Press Release

Board View

The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) Laid the Foundations for International Cooperation on Air Pollution in Asia

▷ NIER organized training courses on the joint use of environmental satellites in Asia


Sejong, June 14 - The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER, President Kim Dong-jin), an affiliate of the Ministry of Environment, organized training courses on environmental satellites with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) from June 12 to July 1. The participants would learn various topics, including processing data from environmental satellites and operating Pandora. The training courses were organized as a part of the "Building the Pan-Asia Partnership for Geospatial Air Quality information (PAPGAPi)." Pandora is an optical remote sensing instrument for air quality monitoring and satellite data validation. The NIER, UNESCAP, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Korea Environment Corporation (KECO) are working together on the PAPGAPi project. The project aims to validate and improve environmental satellites and monitor the air quality of Asia by establishing ground-based platforms in thirteen countries, including Thailand and Vietnam, and to strengthen air quality partnerships in Asia by sharing air quality data. The NIER's Environmental Satellite Center plans to establish ground-based remote platforms in thirteen nations to utilize Asia's remote sensing data and observational data from Pandora to build an Asian cooperative system equivalent to those of the US and Europe.  


The courses covered twenty-four lectures (for a total of 30 hours), including Practice on Pandora hardware and software, Technology for utilizing environmental satellite algorithms and data, and Environmental satellite analysis system and satellite data processing practice. Twenty-five environmental satellite experts of Korea, including those of the Environmental Satellite Center, Korea Aerospace Research Institute, and Prof. Ahn Myoung-Hwan of Ewha Woman's University and Prof. Lee Han-rim of Pukyong National University, presented as lecturers of the program. Trainees are expected to learn the theories and technologies behind Pandora's operation and develop and present research and policy plans utilizing environmental satellites and Pandora data. NIER intends to build trainees' competencies to put what they have learned into practice even after completing the training courses.


Jeong Eun-hae, Director-General of Climate and Air Quality Research Department of the NIER, said, "In order to ensure reliability of environmental satellite data, it is more important than ever to establish a ground-based remote sensing network by utilizing environmental satellites." She added, "Through the first training session on environment satellite, we will lay the foundation for international cooperation to improve the air quality in Asia."


                                                                                                                                                      


1 PAN (Pandora Asia Network) is a project proclaimed during the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit held in 2019. It is the infrastructure to manage research to improve air quality by sharing environmental satellite data with Asian countries and establishing a ground-based remote sensing network.


Contact: KANG Kyung-hee, Researcher

Environmental Satellite Center / +82-(0)32-560-8431 


Foreign Media Contact: CHUN Minjo

+82-(0)44-201-6055 / rachelmchun@korea.kr