Young-Ho Bae

Development of a Data Reduction algorithm for Optical Wide Field Patrol

The detector subsystem of the Optical Wide-field Patrol (OWL) network efficiently acquires the position and time information of moving objects such as artificial satellites through its chopper system, which consists of 4 blades in front of the CCD camera. Using this system, it is possible to get more position data with the same exposure time by changing the streaks of the moving objects into many pieces with the fast rotating blades during sidereal tracking. At the same time, the time data from the rotating chopper can be acquired by the time tagger connected to the photo diode. To analyze the orbits of the targets detected in the image data of such a system, a sequential procedure of determining the positions of separated streak lines was developed that involved calculating the World Coordinate System (WCS) solution to transform the positions into equatorial coordinate systems, and finally combining the time log records from the time tagger with the transformed position data. We introduce this procedure and the preliminary results of the application of this procedure to the test observation images.

A Study on the Strategies of the Positioning of a Satellite on Observed Images by the Astronomical Telescope and the Observation and Initial Orbit Determination of Unidentified Space Objects

An optical tracking system has advantages for observing geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites relatively over other types of observation system. Regular surveying for unidentified space objects with the optical tracking system can be an early warning tool for the safety of five Korean active GEO satellites. Two strategies of positioning on the observed image of Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite 1 are tested and compared. Photometric method has a half root mean square error against streak method. Also null eccentricity method for initial orbit determination (IOD) is tested with simulation data and real observation data. Under 10 minutes observation time interval, null eccentricity method shows relatively better IOD results than the other time interval. For follow-up observation of unidentified space objects, at least two consecutive observations are needed in 5 minutes to determine orbit for geosynchronous orbit space objects.

Minimum Number of Observation Points for LEO Satellite Orbit Estimation by OWL Network

By using the Optical Wide-field Patrol (OWL) network developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) we generated the right ascension and declination angle data from optical observation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. We performed an analysis to verify the optimum number of observations needed per arc for successful estimation of orbit. The currently functioning OWL observatories are located in Daejeon (South Korea), Songino (Mongolia), and Oukaimeden (Morocco). The Daejeon Observatory is functioning as a test bed. In this study, the observed targets were Gravity Probe B, COSMOS 1455, COSMOS 1726, COSMOS 2428, SEASAT 1, ATV-5, and CryoSat-2 (all in LEO). These satellites were observed from the test bed and the Songino Observatory of the OWL network during 21 nights in 2014 and 2015. After we estimated the orbit from systematically selected sets of observation points (20, 50, 100, and 150) for each pass, we compared the difference between the orbit estimates for each case, and the Two Line Element set (TLE) from the Joint Space Operation Center (JSpOC). Then, we determined the average of the difference and selected the optimal observation points by comparing the average values.

Determining the Rotation Periods of an Inactive LEO Satellite and the First Korean Space Debris on GEO, KOREASAT 1

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Development of a Reduction Algorithm of GEO Satellite Optical Observation Data for Optical Wide Field Patrol (OWL)

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Magnitude Standardization Procedure for OWL-Net Optical Observations of LEO Satellites

As a governmentally approved domestic entity for Space Situational Awareness, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) is developing and operating an optical telescopes system, Optical Wide-field PatroL (OWL) Network. During the test phase of this system, it is necessary to determine the range of brightness of the observable satellites. We have defined standard magnitude for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to calibrate their luminosity in terms of standard parameters such as distance, phase angle, and angular rate. In this work, we report the optical brightness range of five LEO Satellites using OWL-Net.

Optical Monitoring Strategy for Avoiding Collisions of GEO Satellites with Close Approaching IGSO Objects

Several optical monitoring strategies by a ground-based telescope to protect a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite from collisions with close approaching objects were investigated. Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) objects, Inclined GeoSynchronous Orbit (IGSO) objects, and drifted GEO objects forced by natural perturbations are hazardous to operational GEO satellites regarding issues related to close approaches. The status of these objects was analyzed on the basis of their orbital characteristics in Two-Line Element (TLE) data from the Joint Space Operation Center (JSpOC). We confirmed the conjunction probability with all catalogued objects for the domestic operational GEO satellite, Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite (COMS) using the Conjunction Analysis Tools by Analytical Graphics, Inc (AGI). The longitudinal drift rates of GeoSynchronous Orbit (GSO) objects were calculated, with an analytic method and they were confirmed using the Systems Tool Kit by AGI. The required monitoring area was determined from the expected drift duration and inclination of the simulated target. The optical monitoring strategy for the target area was analyzed through the orbit determination accuracy. For this purpose, the close approach of Russian satellite Raduga 1-7 to Korean COMS in 2011 was selected.

Analysis of a Simulated Optical GSO Survey Observation for the Effective Maintenance of the Catalogued Satellites and the Orbit Determination Strategy

Corresponding AuthorE-mail: jhjo39@kasi.re.kr, ORCID: 0000-0002-2119-1956Tel: +82-42-865-3238, Fax: +82-42-865-3358 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Correlation Between the “seeing FWHM” of Satellite Optical Observations and Meteorological Data at the OWL-Net Station, Mongolia

Corresponding AuthorE-mail: yhbae@kasi.re.kr, ORCID: 0000-0002-2738-6623Tel: +82-42-865-2012, Fax: +82-42-865-3358 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DEEP-South: Automated Observation Scheduling, Data Reduction and Analysis Software Subsystem

We started ‘DEep Ecliptic Patrol of the Southern sky’ (DEEP-South, DS) (Moon et al . 2015 ) in late 2012, and conducted test runs with the first Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) (Park et al . 2012 ), a 1.6 m telescope with 18k x 18k CCD stationed at CTIO in early 2015. While the primary objective of DEEP-South is the physical characterization of small Solar System bodies, it is also expected to discover a large number of such bodies, many of them previously unknown. An automated observation scheduling, data reduction and analysis software subsystem called ‘DEEP-South Scheduling and Data reduction System’ (DS SDS) is thus being designed and implemented to enable observation planning, data reduction and analysis with minimal human intervention.