01
From Land Management to Disaster Monitoring
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) operates Korea’s national satellite assets—including the KOMPSAT (Arirang) series, Chollian satellites, and Next-Generation Medium Satellites—while systematically managing national satellite data in anticipation of the multi-satellite era. KARI is responsible for the planning, reception, processing, and distribution of images captured by KOMPSAT and Chollian satellites and continues to conduct R&D to promote satellite data utilization. KOMPSAT satellites produce approximately 100,000 high-resolution optical, radar, and infrared images annually, while the Chollian series provides meteorological, oceanographic, and environmental observation data. These satellite images support a broad spectrum of applications, such as land management, disaster monitoring, marine and water resource management, agriculture and forestry, environmental and weather observation, and national security.
02
Operation of the National Satellite Information Utilization Support Center
To ensure systematic use of satellite data, KARI operates the National Satellite Information Utilization Support Center. The center supports satellite control and operations, promotes the private-sector use of satellite imagery, fosters the satellite information industry, and builds national satellite data platforms and databases. It also supplies satellite imagery to government agencies through a collaborative satellite data utilization council and works to make satellite information more accessible to both the public and private sectors.
03
Provision of Satellite Imagery Tailored to National Needs
Through the operation of low-Earth orbit, high-precision Earth observation satellites like KOMPSAT and KARI reliably delivers satellite imagery tailored to meet national requirements. Integrated systems—such as multi-satellite scheduling tools and data processing platforms—have been developed to support comprehensive image utilization. KARI also conducts research to expand satellite image usage, diversifies image products for user-specific applications, and develops AI-based analysis technologies for the fusion and integration of data from multiple satellites.
04
Diversification of Satellite Image Products
To maximize the usability of satellite imagery, KARI is developing user-friendly derived products. This includes creating algorithms to generate outputs such as surface reflectance, atmospheric information, vegetation indices, soil moisture, and cloud cover. Efforts are also underway to secure observational data to validate and refine these outputs, including the operation of ground-based observation towers. KARI plans to continue developing new value-added products to enhance user access and convenience..
05
Convergence and Integration of Multi-Satellite Imagery
KARI is developing technologies for the fusion and integrated utilization of multi-sensor satellite imagery from both domestic and international sources, along with the preprocessing algorithms necessary for such analysis. In addition to integrating data obtained by different satellites, KARI is also conducting research on combining satellite information with spatial datasets. The institute is proactively developing next-generation technologies, such as preprocessing technologies for satellite constellations and multi-polarization SAR data processing.
06
Utilization of AI-Based Satellite Image Analysis
KARI is advancing satellite image analysis by integrating high-resolution satellite data with cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Applications include object detection, land cover classification, waterbody and marine monitoring, and disaster surveillance. To support this, KARI is systematically building training datasets, which are widely used in domestic and international research to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of satellite image analysis. This contributes to the advancement of AI-powered Earth observation capabilities. Looking ahead, KARI plans to develop time-series satellite image processing and multi-sensor data fusion technologies combined with big data analytics to offer even more precise and diverse satellite image analysis services.