• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.344-353
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• 2009

By measuring the brightness of night sky, we have investigated light pollution around the observatory in the College of Education, Seoul National University. As a result of measuring the extinction coefficient and photometric constants by standardization, in January 28, 2009, the extinction coefficient found to be $k_B$=0.359 and photometric constant was $C_B$=4.397. In March 27, 2009, extinction coefficients were $k_B$=0.896 and $k_V$=0.725, and photometric constants were $C_B$=6.235 and $C_V$=6.027. Brightness of the night sky was measured from east, west, south, and north each by altitude of $20^{\circ}$, $40^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$, $75^{\circ}$ and $90^{\circ}$. Data reduction and analysis was based on IRAF. Seeings for the each day of observation were 5.1 and 5.7 arcseconds in January 28 and March 27, respectively. Night sky spanned the magnitude range of $16{\leq}m_V$, $m_B{\leq}18$ We found that the brightness of night sky located at downtown was twice to four times brighter. On these observational conditions, limiting magnitude within 40cm-telescope becomes 11-13 magnitudes. Compared with Jan 28 and Mar 27, night sky brightness of January is 1 magnitude fainter than that of March in B filter.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.177-196
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• 1996

We have investigated the astronomical observational environments at the Choejung-san GEODSS site which is located at the south of Taegu, Korea. As a part of the investigation, seeing and night sky brightness were measured outside nearby the GEODSS site using the Celestron 8-inch portable reflector with $192{\times}165$ pixels Lynxx CCD camera during the period of December 1994 to April 1996. The average seeing values of 4.8 arcsecond in B filter and 5.1 arcsecond in V filter were determined using the IRAF software. These values might be overestimated and would be reduced by at least 1 arc second in both filters if they were measured by more stable telescope system with solid mount and under a dome. We also compare the average seeing value at the GEODSS site with those at three other observatories, the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory, the Sobaeksan Optical Astronomy Observatory, and the Seoul National University Observatory, for justification of the above guess. Unfortunately the night sky brightness measurement was not successful mainly due to the short exposure time. The utilizing plan of the GEOSS site is discussed based on the average seeing value, naked-eye sky brightness measurement, analysis of the existing thirty-year weather data and twenty-year urban planning of the metropolitan Taegu city for the year of 2016.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.464-475
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• 2019

We measured night sky brightness (NSB) over the downtown using a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera combined to a small telescope for educational purpose, considering that most secondary schools are located in urban areas and have limitation in the equipment for astronomical observation. Raw format images from DSLR camera are not affected by various camera settings except for the ISO, and the typical photometric uncertainty including filter transformation is about 0.1 mag. Near the zenith, the NSB of the B, V, and r-band is 17.5, 17.1, and $16.9mag\;arcsec^{-2}$, respectively. The approximate limiting magnitude is derived to be 17.5 mag at B-band and 17 mag at V, r-band. A large scale artificial light close to the observation site is the dominant cause for making observing condition worse, increasing the NSB by $0.6mag\;arcseec^{-2}$ regardless of the altitude and filter.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.82-82
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• 2000

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.82-82
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• 2000

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.41-57
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• 2002

We have written a code called QDM_sca, which numerically solves the problem of radiative transfer in an anisotropically scattering, spherical atmosphere. First we formulate the problem as a second order differential equation of a quasi-diffusion type. We then apply a three-point finite differencing to the resulting differential equation and transform it to a tri-diagonal system of simultaneous linear equations. After boundary conditions are implemented in the tri-diagonal system, the QDM_sca radiative code fixes the field of specific intensity at every point in the atmosphere. As an application example, we used the code to calculate the brightness of atmospheric diffuse light(ADL) as a function of zenith distance, which plays a pivotal role in reducing the zodiacal light brightness from night sky observations. On the basis of this ADL calculation, frequent uses of effective extinction optical depth have been fully justified in correcting the atmospheric extinction for such extended sources as zodiacal light, integrated starlight and diffuse galactic light. The code will be available on request.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.149-159
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• 2005

Simultaneous observations of MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) onboard the Aqua and Terra satellites and weather station at ground near the Inchon International Airport (37.2-37.7 N, 125.7-127.2 E) during the period from December 2002 to September 2004 have been utilized in order to analyze the characteristics of satellite-observed infrared (IR) and visible data under fog and clear-sky conditions, respectively. The differences $(T_{3.7-11})$ in brightness temperature between $3.75{\mu}m\;and\;11.0{\mu}m$ were used as threshold values for remote-sensing fog (or low clouds) from satellite during day and night. The $T_{3.7-11}$ value during daytime was greater by about 21 K when it was foggy than that when it was clear, but during nighttime fog it was less by 1.5 K than during nighttime clear-sky. The value was changed due to different values of emission of fog particles at the wavelength. Since the near-IR channel at $3.7{\mu}m$ was affected by solar and IR radiations in the daytime, both IR and visible channels (or reflectance) have been used to detect fog. The reflectance during fog was higher by 0.05-0.6 than that during clear-sky, and varied seasonally. In this study, the threshold values included uncertainties when clouds existed above a layer of fog.

• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.137-147
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• 2012

The technique of Brightness Temperature Difference (BTD) between 11 and $12{\mu}m$ separates yellow sand dust from clouds according to the difference in absorptive characteristics between the channels. However, this method causes consistent false alarms in many cases, especially over the desert. In order to reduce these false alarms, we should eliminate the background noise originated from surface. We adopted the Background BTD (BBTD), which stands for surface characteristics on clear sky condition without any dust or cloud. We took an average of brightness temperatures of 11 and $12{\mu}m$ channels during the previous 15 days from a target date and then calculated BTD of averaged ones to obtain decontaminated pixels from dust. After defining the BBTD, we subtracted this index from BTD for the Yellow Sand Index (YSI). In the previous study, this method was already verified using the geostationary satellite, MTSAT. In this study, we applied this to the polar orbiting satellite, MODIS, to detect yellow sand dust over Northeast Asia. Products of yellow sand dust from OMI and MTSAT were used to verify MODIS YSI. The coefficient of determination between MODIS YSI and MTSAT YSI was 0.61, and MODIS YSI and OMI AI was also 0.61. As a result of comparing two products, significantly enhanced signals of dust aerosols were detected by removing the false alarms over the desert. Furthermore, the discontinuity between land and ocean on BTD was removed. This was even effective on the case of fall. This study illustrates that the proposed algorithm can provide the reliable distribution of dust aerosols over the desert even at night.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.88.2-88.2
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• 2015

지난 2009-2010년 수행한 제 1차 수도권 밤하늘 밝기 측정에 이어, 우리는 2014년 12월부터 2015년 2월까지 제 2차 수도권 밤하늘 밝기 측정을 수행하였다. 이번 2차 측정에서는 지난 1차 측정과 가능한 한 동일한 장소와 조건에서 밤하늘 밝기를 측정함으로써, 지난 5년간 발생한 밤하늘 밝기 및 주변 환경의 변화와 이 둘 사이의 상관관계를 알아보고자 하였다. 밤하늘 밝기 측정에 사용된 기기는 1차 측정과 마찬가지로 'SQM(Sky Quality Meter)-L'을 사용하였다. SQM-L은 표면등급($mag/arcsec^2$) 단위로 밤하늘을 측정하며 측정 오차는 ${\pm}0.1$ 등급이다. 이번 측정 결과 밤하늘 밝기가 가장 어두운 지역은 경기도 가평군 청평면 고성리(20.6 등급)로, 1차 측정에서의 가장 어두운 지역과 동일했다. 반면 가장 밝은 지역은 서울 영등포구 윤중초교와 서울 중구 남산초교(16.5 등급)로 나타났으며, 가장 어두운 지역과 밝은 지역 사이의 밤하늘 밝기 차이는 약 40배(~4 등급)로 나타났다. 이번에 측정한 밤하늘 밝기는 지난 1차 관측에 비해 전 지역에서 평균 0.5 등급 어두워진 것으로 나타났다. 특히 서울 은평구 갈현초교는 5년 사이에 1.5 등급 어두지면서 가장 큰 차이를 보였다(1차: 16.0 등급, 2차: 17.5 등급). 본 포스터에서는 이번 측정 결과와 진행 과정을 소개하고 두 관측 기간 사이에 발생한 밤하늘 밝기 변화의 원인에 대하여 토론하고자 한다.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• v.2
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• pp.664-667
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• 2006

Seasonal threshold values for fog detection over the ten airport areas in the Korean Peninsula have been derived, using the satellite-observed data of polar-orbit (Aqua/Terra MODIS) and geostationary (GOES-9) during two years. The values are obtained from reflectance at 0.65 ${\mu}m$ $(R_{0.65})$ and the difference in brightness temperature between 3.7 ${\mu}m$ and 11 ${\mu}m$ $(T_{3.7-11})$. In order to examine the discrepancy between the threshold values of two kinds of satellites, the following parameters have been analyzed under the condition of daytime/nighttime and fog/clear-sky, utilizing their simultaneous observations over the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The parameters are the brightness temperature at 3.7 ${\mu}m$ $(T_{3.7})$, the temperature at 11 ${\mu}m$ $(T_{11})$, and $T_{3.7-11}$ for day and night. The $R_{0.65}$ data are additionally included in the daytime. The GOES-9 thresholds over the nine airport areas except the Cheongju airport have revealed the accuracy of 60% in the daytime and 70% in the nighttime, based on statistical verification as follows; FAR, POD and CSI. However, the accuracy decreases in the foggy cases with twilight, precipitation, short persistence, or the higher cloud above fog.