• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.361-373
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• 2013

The monitoring of urban area, target detection and building reconstruction have been actively studied and investigated since high resolution X-band SAR images could be acquired by airborne and/or satellite SAR systems. This paper describes an efficient approach to reconstruct artificial structures (e.g. apartment, building and house) in urban area using high resolution X-band SAR images. Building footprint was first extracted from 1:25,000 digital topographic map and then a corner line of building was detected by an automatic detecting algorithm. With SAR amplitude images, an initial building height was calculated by the length of layover estimated using KS-test (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) from the corner line. The interferometric SAR phases were simulated depending on SAR geometry and changable building heights ranging from -10 m to +10 m of the initial building height. With an interferogram from real SAR data set, the simulation results were compared using the method of the phase consistency. One of results can be finally defined as the reconstructed building height. The developed algorithm was applied to repeat-pass TerraSAR-X spotlight mode data set over an apartment complex in Daejeon city, Korea. The final building heights were validated against reference heights extracted from LiDAR DSM, with an RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) of about 1~2m.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.15-28
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• 2019

By applying the method of SAR interferometry to X-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image of COSMO-SkyMed, detailed motion patterns of five glaciers in the Parlung Zangbo River basin, Tibetan Plateau, in January 2010 have been derived. The results indicate that flow patterns are generally constrained by the valley geometry and terrain complexity. The maximum of $123.9ma^{-1}$ is observed on glacier No.1 and the minimum of $39.4ma^{-1}$ is found on glacier No.3. The mean values of five glaciers are between 22.9 and $98.2ma^{-1}$. Glaciers No.1, No.2, No.4 and No.5 exhibit high velocities in their upper sections with big slope and low velocities in the lower sections. A moraine lake accelerates the speed of mass exchange leading to a fast flow at the terminal of glacier No.3. These glaciers generally move along the direction of decreased elevation and present a macroscopic illustration of the motion from the northwest to the southeast. The accuracy of DEM and registration conditions of DEM-simulated terrain phases has certain effects on calculations of glacier flow direction and velocity. The error field is relatively fragmented in areas inconsistent with the main flow line of the glaciers, and the shape and uniformity of glacier are directly related to the continuous distribution of flow velocity errors.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.208-218
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• 2012

Numerical simulation technique has been developed to calculate microwave backscattering from water surface. The simulation plays a role of a substitute for experiments. Validation of the simulation was shown by comparing with experimental results. Water area observations by microwave radar have been simulated to evaluate algorithms and systems. Furthermore, the simulation can be used to understand microwave scattering mechanism on the water surface. The simulation has applied to the various methods for water area observations, and the utilizations of the simulation are introduced in this paper. In the case of fixed radar, we show following examples, 1. Radar image with a pulse Doppler radar, 2. Effect of microwave irradiation width and 3. River observation (Water level observation). In addition, another application (4.Synthetic aperture radar image) is also described. The details of the applications are as follows. 1. Radar image with a pulse Doppler radar: A new system for the sea surface observation is suggested by the simulation. A pulse Doppler radar is assumed to obtain radar images that display amplitude and frequency modulation of backscattered microwaves. The simulation results show that the radar images of the frequency modulation is useful to measure sea surface waves. 2. Effect of microwave irradiation width: It is reported (Rheem[2008]) that microwave irradiation width on the sea surface affects Doppler spectra measured by a CW (Continuous wave) Doppler radar. Therefore the relation between the microwave irradiation width and the Doppler spectra is evaluated numerically. We have shown the suitable condition for wave height estimation by a Doppler radar. 3. River observation (Water level observation): We have also evaluated algorithms to estimate water current and water level of river. The same algorithms to estimate sea surface current and sea surface level are applied to the river observation. The simulation is conducted to confirm the accuracy of the river observation by using a pulse Doppler radar. 4. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image: SAR images are helpful to observe the global sea surface. However, imaging mechanisms are complicated and validation of analytical algorithms by SAR images is quite difficult. In order to deal with the problems, SAR images in oceanic scenes are simulated.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.211-224
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• 2023

In this study, a soil moisture estimation was performed using the Water Cloud Model (WCM), a backscatter model that considers vegetation based on SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar). Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 MSI (Multi-Spectral Instrument) images of a 40 × 50 km² area including the Yongdam Dam watershed of the Geum River were collected for this study. As vegetation descriptor of WCM, Sentinel-1 based vegetation index RVI (Radar Vegetation Index), depolarization ratio (DR), and Sentinel-2 based NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) were used, respectively. Forward modeling of WCM was performed by 3 groups, which were divided by the characteristics between backscattering coefficient and soil moisture. The clearer the linear relationship between soil moisture and the backscattering coefficient, the higher the simulation performance. To estimate the soil moisture, the simulated backscattering coefficient was inverted. The simulation performance was proportional to the forward modeling result. The WCM simulation error showed an increasing pattern from about -12dB based on the observed backscattering coefficient.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.117-127
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• 2015

Recently, research and development on satellite payloads are being developed such as the optical sensor, SAR etc. Satellite image for earth observation is being utilized both domestically and abroad. Advanced satellite payload technology has led to the collection and analysis of satellite images relying on the optical sensor. Currently, related organizations such as RDA(the Rural Development Administration) are collectively collaborating to plan a national project to develop a medium-sized satellite based on Korea's domestic technology independently. This paper investigated the cases of the past research on application of satellite images for agriculture and analyzed the technical specifications for satellite payload in each area of such application. Based on the results of the past surveys and consultation studies among local experts in satellite image application, we analyzed the current trends, plans and applications of domestic and overseas R&D in satellite payloads for earth observation in agriculture, and proposed the appropriate technical specifications for developing a future medium-sized satellite for agriculture. The proposed specifications were then incorporated into a simulated satellite to examine its performance to observe the Korean farming areas. The authors anticipate that the findings of this paper will form a useful technical basis for providing the appropriate specifications for developing future medium-sized satellite payloads to be used in agriculture and forestry, and enabling the end users to efficiently utilize the satellite.