Agriculture satellite can scan Korean Peninsula's farmland in 3 days

A new agriculture and forestry satellite capable of photographing all farmland and forests across the Korean Peninsula in just three days is nearing full operational status. The satellite combines imagery with AI to assess crop cultivation areas and growth conditions, supporting agricultural supply management and disaster response. It also monitors wildfire damage zones and changes in forest vegetation from orbit.

The Rural Development Administration, Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Forest Service released the initial operational results of Next-Generation Medium Satellite 2 (Land Satellite 2) and Satellite 4 (Agriculture and Forestry Satellite) on Thursday.

According to the government, the Agriculture and Forestry Satellite — launched July 7 — steadily acquired imagery of farmland, crop growth and forest resources during its initial operational phase. That phase covers the period immediately after a satellite separates from its launch vehicle, during which engineers verify the condition of the main body and payload and guide the satellite into its target orbit.

The satellite's key advantage is its ability to cover large areas quickly and repeatedly. With an observation swath of 120 kilometers, it can photograph the entire Korean Peninsula in just three days — a design well suited to agriculture and forestry, where periodic monitoring of vast tracts of farmland and forest is essential.

The Rural Development Administration released examples showing how wide-area imagery from the satellite was used to estimate crop cultivation and harvest areas and to analyze crop vitality and vegetation conditions. Combining satellite imagery with existing public data and AI allows more precise tracking of changes in land use as well as crop cultivation areas and growth conditions, officials said.

The information gathered can also support agricultural supply management. By broadly observing where crops are planted, in what quantities and how they are growing, authorities can assess harvest prospects and rapidly identify affected areas when agricultural disasters strike.

In the forestry sector, the satellite demonstrated its capacity to analyze large wildfire damage. The Korea Forest Service used the Agriculture and Forestry Satellite to assess the damage zone from a major wildfire that broke out in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, on Feb. 23 and 24. Satellite data was also applied to forest vegetation analysis and mapping of areas targeted for pine wilt disease control.

Going forward, the Korea Forest Service plans to expand the satellite's monitoring scope beyond wildfire and landslide risk zones to include post-disaster forest recovery processes, changes in forest growth and flowering information for nectar-producing trees.

The Agriculture and Forestry Satellite is set to complete its initial operational phase this year before being transferred to KASA's National Satellite Operations Center for full mission operations. Imagery acquired by the satellite will be used by the Rural Development Administration's Agriculture Satellite Center and the Korea Forest Service's National Forest Satellite Information Utilization Center for their respective agricultural and forestry applications.

Land Satellite 2, also unveiled Thursday, was launched May 3. Equipped with 0.5-meter panchromatic and 2.0-meter color resolution, it can distinguish the types of vehicles parked on the ground. Operating alongside the existing Land Satellite 1, it will shorten observation intervals and support land and resource management as well as disaster response.

High-resolution images captured by Land Satellite 2 were also released Thursday, including shots of Dokdo, Seoul Olympic Stadium, Niagara Falls in the United States and Starlake City in Hanoi, Vietnam. The government plans to link satellite observation data with related ministries and public institutions and to open accumulated satellite data and analytical technology to the private sector.

Rural Development Administration Commissioner Lee Seung-don said the satellite had ushered in "a new phase in which imagery from the Next-Generation Medium Satellite 4 and observation data on farmland and crops are being put to practical use in the field and in policy." He added that the agency would "continue to expand services that farmers and the public can feel directly — including more accurate diagnosis of crop conditions such as changes in farmland use and crop area and growth — and strengthen responses to agricultural supply management and agricultural disasters using satellite imagery and AI."

Korea Forest Service Commissioner Park Eun-sik said the Agriculture and Forestry Satellite had made it possible to "read changes in our forests faster and detect risks earlier using our own satellite and our own data." He added that the service would "closely monitor not only wildfire damage and landslide risk zones, but also the process of forest recovery after disasters."