TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Environment held a briefing in Kaohsiung on Tuesday to present findings from a joint experiment with NASA on air quality in southern Taiwan.

Yu Chih-yuan (游智淵), section chief at the ministry’s Department of Atmospheric Environment, said that in 2024 the ministry and NASA carried out the Kaohsiung–Pingtung 3D air quality experiment, per CNA. The experiment involved closely observing the Kaohsiung–Pingtung area and integrating vertical monitoring methods such as drones and satellite remote sensing.

Between February and March that year, NASA deployed two aircraft equipped with high-precision instruments on three missions over central and southern Taiwan, working in coordination with the ministry and domestic and international scholars and experts on the air quality experiment, according to a ministry press release.  

Yu said that the Kaohsiung–Pingtung experiment was extended to include the Yunlin–Chiayi–Tainan region. The new experiment included springtime conditions and the northeastern monsoon season, analyzing changes in different air pollutants and their cross-regional impacts, Yu said.

The ministry said the research found that pollution sources in the Kaohsiung–Pingtung area are a combination of industrial and traffic emissions. Additionally, pollutant concentration changes at different altitudes vary depending on weather conditions, the ministry said. 

Even at heights of 200 to 800 meters, researchers still detected characteristics of vehicle-emitted volatile organic compounds. During periods of heavy pollution, vertical dispersion conditions worsen and lead to uneven mixing of pollutants at different heights.

The ministry added that attention must also be paid to the compounded effects of pollution transported from outside Taiwan. The findings can be applied to strengthen cross-county and cross-city air pollution control measures, Yu said.