• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.6_1
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• pp.1185-1193
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• 2023

The increasing interest in soil moisture data from satellite imagery for applications in hydrology, meteorology, and agriculture has led to the development of methods to produce variable-resolution soil moisture maps. Research on accurate soil moisture estimation using satellite imagery is essential for remote sensing applications. The purpose of this study is to generate a soil moisture estimation map for a test area using KOMPSAT-3/3A and KOMPSAT-5 SAR imagery and to quantitatively compare the results with soil moisture data from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission provided by NASA, with a focus on accuracy validation. In addition, the Korean Environmental Geographic Information Service (EGIS) land cover map was used to determine soil moisture, especially in agricultural and forested regions. The selected test area for this study is the western part of Jeju, South Korea, where input data were available for the soil moisture estimation algorithm based on the Water Cloud Model (WCM). Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery from KOMPSAT-5 HV and Sentinel-1 VV were used for soil moisture estimation, while vegetation indices were calculated from the surface reflectance of KOMPSAT-3 imagery. Comparison of the derived soil moisture results with SMAP (L-3) and SMAP (L-4) data by differencing showed a mean difference of 4.13±3.60 p% and 14.24±2.10 p%, respectively, indicating a level of agreement. This research suggests the potential for producing highly accurate and precise soil moisture maps using future South Korean satellite imagery and publicly available data sources, as demonstrated in this study.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_1
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• pp.903-916
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• 2021

An area's topography refers to the shape of the earth's surface, described by its elevation, slope, and aspect, among other features. The topographical conditions determine energy flowsthat move water and energy from higher to lower elevations, such as how much solar energy will be received and how much wind or rain will affect it. Another common factor, the topographic wetness index (TWI), is a calculation in digital elevation models of the tendency to accumulate water per slope and unit area, and is one of the most widely referenced hydrologic topographic factors, which helps explain the location of forest vegetation. Analyses of topographical factors can be calculated using a geographic information system (GIS) program based on digital elevation model (DEM) data. Recently, a large number of free open source software (FOSS) GIS programs are available and developed for researchers, industries, and governments. FOSS GIS programs provide opportunitiesfor flexible algorithms customized forspecific user needs. The majority of biodiversity in island areas exists at about 20% higher elevations than in land ecosystems, playing an important role in ecological processes and therefore of high ecological value. However, island areas are vulnerable to disturbances and damage, such as through climate change, environmental pollution, development, and human intervention, and lacks systematic investigation due to geographical limitations (e.g. remoteness; difficulty to access). More than 4,000 of Korea's islands are within a few hours of its coast, and 88% are uninhabited, with 52% of them forested. The forest ecosystems of islands have fewer encounters with human interaction than on land, and therefore most of the topographical conditions are formed naturally and affected more directly by weather conditions or the environment. Therefore, the analysis of forest topography in island areas can be done more precisely than on its land counterparts, and therefore has become a major focus of attention in Korea. This study is focused on calculating the performance of different topographical factors using FOSS GIS programs. The test area is the island forests in Korea's south and the DEM of the target area was processed with GRASS GIS and SAGA GIS. The final slopes and TWI maps were produced as comparisons of the differences between topographic factor calculations of each respective FOSS GIS program. Finally, the merits of each FOSS GIS program used to calculate the topographic factors is discussed.

• 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.37 no.2
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• pp.321-335
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• 2021

Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5 with a diameter less than 10 and 2.5 ㎛, respectively) can be absorbed by the human body and adversely affect human health. Although most of the PM monitoring are based on ground-based observations, they are limited to point-based measurement sites, which leads to uncertainty in PM estimation for regions without observation sites. It is possible to overcome their spatial limitation by using satellite data. In this study, we developed machine learning-based retrieval algorithm for ground-level PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations using aerosol parameters from Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) satellite and various meteorological parameters from a numerical weather prediction model during January to December of 2019. Gradient Boosted Regression Trees (GBRT) and Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) were used to estimate PM concentrations. The model performances were examined for two types of feature sets-all input parameters (Feature set 1) and a subset of input parameters without meteorological and land-cover parameters (Feature set 2). Both models showed higher accuracy (about 10 % higher in R2) by using the Feature set 1 than the Feature set 2. The GBRT model using Feature set 1 was chosen as the final model for further analysis(PM10: R2 = 0.82, nRMSE = 34.9 %, PM2.5: R2 = 0.75, nRMSE = 35.6 %). The spatial distribution of the seasonal and annual-averaged PM concentrations was similar with in-situ observations, except for the northeastern part of China with bright surface reflectance. Their spatial distribution and seasonal changes were well matched with in-situ measurements.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.5_2
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• pp.867-879
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• 2020

As the era of space technology utilization is approaching, the launch of CAS (Compact Advanced Satellite) 500-1/2 satellites is scheduled during 2021 for acquisition of high-resolution images. Accordingly, the increase of image usability and processing efficiency has been emphasized as key design concepts of the CAS 500-1/2 ground station. In this regard, "CAS 500-1/2 Image Acquisition and Utilization Technology Development" project has been carried out to develop core technologies and processing systems for CAS 500-1/2 data collecting, processing, managing and distributing. In this paper, we introduce the results of the above project. We developed an operation system to generate precision images automatically with GCP (Ground Control Point) chip DB (Database) and DEM (Digital Elevation Model) DB over the entire Korean peninsula. We also developed the system to produce ortho-rectified images indexed to 1:5,000 map grids, and hence set a foundation for ARD (Analysis Ready Data)system. In addition, we linked various application software to the operation system and systematically produce mosaic images, DSM (Digital Surface Model)/DTM (Digital Terrain Model), spatial feature thematic map, and change detection thematic map. The major contribution of the developed system and technologies includes that precision images are to be automatically generated using GCP chip DB for the first time in Korea and the various utilization product technologies incorporated into the operation system of a satellite ground station. The developed operation system has been installed on Korea Land Observation Satellite Information Center of the NGII (National Geographic Information Institute). We expect the system to contribute greatly to the center's work and provide a standard for future ground station systems of earth observation satellites.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.467-476
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• 2013

With increasing interest in environmental issues and the quality of surface water becoming inadequate for water supply, the Korean government has launched a groundwater development policy to satisfy the demand for clean water. To drive this policy effectively, it is essential to guarantee the accuracy of sustainable groundwater yield and groundwater use amount. In this study, groundwater use was monitored over several years at various locations in Korea (32 cities/counties in 5 provinces) to obtain accurate groundwater use data. Statistical analysis of the results was performed as a method for estimating rational groundwater use. For the case of groundwater use for living purposes, we classified the cities/counties into three regional types (urban, rural, and urban-rural complex) and divided the groundwater facilities into five types (domestic use, apartment housing, small-scale water supply, schools, and businesses) according to use. For the case of agricultural use, we defined three regional types based on rainfall intensity (average rainfall, below-average rainfall, and above-average rainfall) and the facilities into six types (rice farming, dry-field farming, floriculture, livestock-cows, livestock-pigs, and livestock-chickens). Finally, we developed groundwater-use estimation equations for each region and use type, using cluster analysis and regression model analysis of the monitoring data. The results will enhance the reliability of national groundwater statistics.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.1169-1186
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• 2012

Storage function method has been used for flood forecasting in the major rivers in Korea, however, the researches on the relationship between the parameters and runoff characteristics was not sufficient. In addition, there has been a controversy about the optimized parameters without the consideration of the physical characteristics of the basin. Therefore, in this study, the SCE-UA method is used to optimize the parameters and the proposed method was applied with two stage optimization in the Jeongseon and Yeongwol watersheds located in the most upstream in the South Han river. The contour map was developed to investigate parameters and the error surface calculated from the runoff. The proposed parameters is to provide a range of the possible parameter set in a watershed, rather than a specific value. However, the applicability is examined using the average value of the proposed ranged parameters. In this study, the criticism about the optimization technique to find an optimal value having no physical meaning on a watershed is tried to avoid. The objective of this study is to provide a range of parameters for the flood forecasting model and the intuition about the behavior of the parameters, so the efficiency of flood forecasting is increased.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.309-324
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• 2008

In this study the retrieval algorithms have been developed to retrieve total precipitable water (TPW) from Terra/Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) infrared measurements using a physical iterative retrieval method and a split-window technique over East Asia. Retrieved results from these algorithms were validated against Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) over ocean and radiosonde observation over land and were analyzed for investigating the key factors affecting the accuracy of results and physical processes of retrieval methods. Atmospheric profiles from Regional Data Assimilation and Prediction System (RDAPS), which produces analysis and prediction field of atmospheric variables over East Asia, were used as first-guess profiles for the physical retrieval algorithm. We used RTTOV-7 radiative transfer model to calculate the upwelling radiance at the top of the atmosphere. For the split-window technique, regression coefficients were obtained by relating the calculated brightness temperature to the paired radiosonde-estimated TPW. Physically retrieved TPWs were validated against SSM/I and radiosonde observations for 14 cases in August and December 2004 and results showed that the physical method improves the accuracy of TPW with smaller bias in comparison to TPWs of RDAPS data, MODIS products, and TPWs from split-window technique. Although physical iterative retrieval can reduce the bias of first-guess profiles and bring in more accurate TPWs, the retrieved results show the dependency upon initial guess fields. It is thought that the dependency is due to the fact that the water vapor absorption channels used in this study may not reflect moisture features in particular near surface.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.6_2
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• pp.1615-1627
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the performance of KOMPSAT-3 Digital Surface Model (DSM) made in overseas testbed area. To that end, we collected the KOMPSAT-3 in-track stereo image taken in San Francisco, the U.S. The stereo geometry elements (B/H, converse angle, etc.) of the stereo image taken were all found to be in the stable range. By applying precise sensor modeling using Ground Control Point (GCP) and DSM automatic generation technique, DSM with 1 m resolution was produced. Reference materials for evaluation and calibration are ground points with accuracy within 0.01 m from Compass Data Inc., 1 m resolution Elevation 1-DSM produced by Airbus. The precision sensor modeling accuracy of KOMPSAT-3 was within 0.5 m (RMSE) in horizontal and vertical directions. When the difference map was written between the generated DSM and the reference DSM, the mean and standard deviation were 0.61 m and 5.25 m respectively, but in some areas, they showed a large difference of more than 100 m. These areas appeared mainly in closed areas where high-rise buildings were concentrated. If KOMPSAT-3 tri-stereo images are used and various post-processing techniques are developed, it will be possible to produce DSM with more improved quality.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.541-550
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• 2021

While open-air compost has value as a source of nutrients for crops in agricultural land, it acts as a pollution that adversely affects the environment during rainfall, and management is required. In this study, it was intended to analyze the accuracy of calculating open-air compost volume using fixed-wing UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) capable of acquiring a wide range of images and automatic path flights and to identify the possibility of utilization. In order to evaluate the accuracy of calculating the three open-air compost volume, ground LiDAR surveys and precision surveys using a rotary UAV were performed. and compared with the open-air compost volume acquired through a fixed-wing UAV. As a result of comparing the calculation of open-air compost volume based on the ground LiDAR, the error rate of the rotary-wing was estimated to be ±5%, and the error rate of fixed-wing was -15 ~ -4%. one of three open-air compost volume calculated by fixed-wing was underestimated as about -15 %, but the deviation of the open-air compost volume was 2.9 m3, which was not significant. In addition, as a result of periodic monitoring of open-air compost using fixed-wing UAV, changes in the volume of open-air compost with time could be confirmed. These results suggested that efficient open-air compost monitoring and non-point pollutants in agricultural for a wide range using fixed-wing UAV is possible.