Finding the Cause of Northeast Asia Fine Dust... 45.8 Billion Won Over 5 Years

The sky viewed from Namsan in Seoul on the 21st, when the fine dust concentration was at a "Good" level and the weather was clear, is refreshing. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] Researchers from Northeast Asia are joining hands to develop a Korean-style ultrafine dust management system. They aim to identify the causes of ultrafine dust and develop technologies for its management.

According to the "Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) Fine Dust R&D Promotion Strategy" announced on the 12th, the government will strengthen basic research to identify the causes of fine dust starting this year. Until now, the government has conducted research aimed at short-term achievements such as emission reduction technology development, but from this year, the research direction has shifted to long-term projects focused on identifying causes and finding solutions. Accordingly, investments will be made in areas that have been underfunded, such as clarifying the physical and chemical properties of fine dust and investigating the causes of persistent high-concentration fine dust phenomena.

In particular, the government will launch the "Northeast Asia Regional Linked Ultrafine Dust Response Technology Development Project," where researchers from various countries in the Northeast Asia region will collaborate under the leadership of Korean researchers. This project, with a total investment of 45.8 billion KRW by 2024, aims to develop a Korean-style ultrafine dust management system through international cooperation. The research fields are divided into four areas: phenomenon identification, medium-term forecasting, mid-to-long-term outlook, and region-specific management. The government announced that detailed tasks will be selected next month under the leadership of Project Director Bae Gwi-nam of the Fine Dust Inter-Ministerial Project Group, and full-scale research will begin in August.

Research will also be conducted to improve the accuracy and real-time nature of fine dust measurement, forecasting, and emission information. Using the Cheollian 2B satellite launched in February and aircraft, the government will study satellite data processing algorithms and aerial observation techniques to enable three-dimensional observation of fine dust. Additionally, technology for measuring the three-dimensional spatial distribution of fine dust by linking data from private companies such as telecommunications firms will also be developed.

On the same day, Jeong Byeong-seon, the 1st Vice Minister of MSIT, visited Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) to discuss the fine dust R&D strategy. He stated, "Fine dust is one of the issues closely related to the quality of life of the public, as much as COVID-19," and added, "We plan to actively support the effective implementation of this science and technology strategy, which aims to fundamentally solve the problem by identifying the causes of fine dust."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.