• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.847-855
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• 2009

As a part of effort to establish an offshore wind resource assessment system of the Korean Peninsula, a numeric wind simulation using mesoscale climate model MM5 and a spatial distribution of offshore wind extracted from SAR remote-sensing satellite image is compared and analyzed. According to the analyzed results, the numeric wind simulation is found to have wind speed over predication tendency at the coastal sea area. Therefore, it is determined that a high-resolution wind simulation is required for complicated coastal landforms. The two methods are verified as useful ways to identify the spatial distribution of offshore wind by mutual complementation and if the meteor-statistical comparative analysis is performed in the future using adequate number of satellite images, it is expected to derive a general methodology enabling systematic validation and correction of the numeric wind simulation.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.169-176
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• 2014

Since the operation of the King Sejong Station (KSS) started in Antarctic Peninsula in 1989, there have been continuous efforts to perform the observation for the upper atmosphere. The observations during the initial period of the station include Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) and Michelson Interferometer for the mesosphere and thermosphere, which are no longer in operation. In 2002, in collaboration with York University, Canada, the Spectral Airglow Temperature Imager (SATI) was installed to observe the temperature in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region and it has still been producing the mesopause temperature data until present. The observation was extended by installing the meteor radar in 2007 to observe the neutral winds and temperature in the MLT region during the day and night in collaboration with Chungnam National University. We also installed the all sky camera in 2008 to observe the wave structures in the MLT region. All these observations are utilized to study on the physical characteristics of the MLT region and also on the wave phenomena such as the tide and gravity wave in the upper atmosphere over KSS that is well known for the strong gravity wave activity. In this article, brief introductions for the currently operating instruments at KSS will be presented with their applications for the study of the upper atmosphere.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2019

We have investigated the variations of sporadic E (Es) layer using the measurements of digisondes at Icheon ($37.14^{\circ}N$, $127.54^{\circ}E$, IC) and Jeju ($33.4^{\circ}N$, $126.30^{\circ}E$, JJ) in 2011-2018. The Es occurrence rate and its critical frequency (foEs) have peak values in summer at both IC and JJ in consistent with their known seasonal variations at mid-latitudes. The virtual height of the Es layer (h'Es) during equinox months is greater than that in other months. It may be related to the similar variation of meteor peak heights. The h'Es shows the semidiurnal variations with two peaks at early in the morning and late in the afternoon during equinoxes and summer. However, the semi-diurnal variation is not obvious in winter. The semi-diurnal variation is generally thought to be caused by the semi-diurnal tidal variation in the neutral wind shear, whose measurements, however, are rare and not available in the region of interest. To investigate the formation mechanism of Es, we have derived the vertical ion drift velocity using the Horizontal Wind Model (HWM) 14, International Geomagnetic Reference Field, and Naval Research Laboratory Mass Spectrometer and Incoherent Scatter Radar-00 models. Our results show that h'Es preferentially occur at the altitudes where the direction of the vertical ion velocity changes. This result indicates the significant role of ion convergence in the creation of Es.