• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.1031-1039
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• 2022

As one of the hydrological factors closely related to landslides, precipitation indirectly affects slope stability by generating external forces. Groundwater level fluctuations have attracted more attention lately as factors that directly affect slope stability have become more prominent. Therefore, this study attempted to analyze the relationship between variables through changes in precipitation, groundwater levels, and land displacement. A time series-based analysis was conducted using satellite-based precipitation and point-based groundwater levels in conjunction with the PSInSAR technique to simulate land displacement in urban and mountainous areas. There was a sharp rise in groundwater levels in both urban and mountain areas during heavy rainfall, and a continuous decrease in urban areas when rainfall was low. 6 mm of displacements was observed in the mountainous area as a results of soil outflow from the topsoil layer, which was accompanied by an increased groundwater level. Meanwhile, different results were found in urban area. In response to the rise in groundwater level, the land displacement increases due to the expansion of soil skeletons, while the decrease seems to be attributed to anthropogenic influences. Overall, there was no consistent relationship between groundwater levels and land displacement, which appears to be caused by factors other than hydrological factors. Additional consideration of environmental factors could contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between the two factors.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_1
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• pp.495-505
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• 2023

The Musan mine, situated in Musan County, Hamgyong Province, North Korea, stands as a prominent open-pit iron mine on the Korean Peninsula. This study focuses on estimating the mining and dumping activities within the Musan mine area by analyzing digital elevation model (DEM) changes. To calculate the long-term volume changes in the Musan mine, we digitized and converted the 1:200,000-scale third topographic map of the Joseon published in 1918 and compared with interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) DEMs, including Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM (2000) and Copernicus DEM (2011-2015). The findings reveal that over a century, Musan mine yielded around 1.37 billion tons of iron ore, while approximately 1.06 billion tons of waste rock were dumped. This study is particularly significant as it utilizes a historical topographic map predating the full-scale development of Musan mine to estimate a century's mining production and waste rock deposition. It is expected that this research provides valuable insights for future investigation of surface change of North Korea where the acquisition of in situ data remains challenging.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.6_3
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• pp.1747-1761
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• 2023

Wetlands, defined as lands periodically inundated or exposed during the year, are crucial for sustaining biodiversity and filtering environmental pollutants. The importance of mapping and monitoring their topographical changes is therefore paramount. This study focuses on the topographical variations at the Incheon River estuary wetland post-restoration, noting a lack of adequate prior measurements. Using a multi-temporal Sentinel-1 dataset from October 2014 to March 2023, we mapped long-term variations in water bodies and detected topographical change anomalies using a pixel-frequency approach. Our analysis, based on 196 Sentinel-1 acquisitions from an ascending orbit, revealed significant topography changes. Since 2020, employing the pixel-frequency technique, we observed area increases of +0.0195, 0.0016, 0.0075, and 0.0163 km² in water level sections at depths of 2-3 m, 1-2 m, 0-1 m, and less than 0 m, respectively. These findings underscore the effectiveness of the wetland restoration efforts in the area.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.219-225
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• 2024

It is essential to develop a light-weight, high-performance structure for the deployable reflector antenna, which is the payload of a reconnaissance satellite, considering launch and orbital operation performance. Among them, the composite main reflector is a key component that constitutes a deployable reflector antenna. In particular, the development of a high-performance main reflector is required to acquire high-quality satellite images after agile attitude control maneuvers during satellite missions. To develop main reflector, the initial design of the main reflector was confirmed considering the structural performance according to the laminate stacking design and material properties of the composite main reflector that constitutes the deployable reflector antenna. Based on the initial design, four types of composite main reflectors were manufactured with the variable for manufacturing process. As variables for manufacturing process, the curing process of the composite structure, the application of adhesive film between the carbon fiber composite sheet and the honeycomb core, and the venting path inside the sandwich composite were selected. After manufacture main reflector, weight measurement, non-destructive testing(NDT), surface error measurement, and modal test were performed on the four types of main reflectors produced. By selecting a manufacturing process that does not apply adhesive film and includes venting path, for a composite main reflector with light weight and structural performance, we developed and verified a main reflector that can be applied to the SAR(Synthetic Aperture Rader) satellite.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 2024

The construction of underground infrastructure is garnering growing increasing research attention owing to population concentration and infrastructure overcrowding in urban areas. An important associated task is establishing a monitoring system to evaluate stability during infrastructure construction and operation, which relies on developing techniques for ground investigation that can evaluate ground stability, verify design validity, predict risk, facilitate safe operation management, and reduce construction costs. The method proposed here uses satellite imaging in a cost-effective and accurate ground investigation technique that can be applied over a wide area during the construction and operation of infrastructure. In this study, analysis was performed using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data with the time-series radar interferometric technique to observe surface displacement during the construction of urban underground roads. As a result, it was confirmed that continuous surface displacement was occurring at some locations. In the future, comparing and analyzing on-site measurement data with the points of interest would aid in confirming whether displacement occurs due to tunnel excavation and assist in estimating the extent of excavation impact zones.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.477-487
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• 2012

Sea surface winds in the sea off the east coast of Korea were derived from L-band ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) PALSAR (Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar) data and their characteristics of errors were analyzed. We could retrieve high-resolution wind vectors off the east coast of Korea including the coastal region, which has been substantially unavailable from satellite scatterometers. Retrieved SAR-wind speeds showed a good agreement with in-situ buoy measurement by showing relatively small an root-mean-square (RMS) error of 0.67 m/s. Comparisons of the wind vectors from SAR and scatterometer presented RMS errors of 2.16 m/s and $19.24^{\circ}$, 3.62 m/s and $28.02^{\circ}$ for L-band GMF (Geophysical Model Function) algorithm 2009 and 2007, respectively, which tended to be somewhat higher than the expected limit of satellite scatterometer winds errors. L-band SAR-derived wind field exhibited the characteristic dependence on wind direction and incidence angle. The previous version (L-band GMF 2007) revealed large errors at small incidence angles of less than $21^{\circ}$. By contrast, the L-band GMF 2009, which improved the effect of incidence angle on the model function by considering a quadratic function instead of a linear relationship, greatly enhanced the quality of wind speed from 6.80 m/s to 1.14 m/s at small incident angles. This study addressed that the causes of wind retrieval errors should be intensively studied for diverse applications of L-band SAR-derived winds, especially in terms of the effects of wind direction and incidence angle, and other potential error sources.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.2_2
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• pp.351-363
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• 2020

It is well known that alluvial sediment located in coastal region has been easily affected by geohazard like ground subsidence, marine or meteorological disasters which threaten invaluable lives and properties. The subsidence is a sinking of the ground due to underground material movement that mostly related to soil compaction by water extraction. Thus, continuous monitoring is essential to protect possible damage from the ground subsidence in the coastal region. Radar interferometric application has been widely used to estimate surface displacement from phase information of synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Thanks to advanced SAR technique like the Small BAseline Subset (SBAS), a time-series of surface displacement could be successfully calculated with a large amount of SAR observations (>20). Because the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 L-band observations maintain higher coherence compared with other shorter wavelength like X- or C-band, it has been regarded as one of the best resources for Earth science. However, the number of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 observations might be not enough for the SBAS application due to its global monitoring observation scenario. Unfortunately, the number of the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Stripmap images in area of our interest, Busan which located in the Southeastern Korea, is only 11 which is insufficient to apply the SBAS time-series analysis. Although it is common that the radar interferometry utilizes multiple SAR images collected from same acquisition mode, it has been reported that the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Stripmap-ScanSAR interferometric application could be possible under specific acquisition mode. In case that we can apply the Stripmap-ScanSAR interferometry with the other 18 ScanSAR observations over Busan, an enhanced time-series surface displacement with better temporal resolution could be estimated. In this study, we evaluated feasibility of the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Stripmap-ScanSAR interferometric application using Gamma software considering differences of chirp bandwidth and pulse repetition frequency (PRF) between two acquisition modes. In addition, we analyzed the interferograms with respect to spectral shift of radar carrier frequency and common band filtering. Even though it shows similar level of coherence regardless of spectral shift in the radar carrier frequency, we found periodic spectral noises in azimuth direction and significant degradation of coherence in azimuth direction after common band filtering. Therefore, the characteristics of spectral bandwidth in the range and azimuth direction should be considered cautiously for the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Stripmap-ScanSAR interferometry.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.383-389
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• 2009

The main objective of the research is a feasibility study on the intertidal zone using a X-band radar satellite, TerraSAR-X. The TerraSAR-X data have been acquired in the west coast of Korea where large tidal flats, Ganghwa and Yeongjong tidal flats, are developed. Investigations include: 1) waterline and backscattering characteristics of the high resolution X-band images in tidal flats; 2) polarimetric signature of halophytes (or salt marsh plants), specifically Suaeda japonica; and 3) phase and coherence of interferometric pairs. Waterlines from TerraSAR-X data satisfy the requirement of horizontal accuracy of 60 m that corresponds to 20 cm in average height difference while current other spaceborne SAR systems could not meet the requirement. HH-polarization was the best for extraction of waterline, and its geometric position is reliable due to the short wavelength and accurate orbit control of the TerraSAR-X. A halophyte or salt marsh plant, Suaeda japonica, is an indicator of local sea level change. From X-band ground radar measurements, a dual polarization of VV/VH-pol. is anticipated to be the best for detection of the plant with about 9 dB difference at 35 degree incidence angle. However, TerraSAR-X HH/TV dual polarization was turned to be more effective for salt marsh monitoring. The HH-HV value was the maximum of about 7.9 dB at 31.6 degree incidence angle, which is fairly consistent with the results of X-band ground radar measurement. The boundary of salt marsh is effectively traceable specifically by TerraSAR-X cross-polarization data. While interferometric phase is not coherent within normal tidal flat, areas of salt marsh where the landization is preceded show coherent interferometric phases regardless of seasons or tide conditions. Although TerraSAR-X interferometry may not be effective to directly measure height or changes in tidal flat surface, TanDEM-X or other future X-band SAR tandem missions within one-day interval would be useful for mapping tidal flat topography.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.531-542
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• 2021

Open-pit mines require constant monitoring as they can cause surface changes and environmental disturbances. In open-pit mines, there is little vegetation at the mining site and can be monitored using InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) coherence imageries. In this study, activities occurring in mine were analyzed by applying the recently developed InSAR coherence-based NDAI (Normalized Difference Activity Index). The March 5 Youth Mine is a North Korean mine whose development has been expanded since 2008. NDAI analysis was performed with InSAR coherence imageries obtained using Sentinel-1 SAR images taken at 12-day intervals in the March 5 Youth Mine. First, the area where the elevation decreased by about 75.24 m and increased by about 9.85 m over the 14 years from 2000 was defined as the mining site and the tailings piles. Then, the NDAI images were used for time series analysis at various time intervals. Over the entire period (2017-2019), average mining activity was relatively active at the center of the mining area. In order to find out more detailed changes in the surface activity of the mine, the time interval was reduced and the activity was observed over a 1-year period. In 2017, we analyzed changes in mining operations before and after artificial earthquakes based on seismic data and NDAI images. After the large-scale blasting that occurred on 30 April 2017, activity was detected west of the mining area. It is estimated that the size of the mining area was enlarged by two blasts on 30 September 2017. The time-averaged NDAI images used to perform detailed time-series analysis were generated over a period of 1 year and 4 months, and then composited into RGB images. Annual analysis of activity confirmed an active region in the northeast of the mining area in 2018 and found the characteristic activity of the expansion of tailings piles in 2019. Time series analysis using NDAI was able to detect random surface changes in open-pit mines that are difficult to identify with optical images. Especially in areas where in situ data is not available, remote sensing can effectively perform mining activity analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.41-54
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• 2021

It is very essential to estimate the water body area using remote exploration for water resource management, analysis and prediction of water disaster damage. Hydrophysical detection using satellites has been mainly performed on large satellites equipped with optical and SAR sensors. However, due to the long repeat cycle, there is a limitation that timely utilization is impossible in the event of a disaster/disaster. With the recent active development of Micro satellites, it has served as an opportunity to overcome the limitations of time resolution centered on existing large satellites. The Micro satellites currently in active operation are ICEYE in Finland and Capella satellites in the United States, and are operated in the form of clusters for earth observation purposes. Due to clustering operation, it has a short revisit cycle and high resolution and has the advantage of being able to observe regardless of weather or day and night with the SAR sensor mounted. In this study, the operation status and characteristics of micro satellites were described, and the water area estimation technology optimized for micro SAR satellite images was applied to the Daecheong Dam basin on the Korean Peninsula. In addition, accuracy verification was performed based on the reference value of the water generated from the optical satellite Sentinel-2 satellite as a reference. In the case of the Capella satellite, the smallest difference in area was shown, and it was confirmed that all three images showed high correlation. Through the results of this study, it was confirmed that despite the low NESZ of Micro satellites, it is possible to estimate the water area, and it is believed that the limitations of water resource/water disaster monitoring using existing large SAR satellites can be overcome.