• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.206.1-206.1
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• 2012

The NASA Antarctica balloon experiment CREAM has successfully collected the data of energetic cosmic rays during six flights in past years. It recently observed the unexpected discrete hardening in energy spectra of comic rays. However high-statistics data of energetic cosmic rays are required for the further investigation of the unexpected hardening in comic-ray energy spectra. The International Space Station (ISS) is an ideal platform for the CREAM experiment to investigate the unexpected hardening and explore the fundamental issues like the acceleration mechanism and the origin of energetic cosmic rays because of the high duty cycle of the experiment in the ISS platform. We will present the design of the ISS-CREAM experiment, and the development and fabrication status of the detector components including the 4-layer silicon charge detector which will measure the charge constitution of cosmic rays with unprecedented accuracy.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.137-140
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• 2017

Caballeronia sordidicola strain PAMC 26510 was isolated from Psoroma sp., a lichen material, collected from Barton Peninsula of King George Island in Antarctica. The draft genome sequence of PAMC 26510 consisted of 224 contigs and they was 7,872,143 base pairs with 59.7% G+C content. The genome included 7,580 protein coding sequences and 6 ribosomal RNA genes and 46 tRNA genes. The strain PAMC 26510 is also a metabolic generalist as we have observed in previous genomic studies in the arctic strain of Caballeronia sordidicola. The draft genomic sequences of PAMC 26510 had six CRISPR arrays on six contigs, and there were two clusters of CRISPR-associated genes that were linked with respective CRISPR arrays.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.167-174
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• 2017

Antarctica, where ice sheet has been declined rapidly, should be monitored periodically. However, there are difficult to access for local survey or aircraft observation due to the vast and extreme environments of the polar regions. In order to overcome this problem, there have been a lot of studies by acquiring radar or laser data by satellite. It is also difficult to accurately measure the changes of the surface where is composed of snow or ice layer, and it is also difficult to product a high-resolution DEM. This study therefore aims to product DEMs of two periods using high-resolution KOMPSAT-3A stereo images, and DEM matching is implemented by the LZD(Least-squares Z-Differences) method to detect DEM changes in both periods. As a result, the proposed method could be suggested as comparing height differences of the two DEMs within 1m precision.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.321-334
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• 2021

'Marine mammals-based observations' refers to data acquisition activities from marine mammals by instrumenting CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) sensors on them for recording vertical profiles of ocean variables such as temperature and salinity during animal diving. It is a novel data collecting platform that significantly improves our abilities in observing extreme environments such as the Southern Ocean with low cost compared to the other conventional methods. Furthermore, the system continues to create valuable information until sensors are detached, expanding data coverage in both space and time. Owing to these practical advantages, the marine mammals-based observations become popular to investigate ocean circulation changes in the Southern Ocean. Although these merits may bring us more opportunities to understand ocean changes, the data should be carefully qualified before we interpret it incorporating shipboard/autonomous vehicles/moored CTD data. In particular, we need to pay more attention to salinity correction due to the usage of an unpumped-CTD sensor tagged on marine mammals. In this article, we introduce quality control methods for the marine mammals-based CTD profiles that have been developed in recent studies. In addition, we discuss strategies of quality control specifically for the seal-tagging CTD profiles, successfully having been obtained near Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea, Antarctica since February 2021. It is the Korea Polar Research Institute's research initiative of animal-borne instruments monitoring in the region. We anticipate that this initiative would facilitate collaborative efforts among Polar physical oceanographers and even marine mammal behavior researchers to understand better rapid changes in marine environments in the warming world.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.235-242
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• 2018

A Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) for mesospheric observations was installed at King Sejong Station ($62.2^{\circ}S$, $58.9^{\circ}W$) in Antarctica in 2017. For the initial validation of the FPI measurements, we compare neutral wind data recorded with the FPI with those from a Meteor Radar (MR) located nearby. The overall characteristics of the FPI and MR winds of both OH 892.0 nm (87 km) and OI 557.7 nm (97 km) airglow layers are similar. The FPI winds of both layers generally match the MR winds well on the observed days, with a few exceptions. The correlation analysis of the FPI and MR wind data shows that the correlation coefficients for the zonal winds at 87 and 97 km are 0.28 and 0.54, respectively, and those for the meridional winds are 0.36 and 0.54, respectively. Based on the assumption that the distribution of the airglow emissions has a Gaussian function with respect to the altitude, we calculated the weighted mean winds from the MR wind profile and compared them with the FPI winds. By adjusting the peak height and full width at half maximum of the Gaussian function, we determined the change of the correlation between the two winds. The best correlation for the OH and OI airglow layers was obtained at a peak height of 88-89 km and 97-98 km, respectively.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.39-59
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• 2022

How in the Antarctic icefish, generally, and Pseudochaenichthys georgianus, in particular, otoliths increase in size and build new material as the fish ages and passes through different life phases is largely unexplored. Morphometric details of 3418 otoliths of Ps. georgianus from S. Georgia and 318 from S. Shetland, were processed and proportions of the amounts of collagen and aragonite removed by EDTA were determined for different age groups. Microstructural investigations showed that characteristics of the 3-dimensinal collagen net are the reason for the radial direction and orientation of the aragonite needles of approximately 1.0 ㎛ in length in larval and 2.3 ㎛ in length in adult specimens. Earlier generated increment layers from the primordial centre (PC) in the dorsal direction restrict those of the secondary centre (SC), causing new growth layer accretion in different directions. In the otoliths of larval Ps. georgianus, aragonite layers are 0.89 ㎛ wide while in juveniles and adults they measure 1.45-2.86 ㎛. Otoliths change from a sphere shape in the larvae to a longish object of irregular outline in the older stages. It is tentaively suggested that the observed otolith shape differences at distinct growth stages are due to physical effects related to swimming speeds at particular water depths and locations. To confirm that otoliths, apart from being useful for age analyses, could also serve to establish correlations between developmental stage and the oceanic environment the fish spend time in, further analyses using additional species and state-of-the-art methods like µCT imaging to evaluate otolith volumes and shapes are required.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.375-395
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• 2021

Korea plans to send a pathfinder lunar orbiter to the Moon for the first time in August 2022. And according to the 3rd Basic Plan for Space Development Promotion, the plan is to send a lunar lander to the Moon before 2030. The selection of the lunar landing area can be varied depending on the lunar lander's mission, therefore preliminary research on the lunar landing sites is essential for a successful lunar exploration mission design. This paper analyzed the characteristics of major regions among 14 proposed regions using NASA's MoonTrek based on the data on the candidate areas for the major moon landing proposed sites by the NASA workshop in 2018. And we looked into what kind of future moon landing missions are suitable for these areas. We also looked at the importance of lunar Antarctica area through the recent lunar landing areas of Moon landing countries and Artemis plan.

• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.175-183
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• 2022

Polar microorganisms produce physiologically active substances to adapt to harsh environments, and these substances can be used as biomedical compounds. The green microalga Micractinium variabile KSF0031, which was isolated from Antarctica, produced phytol, a natural antimicrobial agent. Furthermore, several polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), including omega-3, exhibit antioxidant properties. Here statistical methods (Plackett-Burman design and Box-Behnken design) were used to optimize the culture medium of KSF0031 to improve biomass production, and K₂HPO₄, MgSO₄·7H ₂O, and ammonium ferric citrate green (AFCg) were selected as significant components of the culture medium. Changes in the concentration of K₂HPO₄ and MgSO₄·7H ₂O as positive factors and AFCg as a negative factor affected cell growth to a remarkable degree. The biomass production in a 100 L culture using the optimized medium for 24 d at 18℃ was improved by 37.5% compared to that obtained using the original BG-11 medium. The quantities of PUFAs and phytol obtained were 13 mg g^-1 dry cell weight (DCW) and 10.98 mg g^-1 DCW, which represent improved yields of 11.70% and 48.78%, respectively. The results of this study could contribute to an improved production of phytol and fatty acids from Antarctic microalgae in the biomedical industry.

• Advanced Industrial SCIence
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

Recently, it is increasing that a issue of concern about radiation exposure. It affects soil, water, air, crops, etc., and in the long term, environmental pollution and food pollution occur, and it is considered to cause social problems and economic damage. Radiation exposure causes diseases and health problems, but as a method for diagnosing diseases, nuclear medicine tests such as X-ray imaging, CT, and PET-CT are conducted, and radiation isotopes are exposed for the purpose of cancer treatment. A Hungarian case study on radiation in water, particularly drinking water, following the release of radioactive waste from Fukushima, and an examination of the Larsemann Hills area in Antarctica, found that it was within the prescribed radioactivity limits of drinking water recommended by the World Health Organization. We looked at radioprotective agents, focusing on DNA damage, cell and organ damage, and cancer, and also investigated various literatures on ACE inhibitors, antioxidants, and natural substances among restoration materials. Although exposed to radiation in everyday life, the reason why it can be safe is probably because there is a radiation protection material and a recovery material for radiation exposure, so we are trying to find possible materials.

• Atmosphere
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.423-440
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• 2023

The updated version of Global Ocean Data Assimilation and Prediction System (GODAPS) in the NIMS/KMA (National Institute of Meteorological Sciences/Korea Meteorological Administration), which has been in operation since December 2021, is being introduced. This technical note on GODAPS2 describes main progress and updates to the previous version of GODAPS, a software tool for the operating system, and its improvements. GODAPS2 is based on Forecasting Ocean Assimilation Model (FOAM) vn14.1, instead of previous version, FOAM vn13. The southern limit of the model domain has been extended from 77°S to 85°S, allowing the modelling of the circulation under ice shelves in Antarctica. The adoption of non-linear free surface and variable volume layers, the update of vertical mixing parameterization, and the adjustment of isopycnal diffusion coefficient for the ocean model decrease the model biases. For the sea-ice model, four vertical ice layers and an additional snow layer on top of the ice layers are being used instead of previous single ice and snow layers. The changes for data assimilation include the updated treatment for background error covariance, a newly added bias scheme combined with observation bias, the application of a new bias correction for sea level anomaly, an extension of the assimilation window from 1 day to 2 days, and separate assimilations for ocean and sea-ice. For comparison, we present the difference between GODAPS and GODAPS2. The verification results show that GODAPS2 yields an overall improved simulation compared to GODAPS.