• Title/Summary/Keyword: earth and space

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Target Practising in a Global Commons: The Chinese ASAT Test and Outer Space Law

  • Dunk, Frans G. Von Der
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.55-74
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    • 2007
  • When the People's Republic of China destroyed one of its own defunct meteorological satellites, the Fengyun-1C, at an altitude of some 865 km above the earth's surface, the PRC was accused of initiating, or at the very least risking an(other) arms race in outer space also. The test also gave rise to a few legal questions as to the permissibility of this test, and the broader permissibility of using space for military and other weapon-touting activities, Whilst the test cannot be considered to constitute a direct threat to international peace and security so as to invoke relevant legal principles and consequences in terms of the UN Charter for example, it highlights the importance of such clauses in international space law as requiring international cooperation and consultation, due regard for the interests of all other countries both on earth and in outer space, and the further development of general regimes of registration and space debris-prevention. From that perspective, the PRC violated international outer space law not so much by the test itself but by the accompanying lack of information, consultation and due regard for other states', and indeed mankind's, interests.

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Target Practising in a Global Commons: The Chinese ASAT Test and Outer Space Law

  • Dunk, Frans G.Von Der
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • no.spc
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    • pp.181-199
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    • 2007
  • When the People's Republic of China destroyed one of its own defunct meteorological satellites, the Fengyun-1C, at an altitude of some 865 km above the earth's surface, the PRC was accused of initiating, or at the very least risking an(other) arms race in outer space also. The test also gave rise to a few legal questions as to the permissibility of this test, and the broader permissibility of using space for military and other weapon-touting activities, Whilst the test cannot be considered to constitute a direct threat to international peace and security so as to invoke relevant legal principles and consequences in terms of the UN Charter for example, it highlights the importance of such clauses in international space law as requiring international cooperation and consultation, due regard for the interests of all other countries both on earth and in outer space, and the further development of general regimes of registration and space debris-prevention. From that perspective, the PRC violated international outer space law not so much by the test itself but by the accompanying lack of information, consultation and due regard for other states', and indeed mankind's, interests.

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Automatic real-time system of the global 3-D MHD model: Description and initial tests

  • Park, Geun-Seok;Choi, Seong-Hwan;Cho, Il-Hyun;Baek, Ji-Hye;Park, Kyung-Sun;Cho, Kyung-Suk;Choe, Gwang-Son
    • Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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    • 2009.10a
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    • pp.26.2-26.2
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    • 2009
  • The Solar and Space Weather Research Group (SOS) in Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) is constructing the Space Weather Prediction Center since 2007. As a part of the project, we are developing automatic real-time system of the global 3-D magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation. The MHD simulation model of earth's magnetosphere is designed as modified leap-frog scheme by T. Ogino, and it was parallelized by using message passing interface (MPI). Our work focuses on the automatic processing about simulation of 3-D MHD model and visualization of the simulation results. We used PC cluster to compute, and virtual reality modeling language (VRML) file format to visualize the MHD simulation. The system can show the variation of earth's magnetosphere by the solar wind in quasi real time. For data assimilation we used four parameters from ACE data; density, pressure, velocity of solar wind, and z component of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). In this paper, we performed some initial tests and made a animation. The automatic real-time system will be valuable tool to understand the configuration of the solar-terrestrial environment for space weather research.

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Observation of Transition Boundary between Cold, Dense and Hot, Tenuous Plasmas in the Near-Earth Magnetotail

  • Kim, Hee-Eun;Lee, Ensang
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.37 no.2
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    • pp.95-104
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    • 2020
  • Properties of plasmas that constitute the plasma sheet in the near-Earth magnetotail vary according to the solar wind conditions and location in the tail. In this case study, we present multi-spacecraft observations by Cluster that show a transition of plasma sheet from cold, dense to hot, tenuous state. The transition was associated with the passage of a spatial boundary that separates the plasma sheet into two regions with cold, dense and hot, tenuous plasmas. Ion phase space distributions show that the cold, dense ions have a Kappa distribution while the hot, tenuous ions have a Maxwellian distribution, implying that they have different origins or are produced by different thermalization processes. The transition boundary separated the plasma sheet in the dawn-dusk direction, and slowly moved toward the dawn flank. The hot, tenuous plasmas filled the central region while the cold, dense plasmas filled the outer region. The hot, tenuous plasmas were moving toward the Earth, pushing the cold, dense plasmas toward the flank. Different types of dynamical processes can be generated in each region, which can affect the development of geomagnetic activities.

A study on global environmental monitoring by using ADEOS-II GLI data

  • Yamamoto, Hirokazu;Hashimoto, Toshiaki;Mitomi, Yasushi;Yoshioka, Hiroki;Honda, Yoshiaki;Igarashi, Tamotsu
    • Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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    • 2003.11a
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    • pp.482-484
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    • 2003
  • GLI on boarded ADEOS-II satellite allows us to observe vegetation status in the two different resolutions simultaneously, because of thirty 1km resolution channels and six 250m resolution channels. There are four GLI land higher level products from these channels ; those are PGCP (Precise Geometric Correction Parameter), L2A_LC (TOA reflectance), ACLC (atmospheric corrected reflectance), and VGI (NDVI and EVI). This paper shows ADEOS-II GLI land data processing, and some of the latest results.

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Parametric study of ICME properties affecting space weather disturbances at 1 AU

  • An, Junmo;Magara, Tetsuya;Hayashi, Keiji;Moon, Yong-Jae
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.40.4-40.4
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    • 2019
  • Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are regarded as one of the most powerful sources of space weather disturbances observed near the Earth orbit (1 AU). In this study, we aim at investigating the relation between these disturbances and the physical properties of an ICME. Toward this end, we used an spheromak-type ICME and performed a series of three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with different sets of ICME parameters. The ICME is injected into the background solar wind generated from near-Sun data and interplanetary scintillation (IPS) data via an MHD-IPS tomography method. We will compare simulation results to in situ observations near the Earth and discuss how the physical properties of an ICME affect the space weather disturbances at 1 AU.

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Evaluation of a Laser Altimeter using the Pseudo-Random Noise Modulation Technique for Apophis Mission

  • Lim, Hyung-Chul;Sung, Ki-Pyoung;Choi, Mansoo;Park, Jong Uk;Choi, Chul-Sung;Bang, Seong-Cheol;Choi, Young-Jun;Moon, Hong-Kyu
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.165-173
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    • 2021
  • Apophis is a near-Earth object with a diameter of approximately 340 m, which will come closer to the Earth than a geostationary orbit in 2029, offering a unique opportunity for characterizing the object during the upcoming encounter. Therefore, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute has a plan to propose a space mission to explore the Apophis asteroid using scientific instruments such as a laser altimeter. In this study, we evaluate the performance metrics of a laser altimeter using a pseudorandom noise modulation technique for the Apophis mission, in terms of detection probability and ranging accuracy. The closed-form expression of detection probability is provided using the cross correlation between the received pulse trains and pseudo-random binary sequence. And the new ranging accuracy model using Gaussian error propagation is also derived by considering the sampling rate. The operation range is significantly limited by thermal noise rather than background noise, owing to not only the low power laser but also the avalanche photodiode in the analog mode operation. However, it is demonstrated from the numerical simulation that the laser altimeter can achieve the ranging performance required for a proximity operation mode, which employs commercially available components onboard CubeSat-scale satellites for optical communications.

Experimental investigation of earth pressure on retaining wall and ground settlement subjected to tunneling in confined space

  • Jinyuan Wang;Wenjun Li;Rui Rui;Yuxin Zhai;Qing He
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.32 no.2
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    • pp.179-191
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    • 2023
  • To study the influences of tunneling on the earth pressure and ground settlement when the tunnel passes through the adjacent underground retaining structure, 30 two-dimensional model tests were carried out taking into account the ratios of tunnel excavation depth (H) to lateral width (w), excavation width (B), and excavation distance using a custom-made test device and an analogical soil. Tunnel crossing adjacent existing retaining structure (TCE) and tunnel crossing adjacent newly-built retaining structure (TCN) were simulated and the earth pressure variations and ground settlement distribution during excavation were analyzed. For TCE condition, the earth pressure increments, maximum ground settlement and the curvature of the ground settlement curve are negatively related to H/B, but positively related to H/s and H/w. For TCN condition, most trends are consistent with TCE except that the earth pressure increments and the curvature of ground settlement curve are negatively related to H/w. The maximum ground settlement is larger than that observed in tunnel crossing the existing underground structure. This study provides an assessment basis for the design and construction under confined space conditions.

International Legal Regulation for Environmental Contamination on Outer Space Activities (우주에서의 환경오염 방지를 위한 국제법적 규제)

  • Lee, Young-Jin
    • The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.153-194
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    • 2009
  • The resources of outer space are for the common exploitation of mankind, and it is a common responsibility of mankind to protect the outer space environment. With the rapid development of space science and technology, and especially with the busy space activities of some major space powers, environmental contamination or space debris is steadily increasing in quantity and has brought grave potential threats and actual damage to the outer space environment and human activities in space. Especially We must mitigate and seek out a solution to remove space debris which poses a threat directly to man's exploitation and use of outer space activities in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and in the Geostationary Orbit (GEO), through international cooperation and agreement in the fields of space science, economics, politics and law, in order to safeguard the life and property of mankind and protect the earth's environment. While the issue of space debris has been the subject of scientific study and discussion for some time now, it has yet to be fully addressed within the context of an international legal framework. During the earlier stages of the space age, which began in the late 1950s, the focus of international lawmakers and diplomats was the establishment of basic rules which sought to define the legal nature of outer space and set out the parameters for space activities and the nature and scope of activities carried out in outer space were quite limited. Consequently, environmental issues and the risks that might arise from the generation of space debris did not receive priority attention within the context of the development international space law. In recent years, however, the world has seen dramatic advances in technology and increases in the type and number of space-related activities which are being carried out. In addition, the number of actors in this field has exploded from two highly developed States to a vast array of different States, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, including private industry. Therefore, the number of artificial objects in the near-Earth space is continually increasing. As has been previously mentioned, COPUOS was the entity that created the existing five treaties, and five sets of legal Principles, which form the core of space law, and COPUOS is clearly the most appropriate entity to oversee the creation of this regulatory body for the outer space environmental problem. This idea has been proposed by various States and also at the ILA Conference in Buenos Aires. The ILA Conference in Buenos Aires produced an extensive proposal for such a regulatory regime, dealing with space debris issues in legal terms This article seeks to discuss the status of international law as it relates to outer space environmental problem and space debris and indicate a course of action which might be taken by the international community to develop a legal framework which can adequately cope with the complexity of issues that have recently been recognized. In Section Ⅱ,Ⅲ and IV of this article discuss the current status of international space law, and the extent to which some of the issues raised by earth and space environment are accounted for within the existing United Nations multilateral treaties. Section V and VI discuss the scope and nature of space debris issues as they emerged from the recent multi-year study carried out by the ILA, Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space ("COPUOS") as a prelude to the matters that will require the attention of international lawmakers in the future. Finally, analyzes the difficulties inherent in the future regulation and control of space debris and the activities to protect the earth's environment. and indicates a possible course of action which could well provide, at the least, a partial solution to this complex challenge.

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