Seoul, Beijing, Osaka all covered in clouds of pollutants, satellite image reveals

First images of air quality taken by S. Korean satellite released to public

A satellite image of atmospheric pollutants over the Korean Peninsula. (provided by National Institute of Environmental Research)

The first images of Asian air quality taken by a South Korean satellite have been released to the public. The images show high levels of atmospheric pollutants over major metropolitan areas such as Seoul and over industrial parks with coal plants.

The footage — taken by Cheollian Satellite 2B, a geostationary satellite with an environmental payload — was published on Nov. 18 by South Korea’s Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Science and ICT, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Back in 2008, the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Science and ICT began development of an environmental satellite that could measure atmosphere pollutants such as particulate matter, ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The satellite began preliminary operations after entering the target orbit on Mar. 6.

Images taken on Sept. 9 by Cheollian Satellite 2B show a high concentration of nitrogen dioxide over coal plants and large cities with heavy traffic including Seoul, Beijing, Shenyang, Nagoya and Osaka. Nitrogen dioxide, which is generally emitted by factories and automobiles, is one of the main components of particulate matter.

On Aug. 6, the satellite observed a high concentration of sulfur dioxide released during a volcanic eruption on Japan’s Nishinoshima Island as it followed a high-pressure system across the North Pacific Ocean toward the Korean Peninsula. In November 2013, eruptions at this submarine volcano, located 1,000 kilometers (km) south of Tokyo, created new land, measuring about 200 meters (m) across and 20m in elevation. Scientists report that volcanic activity continued at the island through this past August.

Other observations made by the satellite are high concentrations of particulate matter moving from China to the Korean Peninsula and high concentrations of ozone over Manchuria and Japan.

“As the newly released images show, air quality isn’t a matter affecting any single country but a shared problem for Northeast Asia. Along with bilateral cooperation with China, we intend to set up a multilevel cooperative body to strengthen multilateral cooperation as well,” Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae said on Wednesday.

Cheollian Satellite 2B is scheduled to continue monitoring atmospheric pollutants across Asia from an elevation of about 36,000km for the next 10 years.

By Kim Min-je, staff reporter

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