Two NASA aircraft yesterday flew over Taiwan to collect air quality samples as part of a joint study with countries across the Asia-Pacific region, the Ministry of Environment said.
The four-hour mission would generate a 3D map of air pollution in central and southern Taiwan, the ministry wrote in a news release published hours before the survey.
Open-source flight trackers show that the NASA DC-8 and Gulfstream III took off from the Philippines and circled cities in Taiwan before landing in South Korea.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
Ministry personnel joined a group of 40 researchers from 20 academic institutions in Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia and the US, among other participating countries, it said.
The object of the mission is to analyze the effect of terrain and atmospheric circulation on pollutant distributions, utilizing high-resolution data the aircraft are to glean in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung region, the ministry said.
This project represents a significant advance in the nation’s air pollution research from ground-based observations to a system that makes use of aerial samples, as well as the ministry’s first large-scale study since its administrative upgrade last year, it said.
The pair of US aircraft carried advanced instruments capable of measuring in real time the density and spread of pollutants, including volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aerosols, the ministry said.
Two advanced ground-based observation stations stemming from a collaboration between Taiwan and NASA, and one vertical spectrometer station of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are among the instruments used to conduct the research, the ministry said.
The project also made use of other ground-based observation stations in the nation, uncrewed aerial vehicles, pulse Doppler radar, lidar, balloons, solar luminosity sensors and satellites, it said.
These instruments allow scientists to probe the distribution, physics and chemical composition of pollutants, the ministry said.
Taiwanese scientists and government personnel look forward to working with NASA to study the collected data, which would facilitate the ministry’s efforts to refine its air pollution reduction strategy, it said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by