The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) held a ceremonial turnover of the Pandora instruments at the Manila Observatory in Quezon City on August 12, 2024, as part of the Pan-Asia Partnership for Geospatial Air Pollution Information Project and the Pandora Asia Network (PAPGAPI-PAN) Philippines Project.

 

The event was attended by H.E. Korean Ambassador Lee Sang-Hwa, KOICA Country Director Kim Eunsub, PhilSA Director General Joel Joseph S. Marciano, Jr. Manila Observatory Executive Director Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, S.J., and Engr. Esperanza A. Sajul, OIC-Assistant Director of the DENR- Environmental Management Bureau, on behalf of Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.

 

The Pandora spectrometer instrument utilizes spectroscopy to measure the concentration of trace gases in the atmosphere, which absorb specific wavelengths of ultraviolet-visible light from the sun. Pandora uses differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) to determine trace gas amounts, referencing the theoretical solar spectrum, and attributes differences in spectra to atmospheric trace gas absorption. Pandora utilizes DOAS to retrieve 80-second data, enabling global monitoring of trace gas values through the Pandonia Global Network.

 

One of the Pandora spectrometer instruments, which will form part of the Pandora Asia Network, was awarded to the EMB, and will be situated in Palawan. The PAPGAPI-PAN will monitor air quality in participating countries using data from the GEO-KOMPSAT-2B Satellite and Pandora, a passive Ultraviolet-Visible grating spectrometer. It will also serve as a tool for monitoring satellite data quality for Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions.

 

The PAPGAPI-PAN) Philippines Project is a technology transfer, data-sharing, capacity- building, and international cooperation initiative on air pollution, supported by the Republic of Korea, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP), and Korea Environment Corporation (KECO), with Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) as implementing partners. The Philippine Space Agency will serve as the lead implementing agency. ###