First Satellite in Global Air Quality Constellation Launches

news image
Special Stories
25 Feb 2020 2:00 AM
[An Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket carrying South Korea's Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) instrument launches Tuesday, Feb. 18, from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. Credits: Courtesy of Arianespace] [From NASA]   South Korea's Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) instrument on the Korean Aerospace Research Institute GEO-KOMPSAT-2B satellite recently launched into orbit aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket Tuesday, Feb. 18, from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. A sister instrument to NASA's Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO), GEMS will be the first satellite instrument in a constellation of three satellite instruments that will revolutionize the way scientists observe air quality over significant swaths of the Northern Hemisphere. GEMS will monitor atmospheric gases over Asia hourly during daytime from a geostationary, or fixed, orbit over the equator. This marks a significant leap forward in scientists' ability to monitor air pollution from space. [The Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) is designed to provide measurements of air quality over South Korea and the greater Asia-Pacific region by measuring tropospheric pollution from space. The GEMS 10-year mission will investigate chemical concentrations critical to air quality, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, ozone, and other aerosols.] GEMS is nearly identical to TEMPO, which is scheduled to launch into geostationary orbit in 2022 as a payload on Intelsat 40e. TEMPO will make hourly daytime measurements of air quality over North America. Both GEMS and TEMPO were built by Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado. The European Space Agency's Sentinel-4, currently in development, will observe air quality over Europe. All three instruments will provide data products that will improve scientists' ability to understand and forecast air quality around the Northern Hemisphere.
All Weather News
More
California Round 1 Wraps, Another Late Weekend

California Round 1 Wraps, Another Late Weekend

CALIFORNIA - Rain and snow graced the state o

13 Feb 2026 12:30 AM
Rockies Receive Some Much-Needed Help

Rockies Receive Some Much-Needed Help

ROCKIES - As our behemoth of a trough moves o

13 Feb 2026 12:30 AM
Strong Storms and Heavy Rain Headed for Texas and the South

Strong Storms and Heavy Rain Headed for Texas and the South

SOUTH - As we end the work week, heavy rain w

12 Feb 2026 10:30 PM
Temperatures Forecast To Soar Across the Central States This Weekend

Temperatures Forecast To Soar Across the Central States This Weekend

It has been a tale of two halves of the count

12 Feb 2026 10:25 PM
Lingering Snow in the Northeast

Lingering Snow in the Northeast

NORTHEAST - As this next clipper system cont

12 Feb 2026 8:05 AM
Cold Air Remains Across the Northeast

Cold Air Remains Across the Northeast

It was another cold morning on Monday across

10 Feb 2026 2:50 AM
Record Heat Across the Central U.S.

Record Heat Across the Central U.S.

It was a hot day on Monday, February 9th in t

10 Feb 2026 2:45 AM