• Title/Summary/Keyword: quality factor

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Locally Advanced, Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer Treated by Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (국소적으로 진행된, 절제 불가능한 췌장암에서 정위 방사선 치료)

  • Choi Chul-Won;Kim Mi-Sook;Cho Chul-Koo;Yoo Seong-Yul;Yang Kwang-Mo;Yoo Hyung-Jun;Lee Dong-Han;Ji Young-Hoon;Han Chul-Ju;Kim Jin;Kim Young-Han
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.11-20
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    • 2006
  • Puroose: In order to find out whether stereotactic radiation therapy (RT) using CyberKnife (CK) could improve survival rate and lower acute toxicity compared to conventional RT. Materials and Methods: From April 2003 through April 2004, 19 patients with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ${\leq}3$ and locally advanced pancreas cancer without distant metastasis, evaluated by CT or PET/CT, were included. We administered stereotactic RT consisting of either 33 Gy, 36 Gy or 39 Gy in 3 fractions to 6, 4 and 9 patients, respectively, in an effort to increase the radiation dose step by step, and analyzed the survival rate and gastrointestinal toxicities by the acute radiation morbidity criteria of Radiation Therapeutic Oncology Group (RTOG). Prognostic factors of age, sex, ECOG performance score, chemotherapy, bypass surgery, radiation dose, CA 19-9, planning target volume (PTV), and adjacent organ and vessel invasion on CT scan were evaluated by Log Rank test. Results: The median survival time was 11 months with 1-year survival rate of 36.8%. During follow-up period (range $3{\sim}20$ months, median 10 months), no significant gastrointestinal acute toxicity (RTOG grade 3) was observed. In univariate analysis, age, sex, ECOG performance score, chemotherapy, bypass surgery, radiation dose, CA 19-9 level, and adjacent organ and vessel invasion did not show any significant changes of survival rate, however, patients with PTV (80 cc showed more favorable survival rate than those with PTV>80 cc (p-value<0.05). In multivariate analysis, age younger than 65 years and PTV>80 cc showed better survival rate. Conclusion: In terms of survival, the efficacy of stereotactic radiation therapy using CK was found to be superior or similar to other recent studies achieved with conventional RT with intensive chemotherapy, high dose conformal RT, intraoperative RT (IORT), or intensity modulated RT (IMRT). Furthermore, severe toxicity was not observed. Short treatment time in relation to the short life expectancy gave patients more convenience and, finally, quality of life would be increased. Consequently, this could be regarded as an effective novel treatment modality for locally advanced, unresectable pancreas cancer. PTV would be a helpful prognostic factor for CK.

Knowledge Management Strategy of a Franchise Business : The Case of a Paris Baguette Bakery (프랜차이즈 기업의 지식경영 전략 : 파리바게뜨 사례를 중심으로)

  • Cho, Joon-Sang;Kim, Bo-Yong
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.10 no.6
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    • pp.39-53
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    • 2012
  • It is widely known that knowledge management plays a facilitating role that contributes to upgrading organizational performance. Knowledge management systems (KMS), especially, support the knowledge management process including the sharing, creating, and using of knowledge within a company, and maximize the value of knowledge resources within an organization. Despite this widely held belief, there are few studies that describe how companies actually develop, share, and practice their knowledge. Companies in the domestic small franchise sector, which are in the early stages in terms of knowledge management, need to improve their KMS to manage their franchisees effectively. From this perspective, this study uses a qualitative approach to explore the actual process of knowledge management implementation. This article presents a case study of PB (Paris Baguette) company, which is the first to build a KMS in the franchise industry. The study was able to confirm the following facts through the analysis of target companies. First, the chief executive's support is a critical success factor and this support can increase the participation of organization members. Second, it is important to build a process and culture that actively creates and leverages information in knowledge management activities. The organizational learning culture should be one where the creation, learning, and sharing of new knowledge is developed continuously. Third, a horizontal network organization is needed in order to make relationships within the organization more close-knit. Fourth, in order to connect the diverse processes such as knowledge acquisition, storage, and utilization of knowledge management activities, information technology (IT) capabilities are essential. Indeed, IT can be a powerful tool for improving the quality of work and maximizing the spread and use of knowledge. However, during the construction of an intranet based KMS, research is required to ensure that the most efficient system is implemented. Finally, proper evaluation and compensation are important success factors. In order to develop knowledge workers, an appropriate program of promotion and compensation should be established. Also, building members' confidence in the benefits of knowledge management should be an ongoing activity. The company developed its original KMS to achieve a flexible and proactive organization, and a new KMS to improve organizational and personal capabilities. The PB case shows that there are differences between participants perceptions and actual performance in managing knowledge; that knowledge management is not a matter of formality but a paradigm that assures the sharing of knowledge; and that IT boosts communication skills, thus creating a mutual relationship to enhance the flow of knowledge and information between people. Knowledge management for building organizational capabilities can be successful when considering its focus and ways to increase its acceptance. This study suggests guidelines for major factors that corporate executives of domestic franchises should consider to improve knowledge management and the higher operating activities that can be used.

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Earthquake impacts on hydrology: a case study from the Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes of 2010 and 2011

  • Davie, Tim;Smith, Jeff;Scott, David;Ezzy, Tim;Cox, Simon;Rutter, Helen
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2011.05a
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    • pp.8-9
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    • 2011
  • On 4 September 2010 an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 on the Richter scale occurred on the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. The Canterbury Plains are an area of extensive groundwater and spring fed surface water systems. Since the September earthquake there have been several thousand aftershocks (Fig. 1), the largest being a 6.3 magnitude quake which occurred close to the centre of Christchurch on 22February 2011. This second quake caused extensive damage to the city of Christchurch including the deaths of 189 people. Both of these quakes had marked hydrological impacts. Water is a vital natural resource for Canterburywith groundwater being extracted for potable supply and both ground and surface water being used extensively for agricultural and horticultural irrigation.The groundwater is of very high quality so that the city of Christchurch (population approx. 400,000) supplies untreated artesian water to the majority of households and businesses. Both earthquakes caused immediate hydrological effects, the most dramatic of which was the liquefaction of sediments and the release of shallow groundwater containing a fine grey silt-sand material. The liquefaction that occurred fitted within the empirical relationship between distance from epicentre and magnitude of quake described by Montgomery et al. (2003). . It appears that liquefaction resulted in development of discontinuities in confining layers. In some cases these appear to have been maintained by artesian pressure and continuing flow, and the springs are continuing to flow even now. In spring-fed streams there was an increase in flow that lasted for several days and in some cases flows remained high for several months afterwards although this could be linked to a very wet winter prior to the September earthquake. Analysis of the slope of baseflow recession for a spring-fed stream before and after the September earthquake shows no change, indicating no substantial change in the aquifer structure that feeds this stream.A complicating factor for consideration of river flows was that in some places the liquefaction of shallow sediments led to lateral spreading of river banks. The lateral spread lessened the channel cross section so water levels rose although the flow might not have risen accordingly. Groundwater level peaks moved both up and down, depending on the location of wells. Groundwater level changes for the two earthquakes were strongly related to the proximity to the epicentre. The February 2011 earthquake resulted in significantly larger groundwater level changes in eastern Christchurch than occurred in September 2010. In a well of similar distance from both epicentres the two events resulted in a similar sized increase in water level but the slightly slower rate of increase and the markedly slower recession recorded in the February event suggests that the well may have been partially blocked by sediment flowing into the well at depth. The effects of the February earthquake were more localised and in the area to the west of Christchurch it was the earlier earthquake that had greater impact. Many of the recorded responses have been compromised, or complicated, by damage or clogging and further inspections will need to be carried out to allow a more definitive interpretation. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to provisionally conclude that there is no clear evidence of significant change in aquifer pressures or properties. The different response of groundwater to earthquakes across the Canterbury Plains is the subject of a new research project about to start that uses the information to improve groundwater characterisation for the region. Montgomery D.R., Greenberg H.M., Smith D.T. (2003) Stream flow response to the Nisqually earthquake. Earth & Planetary Science Letters 209 19-28.

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Meta-analysis of Intravitreal Injection of Anti-vascular Endothelial Growth Factors for Diabetic Macular Edema (당뇨황반부종에서 항혈관성장인자의 유효성과 안전성: 네트워크 메타분석)

  • Tchoe, Hajin;Shin, Sang Jin;Suh, Jae Kyung;Cho, Songhee;Yang, Jangmi;Kang, Min Joo;Jee, Donghyun
    • Journal of The Korean Ophthalmological Society
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    • v.60 no.2
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    • pp.144-151
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    • 2019
  • Purpose: Intravitreal aflibercept, ranibizumab, bevacizumab, and dexamethasone are the most widely used drugs in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of anti-vascular endothelial growth factors and dexamethasone for the treatment of DME. Methods: There were nine previous systematic reviews on this topic; we updated these high-quality reviews. Seven studies were added to two studies following a literature search. Efficacy outcomes were 1) average improvement in visual acuity, 2) proportion of patients who experienced an improvement in vision (an increase in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of ${\geq}15$ in the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS]), and 3) proportion of patients who experienced worsening vision (a decrease in BCVA of ${\geq}15$ in the ETDRS). Safety outcomes included systemic adverse events and ocular-related adverse events. Results: The mean difference in the BCVA for ranibizumab versus bevacizumab treatment was 0.16 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.02, 0.34), and that for ranibizumab versus aflibercept was -0.08 (95% CI: -0.26, 0.10). The mean difference in the change of BCVA for aflibercept versus ranibizumab was -0.20 (95% CI: -0.40, -0.01), and that for aflibercept versus bevacizumab was -0.34 (95% CI: -0.53, -0.14). Other efficacy outcomes showed similar trends, and there was no significant difference between treatments. There was also no significant difference in both systemic and ocular adverse events rates between the treatments. Conclusions: In DME patients, the efficacy of aflibercept was found to be higher with respect to BCVA changes compared with ranibizumab or bevacizumab. However, there were no significant difference in terms of visual acuity improvement or visual acuity of more than 15 letters, nor in terms of anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (as a safety outcome).

Soil Management Techniques for High Quality Cucumber Cultivation in Plastic Film Greenhouse (고품질 시설하우스 오이재배를 위한 토양 종합관리 기술)

  • Hyun, Byung-Keun;Jung, Sug-Jae;Jung, Yeon-Jae;Lee, Ju-Young;Lee, Jae-Kook;Jang, Byoung-Choon;Chio, Nag-Doo
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.44 no.5
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    • pp.717-721
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    • 2011
  • In case of plastic film greenhouses cultivating fresh vegetables on paddy soil, soil characteristics must be considered as more important factor than any other factors. Generally after the four years of cultivation, soils tend to increase electrical conductivity value, nutrient unbalance and soil pests. As a result, degradation of agricultural products occurred, therefore it is necessary to improve soil conditions. In this study, yield and economic cost of cucumber were analyzed. The best soil conditions for cucumber cultivation were alluvial or valley in soil topology, moderately or poorly drainage in soil drainage classes, coarse loamy soil in texture. In addition, rich-sunlight and-deep groundwater would be proper for the cucumber cultivation. Good environmental managements of plastic film greenhouse were as follows. The temperature needed to be adjusted three times. The optimal daytime temperature could be $22{\sim}28^{\circ}C$, the one from 12 until night could be $14{\sim}15^{\circ}C$, and the temperature from 24 to sunrise could be $10{\sim}12^{\circ}C$. During plant growth period, soil moisture content was as low as 10~15%, and it needed to be maintained as 15~20% during reproductive growth period. To control pests, catch crop cultivation and solar treatment were carried out, after those EC was reduced and the root-knot nematode was controled too. Cucumber yield from the plot with improved soil managements increased to $158.4Mg\;ha^{-1}$, but plot with successive cropping injury yielded $140.3Mg\;ha^{-1}$. The income from the plot with improved soil managements was 215,676 thousand won $ha^{-1}$, the plot with successive cropping injury was 131,649 thousand won $ha^{-1}$. Income rate of each plot was 51.8% and 38.4%, respectively.

A Study on Consumer Characteristics According to Social Media Use Clusters When Purchasing Agri-food Online (온라인 농식품 구매시 소셜미디어 이용 군집에 따른 소비자특성에 대한 연구)

  • Lee, Myoung-Kwan;Park, Sang-Hyeok;Kim, Yeon-Jong
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.195-209
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    • 2021
  • According to the 2019-2020 social media usage survey conducted by the Seoul e-commerce center, 5 out of 10 consumers have experienced shopping through social media. The cost of traditional advertising media has been reduced and advertising spending on social media has risen by 74%, indicating that social media is becoming a more important marketing element. While the number of users of social media has increased and corporate marketing activities have increased accordingly, research has been conducted in various aspects of marketing such as user motivation for social media, satisfaction, and purchase intention. There was no subdivided study on the differences in the social media usage frequency of consumers in actual purchasing behavior. This study attempted to identify differences in consumer characteristics by cluster in the agrifood purchase situation by grouping them by type according to the frequency of use of social media for consumers who purchase agri-food online. Product involvement, product need, and online purchase channel Consumer characteristics such as demographic distribution, perceived risk, and eating and lifestyle in each cluster were checked for the three agrifood purchase situations including choice, and types for each cluster were presented. To this end, questionnaire data on the frequency of social media use and online agrifood purchase behavior were collected from 245 consumers, and the validity of the measurement variables was secured through factor analysis and reliability analysis. As a result of cluster analysis according to the frequency of social media use, it was divided into three clusters. The first cluster was a group that mainly used open social media, and the second cluster was a group that used both open and closed social media and online shopping malls; The third cluster was a group with low online media usage overall, and the characteristics of each cluster appeared. Through regression analysis, the effect on product involvement, product need, and purchase channel selection when purchasing agri-food online through each of the three clusters was confirmed through regression analysis. As a result of the regression analysis, the characteristic of cluster 1 in the situation of purchasing agri-food online is a male in his 30s living in a rural area who has no reluctance to purchase agri-food on social media or online shopping malls. The characteristics of cluster 2 are mainly consumers who are interested in purchasing health food, and the consumer characteristics are represented. In the case of cluster 3, when purchasing products online, they purchase after considering quality and price a lot, and the consumer characteristics are represented as people who are more confident in purchasing offline than online. Through this study, it is judged that by identifying the differences in consumer characteristics that appear in the agri-food purchase situation according to the frequency of social media use, it can be helpful in strategic judgments in marketing practice on social media customer targeting and customer segmentation.

Analysis of the Weight of SWOT Factors of Korean Venture Companies Based on the Industry 4.0 (4차 산업혁명 기반 한국 벤처기업의 SWOT요인에 대한 중요도 분석)

  • Lee, Dongik;Lee, Sangsuk
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.115-133
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    • 2021
  • This study examines the concept and related technologies of the 4th industrial revolution that has been mixed so far and examines the socio-economic changes and influences resulting from it, and the cases of responding to the 4th industrial revolution in major countries. Based on this, by deriving SWOT factors and calculating the importance of each factor for Korean venture companies to prepare for the forth industrial revolution, it was intended to help the government and policymakers in suggesting directions for establishing related policies. Furthermore, the purpose of this study was to suggest a direction for securing global competitiveness to Korean venture entrepreneurs and to help with basic and systematic analysis for further academic in-depth research. For this study, a total of 21 items derived through extensive literature research and data research to understand what are the necessary competency factors for internal and external environmental changes in order for Korean venture companies to have global competitiveness in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. After reviewing SWOT factors by three expert groups and confirming them through Delphi survey, the importance of each item was analyzed by using AHP, a systematic decision-making technique. As a result of the analysis, it was shown that Strength(48%), Opportunity(25%), Threat(16%), Weakness(11%) were considered important in order. In terms of sub-items, 'quick and flexible commercialization capability', 'platform/big data/non-face-to-face service activation', and 'ICT infrastructure and it's utilization' were shown to be of the comparatively high importance. On the other hand, in the lower three items, 'macro-economic stability and social infrastructure', 'difficulty in entering overseas markets due to global protectionism', and 'absolutely inferior in foreign investment' were found to have low priority. As a result of the correlation verification by item to see differences in opinions by industry, academia, and policy expert groups, there was no significant difference of opinion, as industry and academic experts showed a high correlation and industry experts and policy experts showed a moderate correlation. The correlation between the academic and policy experts was not statistically significant (p<0.01), so it was analyzed that there was a difference of opinion on importance. This was due to the fact that policy experts highly valued 'quick and flexible commercialization', which are strengths, and 'excellent educational system and high-quality manpower' and 'creation of new markets' which are opportunity items, while academic experts placed great importance on 'support part of government policy', which are strengths. The implication of this study is that in order for Korean venture companies to secure competitiveness in the field of the 4th industrial revolution, it is necessary to have a policy that preferentially supports the relevant items of strengths and opportunity factors. The difference in the details of strength factors and opportunity factors, which shows a high level of variability, suggests that it is necessary to actively review it and reflect it in the policy.

Evaluation of satellite-based evapotranspiration and soil moisture data applicability in Jeju Island (제주도에서의 위성기반 증발산량 및 토양수분 적용성 평가)

  • Jeon, Hyunho;Cho, Sungkeun;Chung, Il-Moon;Choi, Minha
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.54 no.10
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    • pp.835-848
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    • 2021
  • In Jeju Island which has peculiarity for its geological features and hydrology system, hydrological factor analysis for the effective water management is necessary. Because in-situ hydro-meteorological data is affected by surrounding environment, the in-situ dataset could not be the spatially representative for the study area. For this reason, remote sensing data may be used to overcome the limit of the in-situ data. In this study, applicability assessment of MOD16 evapotranspiration data, Globas Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) based evapotranspiration/soil moisture data, and Advanced SCATterometer (ASCAT) soil moisture product which were evaluated their applicability on other study areas was conducted. In the case of evapotranspiration, comparison with total precipitation and flux-tower based evapotranspiration were conducted. And for soil moisture, 6 in-situ data and ASCAT soil moisture product were compared on each site. As a result, 57% of annual precipitation was calculated as evapotranspiration, and the correlation coefficient between MOD16 evapotranspiration and GLDAS evapotranspiration was 0.759, which was a robust value. The correlation coefficient was 0.434, indicating a relatively low fit. In the case of soil moisture, in the case of the GLDAS data, the RMSE value was less than 0.05 at all sites compared to the in-situ data, and a statistically significant result was obtained as a result of the significance test of the correlation coefficient. However, for satellite data, RMSE over than 0.05 were found at Wolgak and there was no correlation at Sehwa and Handong points. It is judged that the above results are due to insufficient quality control and spatial representation of the evapotranspiration and soil moisture sensors installed in Jeju Island. It is estimated as the error that appears when adjacent to the coast. Through this study, the necessity of improving the existing ground observation data of hydrometeorological factors is emphasized.

A Study on the Effect of Startup's Innovation Orientation on Growth Aspiration (창업기업의 혁신지향성이 성장열망에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Oh, Hyemi;Lee, Chaewon;Kim, Jinsoo
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.16 no.5
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    • pp.1-14
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    • 2021
  • Innovation and Scale-up of Start-up companies are becoming important national tasks. In the past, it was spread the start-up policy paradigm such as 'Start-up America', 'Start-up Chile', 'Start-up Britain' to overcome the recession globally. However as the economic recovery has become more visible recently in advanced economies, it is shifting from a start-up support policy to a scale-up oriented policy paradigm such as 'Scale-up America', Scale-up UK', 'Scale-up Denmark'. It is necessary to enter the scale-up phase beyond the start-up phase to increase the number of high-quality jobs and to continue economic growth. Therefore, it is necessary to grow the start-up into a strong medium-sized company and to lay the foundation for survival. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to consider the antecedent factors that influence the scale-up aspiration for the start-up firm to grow into a scale-up company, and empirically identifies the differences between the stages of economic development and entrepreneurs in the country. In order to accomplish the purpose, this study predicted scale-up by aspiration which is a predictor of scale-up behavior because it is difficult to achieve visible growth in a short period of time due to the characteristics of start-up companies. In order to empirically explore these relationships, the data were collected from nascent entrepreneurs who have less than 3.5 years of the Adult Population Survey(APS) among the subjects surveyed by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor(GEM) and the national economic development stage are divided into Innovation-driven, Efficiency-driven, Factor-driven type economies. For the test hypotheses, this study adopted the multi-level model analysis for comparison between national economic development stages and using the R 3.5.0 program. The results of this study are as follows. There is difference between the national economic development and the entrepreneur in the relationship between innovation orientation of entrepreneurs and scale-up aspirations. As the economy of the country develops, the innovation activity of the entrepreneur becomes more active. Since start-ups are heavily influenced by entrepreneurs, there is a difference in the degree of aspiration depending on how innovative an entrepreneur is in the same environment. In terms of the relationship between innovation orientation and scale-up aspiration, the fear of failure was found to differ between national economic development and entrepreneurs. The fear of failure differ from country to country, and this is one of the important factors affecting entrepreneurial activities. It is expected that the factors influencing the growth of the start-up companies which are identified through the results of these studies, will be used to create a suitable scale-up ecosystem according to the national economic development stage.

Quality Evaluation through Inter-Comparison of Satellite Cloud Detection Products in East Asia (동아시아 지역의 위성 구름탐지 산출물 상호 비교를 통한 품질 평가)

  • Byeon, Yugyeong;Choi, Sungwon;Jin, Donghyun;Seong, Noh-hun;Jung, Daeseong;Sim, Suyoung;Woo, Jongho;Jeon, Uujin;Han, Kyung-soo
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.37 no.6_2
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    • pp.1829-1836
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    • 2021
  • Cloud detection means determining the presence or absence of clouds in a pixel in a satellite image, and acts as an important factor affecting the utility and accuracy of the satellite image. In this study, among the satellites of various advanced organizations that provide cloud detection data, we intend to perform quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis on the difference between the cloud detection data of GK-2A/AMI, Terra/MODIS, and Suomi-NPP/VIIRS. As a result of quantitative comparison, the Proportion Correct (PC) index values in January were 74.16% for GK-2A & MODIS, 75.39% for GK-2A & VIIRS, and 87.35% for GK-2A & MODIS in April, and GK-2A & VIIRS showed that 87.71% of clouds were detected in April compared to January without much difference by satellite. As for the qualitative comparison results, when compared with RGB images, it was confirmed that the results corresponding to April rather than January detected clouds better than the previous quantitative results. However, if thin clouds or snow cover exist, each satellite were some differences in the cloud detection results.