Cooperative Agreement for Enhanced Joint Research

The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) recently announced that it signed a cooperative agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States at KIOST’s headquarters in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, on April 26. The aim of the agreement is to enhance cooperation between the two in terms of collaborative research on the remote sensing of ocean color.

Under the cooperative agreement, the two institutions will work together to develop ocean color research techniques, conduct ocean color research in waters under the joint jurisdiction of Korea and the U.S., engage in mutual sharing of and collaborative research using ocean observatory data acquired through such research, and pursue the consigned distribution of data acquired through the Cheollian Geostationary Ocean Color Imager, which is operated by KIOST.

Also, based on the agreement, KIOST will acquire the satellite operation technology that NASA has accumulated through its national oceans management activities, and NASA will develop a geostationary ocean color imager for the U.S. based on collaborative data processing research conducted using the Cheollian Geostationary Ocean Color Imager.

In particular, the joint Korea-U.S. marine science research to be carried out in May and June this year will not only pave the way for the acquisition of environmental information for areas surrounding the Korean peninsula, but also provide results of increased accuracy, as the research will coincide with the air quality investigation that the Ministry of Environment and NASA are planning to conduct at that time.

【Photo 1. Red tide analysis conducted by the Cheollian Geostationary Ocean Color Imager】

【Photo 2. Chlorophyll concentration analysis conducted by the Cheollian Geostationary Ocean Color Imager】

KIOST President Hong Gi-hoon commented, “We are incredibly proud to be able to use our Onnuri research vessel to contribute to the joint marine science research being conducted between Korea and the U.S.. Also, we expect that the exchange of the operational technology that Korea has developed for the Cheollian Geostationary Ocean Color Imager and NASA’s marine remote exploration technology will contribute significantly to the development of improved technology for detecting abnormal marine conditions, such as red and green tides, thereby mitigating the damage such phenomenon do to the livelihoods or our people, especially fishermen.” Park Young Je, director of the Korea Ocean Satellite Center (KOSC) and the Physical Oceanography Division, remarked, “With this agreement, we will continue to expand the use of satellites in domestic and international marine research and make our best efforts to develop the technology needed to commercialize satellite data.”

The cooperative agreement between KIOST and NASA will be on the agenda of the ROK-U.S. Civil Space Dialogue, scheduled to be held on April 27, 2016.