-2, the LAI statistic was evaluated in comparison with LAI distribution from RapidEye image. And LAI distributions in Pyongyang were presented to show spatial variability for unaccessible areas.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.152-152
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• 2019

This study demonstrates a novel approach of remotely sensed estimates of stream flow at fifteen hydrological station in the Han River Basin, Korea. Multi-temporal data of the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 SAR satellite from 19 January, 2015 to 25 August, 2018 is used to develop and validate the flow estimation model for each station. The flow estimation model is based on a power law relationship established between the remotely sensed surface area of water at a selected reach of the stream and the observed discharge. The satellite images were pre-processed for thermal noise, radiometric, speckle and terrain correction. The difference in SAR image brightness caused by the differences in SAR satellite look angle and atmospheric condition are corrected using the histogram matching technique. Selective area filtering is applied to identify the extent of the selected stream reach where the change in water surface area is highly sensitive to the change in stream discharge. Following this, an iterative procedure called the Optimum Threshold Classification Algorithm (OTC) is applied to the multi-temporal selective areas to extract a series of water surface areas. It is observed that the extracted water surface area and the stream discharge are related by the power law equation. A strong correlation coefficient ranging from 0.68 to 0.98 (mean=0.89) was observed for thirteen hydrological stations, while at two stations the relationship was highly affected by the hydraulic structures such as dam. It is further identified that the availability of remotely sensed data for a range of discharge conditions and the geometric properties of the selected stream reach such as the stream width and side slope influence the accuracy of the flow estimation model.

• 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.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.185-196
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• 1997

By considering the definition and application of resolution as well as the concept and theory of SAR, the essential contents of the SAR design and analysis are described. This paper is to compare and analyze the resolution performance capability of three techniques for achieving azimuth resolution such as the real aperture, the unfocused and the focused techniques, through the simulation. Simulation is performed to make the restricted conditions for the unfocused technique that can be implemented by the less commputing load of signal processingand the lower cost. Through the mission analysis, the use of SAR image can be applied for estimation of whole situation at the regional area in the field of military demands for tactical purpose as well as civilian demands for the damage of disaster. RPV and sall or medium aircraft are selected to carry the SAR for these purposes and the proper resolution turns ou 5~15 m. The trade-off study of variables through the simulations results in the proper conditions such that range is less 3, 000 m, Wavelength is 1~10 m, and the raw signals and results processed by three techniques for two point targets are exhibited undr such conditions. Therefore, at some points, the result of this paper si proposed for useful applications of unforcused technique in the restricted conditions except the identification of the small target at a long range re- quired for high resolution.