한국항공우주연구원

“The Eyes of Space”: Cheollian 2B satellite to begin providing marine satellite images
- KHOA’s marine image service to the public -


​□ The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), and Ministry of Environment (MOE) announced that they would begin the standard marine image service provided by Cheollian 2B satellite through the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency (KHOA) on October 5.

ㅇ The Cheollian 2B satellite is a geostationary orbit satellite* for observing the ocean and atmospheric environment around East Asia, including the Korean Peninsula. Launched from the Guiana Space Center in South America on February 19, it has successfully completed various test operations to provide high-quality marine satellite images** for eight months.
* A geostationary orbit satellite constantly measures the same region by moving at the same speed as the earth at an altitude of about 36,000 km above the equator.
* The test operation to create high-quality environmental satellite images is currently ongoing.


□ The Cheollian 2B satellite is equipped with marine payload boasting of significantly enhanced performance (spatial resolution 500m→250m and temporal resolution 8 times→10 times/day) to produce a wide range of marine information that was not available before, such as sea fog and low-saline fountain*.
* While the salinity of seawater is generally about 35 psu, a large amount of freshwater flowing into the sea for a considerable period lowers the salinity to less than 26 psu and causes the death of fish and shellfish.


□ MOF provides marine image data (pre-processing standard data, Level 1) produced for the general public to view through the KHOA website (www.khoa.go.kr) easily. The data can be used by municipal administrations to cope with marine disasters related to red tide and oil spills, by agencies to support and manage fishing activities such as fishery search, and by marine research institutes. It plans to provide the marine measurement data to agencies managing the marine image data -- such as the National Institute of Fisheries Science, National Meteorological Satellite Center, and National Environmental Satellite Center -- through a separate communication network.

ㅇ Beginning 2021, it plans to integrate marine data, such as the wide-area distribution of marine waste and the migration path of Sargassum horneri, into map-based services and continue to expand the services utilizing satellite information. In the future, it will also provide satellite information services to cope with marine issues such as red tide and oil pollution detection.

ㅇ The public can receive marine image data (pre-processing standard data) from the Cheollian 2B satellite free of charge through the KHOA website (www.khoa.go.kr) beginning today, and 26 types of data will be serviced from January next year.


□ “With the normal launch of the marine satellite image service from the Cheollian 2B satellite, Korea now has advanced maritime observation capabilities. We expect the marine satellite images of Cheollian 2B to be used for detecting marine pollution and garbage dumping and fishery environment research; thus contributing to the public’s marine activities,” said Lee Chang-yun, Director of Space, Nuclear & Big Science Policy at MSIT.


□ MOE plans to disclose the satellite images of atmospheric environmental measurement from the Cheollian 2B satellite at the end of October this year and provide the official images beginning 2021 after the validation process.