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(Joint Press)"The Result of a Long Journey of Over 10 Years" Environmental Satellite Unveils the Asian Air Quality Video for the First Time

Date:
2020-11-18
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▷ The world's first average 8 observations per day based on the geostationary orbit for environmental satellite. The air quality observation across Asia for the next 10 years

▷ Contributing to cooperation with the pan-Asian air quality policies by sharing real-time observation data


On November 18, the Ministry of Environment (Minister Cho Myung-rae), Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Choi Ki-young) and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister Moon Seong-hyeok) released data on the Asian air quality observed from a geostationary environmental satellite mounted on Cheollian 2B.


The Ministry of Environment and related organizations have been promoting the environmental satellite project since 2008. They had the successful launch on February 19 this year. 


After entering the target orbit on March 6, the environmental satellite successfully began test operations such as operation inspection. This video release is the first achievement of the satellite. 


The released video contains air pollutants data such as fine dust (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3) from all over Asia observed by the geostationary environmental satellite during the test operation period. 


Through the video data, the status on generation, movement and distribution of aerosol optical depth (AOD*), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3) related to the concentration of fine dust can be ed by time.

* AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth): A value that quantitatively indicates that the atmospheric transmittance of light changes due to fine dust and yellow dust


In particular, according to the observation data on September 9 this year, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is high in large cities* where vehicles are frequently moving and industrial areas, including thermal power plants, which are not only in China, but also throughout Northeast Asia.

* Seoul, Pyongyang, Beijing, Syenyang, Osaka, Nagoya


In addition, while existing overseas low-orbit satellites* cannot observe or miss some observations on certain areas due to a large amount of clouds, the geostationary environmental satellite of Korea is evenly observing throughout Asia.

* The US OMI (launch in 2004), Europe TROPOMI (launch in 2017)


090920 11:45-12:15 Vertical column densities of NO2 090920 VCDs of NO2 by TROPOMI / September 9, 2020, total atmospheric layer concentration of NO2 (the US OMI)  September 9, 2020, total atmospheric layer concentration of NO2 (Korean geostationary satellite)  September 9, 2020,  total atmospheric layer concentration of NO2 (Europe TROPOMII)
 

In addition, observation images such as the movement of high-concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) due to the volcanic eruption in Nishinoshima, Japan (August 6, 2020), the movement of high-concentration of fine dust originating in China to the Korean Peninsula (October 20, 2020) and the high-concentration of ozone layer in Manchuria and Japan (August 6, 2020) were also released.


With the release of this video, Korea's geostationary orbit environmental satellite is ed to be far superior in terms of performance compared to foreign environmental satellites*.

* Overseas low-orbit (altitude 850Km) satellite that can take a photograph only once a day


Korea's environmental satellite* is the first in the world to observe average 8 times a day based on the geostationary orbit.

* Altitude 36,000 Km, time-space resolution at least 3.5×8㎢


In terms of space resolution, it is about twice as good as that of the European environmental satellite launched in 2017 and about 11 times that of the US environmental satellite.

* The US OMI (launched in 2004) takes a photograph once a day and 13 × 24 km2, the European TROPOMI (launched in 2017) takes a photograph once a day and 7 × 7 km2


Over the next 10 years, the environmental satellite plans to observe air pollutants** from all over Asia* from about 36,000 km in the air. 

* Observing 20 countries in Asia from 5° south latitude to 45° north latitude (Indonesia to Mongolia), 80° east longitude to 152° (India to Japan)

** Fine dust, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, ozone


In summer, when the sun is located in the northern hemisphere, it can observe up to 10 times per day and up to 6 times per day in winter.


The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), a satellite operating institution, is planning to determine the observation area so that Dokdo, Korean Peninsula and eastern China can be observed as much as possible through a pilot operation until the first half of next year.


In addition, the Ministry of Environment will donate environmental satellite data to Asian countries and promote an international joint research to expand the international use of geostationary environmental satellite data and secure their reliability.


Furthermore, the "Environmental Satellite Joint Utilization Platform Establishment Project (a.k.a. Pandora Project)" is being promoted to jointly utilize the information on fine dust and climate change-causing substances observed from the geostationary environmental satellite with 13 Asian countries*.

* Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam (alphabetical order)


From October, the international verification team for geostationary environmental satellite in operation will continue researches to verify observation data and improve accuracy during the life cycle of the environmental satellite mission.


Following the video data release, Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae visited the Environmental Satellite Center, NIER (located in Seo-gu, Incheon) on the afternoon of November 18 and was reported with the video data production process, regular observation plan, satellite data verification, the 2nd international joint research on the Asian air quality and the project to build a platform for joint use of environmental satellite.


"As can be seen from the environmental satellite video released this time, the air quality problem is not for a specific country, but a common problem in Northeast Asia. The Ministry of Environment will create a multi-layered cooperation structure by enhancing bilateral cooperation with China as well as multilateral cooperation with other countries." said the Minister.


"After going through internal and external expert reviews by the first half of next year, the verified satellite images will be released step by step through the website of the Environmental Satellite Center (nesc.nier.go.kr)," said President Jang Yoon-seok of NIER. "We will continue our utmost efforts to help establish environmental policies through observation of air pollutants in Asia using the environmental satellite."