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
Dangerously Cold Temps Spill Into the Lower 48 Late This Week

Dangerously Cold Temps Spill Into the Lower 48 Late This Week

During the winter months, many of us are no s

22 Jan 2026 11:30 PM
Rare Winter Storm Threatens Over 130 Million

Rare Winter Storm Threatens Over 130 Million

A rare winter storm is expected to impac

22 Jan 2026 11:20 PM
Rain and Snow Return to the Southwest

Rain and Snow Return to the Southwest

For much of this winter season, the Southwest

22 Jan 2026 11:20 PM
Snow Continues for the Great Lakes, Northeast

Snow Continues for the Great Lakes, Northeast

A clipper system continues to shift across th

22 Jan 2026 8:50 PM
Cold Stuns Iguanas as Another Cold Snap Reaches South Florida

Cold Stuns Iguanas as Another Cold Snap Reaches South Florida

Sub-freezing temperatures made their way into

20 Jan 2026 10:30 AM
Dangerous Cold follows Weekend Blizzard Conditions in the Northern Plains

Dangerous Cold follows Weekend Blizzard Conditions in the Northern Plains

MONDAY AM UPDATE: WEEKEND SNOW TOTALS: MERCER

19 Jan 2026 11:00 AM
Snow Totals from the Weekend Snow that Targeted I-95 From Virginia through New England

Snow Totals from the Weekend Snow that Targeted I-95 From Virginia through New England

MONDAY AM UPDATE: WInter Weather advisories a

19 Jan 2026 9:10 AM