The Korean Society of Remote Sensing (KSRS) was established in 1984 and has reached the 40th year in 2024. When it started, there were no national space programs or national institutions dedicated to remote sensing research. Over the last four decades, it has contributed to the success of national space programs and supported the establishment of many national agencies for satellite and remote sensing research. At the year of 2024, we were witnessing the surge of national satellite launches and the expansion of public and private remote sensing applications. It would be very timely to examine the history, current status, and future prospects of remote sensing science and technologies in Korea.

This special issue consists of 11 invited review papers on major segments of remote sensing in Korea. It reviews the development of remote sensing science and technologies over the 40 years, summarizes current activities, and suggests future plans for remote sensing in Korea. We hope to provide reach backgrounds and valuable insights on remote sensing science and technologies in Korea.

Remote sensing research in Korea has been boosted by the start of national satellite development programs led by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). Lee (2024b) provided an outlook on Korean national satellite development programs and the current overseas activities on earth observation satellite development in public and private sectors. Lee (2024b) highlighted that commercial global earth observation services were being provided through the constellation of small or microsatellites. Lee (2024b) also elaborated five satellites under the KOMPSAT series, developed and launched by the KARI. Lee (2024b) also showed statistics of research works carried out using KOMPSAT images. Such works have become a firm foundation for the rapid development of remote sensing technologies in Korea.

It is noteworthy that the Korean government launched three geostationary satellites, Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite (COMS), Geo-Kompsat-2A (GK2A), and GK2B in 2010, 2018, and 2020 respectively, for meteorological (Chung et al., 2024), ocean color (Ryu et al., 2024), and atmospheric environment observation (Lee at el., 2024a). Chung et al. (2024) introduced the first Korean geostationary satellite, COMS, and the second one, GK2A, and data processing and utilization technologies developed for the two satellites. They emphasized the importance of quality control and assurance of COMS and GK2A images through precise radiometric and geometric calibration processes. They summarized how Korean meteorological satellite data have been used by providing domestic and international research papers on weather forecasting, numerical modeling, climate, and environmental monitoring. They also explained space weather observation efforts including the Korea Space Weather Monitor boarded on the GK2A.

The world-first geostationary ocean color imager, COGI, was installed on the COMS and its follow-up imager, COGI-II, on the GK2B satellite (Ryu et al., 2024). The COGI and COGI-II offered images with spatial and spectral quality comparable to polar-orbiting satellites at high observation intervals. The GOCI series had spiked a huge amount of new innovative research work worldwide. Ryu et al. (2024) collected 578 domestic and international research papers related to the GOCI series and classified them into four categories ocean, atmosphere, land, and data processing research. Ocean research accounted for 52% of the total papers, followed by data processing (26%), atmosphere (13%), and land (9%). The authors expected that future research would be focused on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to process the large volume of data from geostationary ocean color satellites.

The GK2B carried the world-first geostationary hyperspectral spectrometer, Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS), for monitoring air quality and environmental monitoring. The GEMS led a global constellation of geostationary hyperspectral imaging networks together with other satellites developed by the United States and European Union. Lee et al. (2024a) explained GEMS operation schemes, GEMS products, and applications of GEMS data. It has been proved that the GEMS was capable of accurately measuring aerosols, ozone, and air pollutants (Lee et al., 2024a). Many domestic and international research collaborations were being carried out. It was also very promising to know that GEMS products had been downloaded more than 5 million times within the service period of one and a half years between January 2023 and June 2024. In summary, the three Korean geostationary satellites, COMS, GK2A, and GK2B, opened operational usage of remote sensing data and world-leading remote sensing research in Korea.

Remote sensing technologies are essential elements for converting raw measurements into spatial data and for interpreting spatial data into information. Lee et al. (2024b) provided a comprehensive review of the evolution of Korea’s national spatial data policy and remote sensing technologies. They examined how remote sensing technologies in Korea had been influenced and utilized throughout the first to the seventh master plans of the national spatial data policy of the Korean government (Lee et al., 2024b). The close relationship between remote sensing and spatial data was boosted by the launch of the first Korean land observation satellite, Compact Advanced Satellite 500-1 (CAS500-1), in 2021. High-resolution images from the CAS500-1 played a critical role in enhancing the availability and timeliness of national spatial data. Lee et al. (2024b) emphasized the current role of national land satellites in the establishment of national digital twin based on spatial data and their future roles in supporting future national spatial data policy.

Hong et al. (2024) summarized remote sensing technology developed in the agricultural sector. They pointed out that remote sensing offers capabilities for real-time crop monitoring, yield prediction, and resource management optimization (Hong et al., 2024). They introduced agricultural research works developed using ground-based, drone-based, and satellite-based observation data. They highlighted the importance of a comprehensive framework combining ground, drone, and satellite data in analyzing crops and agricultural environments. The first Korean agricultural and forestry satellite, CAS500-4, was planned to be launched in 2025. Hong et al. (2024) elaborated on the current and future activities for utilizing CAS500-4 data and key objectives of agricultural remote sensing research in Korea.

Kim et al. (2024) summarized the history of forestry remote sensing in Korea from the early 1970s. Through extensive examination of research reports and publications, they provided in-depth reviews on the forest resources sector, forest ecology sector, forest disaster sector, and forest data processing. In the forest resources sector, they introduced research works on land cover and change, forest species distribution, stand height, and forest biomass. Research works on the forest disaster sector included vegetation phenology, gross primary productivity, leaf area index, and plant growth stress. Research works on the forest disaster included wildfires, landslides, and pest infestations. For forest data processing, they highlighted the importance of analysis ready data. Kim et al. (2024) also highlighted the continued efforts to monitor North Korean forests using satellite images. With the launch of CAS500-4 in 2025, forestry remote sensing research was expected to play essential roles in forest monitoring, planning, and management.

Remote sensing can contribute to disaster management by observing wide areas periodically and by monitoring disaster conditions promptly. Park et al. (2024) introduced national disaster management policy and authorities according to the type of disasters and the governmental procedures to support the management of national disasters. They reviewed the utilization of satellite data and related research papers for handling different types of disasters, including forest fires, drought, floods, landslides, and earthquakes. They emphasized the importance of multiple image convergence and the use of AI technologies in handling satellite data for disaster management.

Hwang et al. (2024) delivered a review of remote sensing technologies focusing on water-related disaster management. They introduced domestic and foreign satellite data available for water monitoring and addressed limitations in acquiring remote sensing data timely. They listed key research papers carried out in Korea on flood management and drought management. They expected that the limitations of data acquisition could be resolved by the new satellite to be launched, CAS500-5, with a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensor. They recommended enhancing data integration, investing in technological development, promoting cross-sector collaboration, and strengthening early warning systems for water disaster management.

Lee (2024a) provided a comprehensive overview of geological remote sensing in Korea by reviewing 97 research works published in the Korean Journal of Remote Sensing (KJRS). The work included lineament analysis, rock and mineral study, landslides, volcanoes, earthquakes, and gravity. Lee (2024a) concluded that remote sensing applications in geological studies across Korea demonstrated the profound impact of advanced sensing technologies on our understanding of the diverse and complex geologic phenomena and that remote sensing had become indispensable in identifying and characterizing geological lineaments, assessing landslide risks, monitoring seismic and volcanic activities, and understanding subsurface properties through gravity studies.

Kim (2024) provided a comprehensive overview of polar research in remote sensing carried out in Korea by reviewing 40 research works published in the KJRS. The works included sea ice studies, glaciers, polar marine environments, and atmosphere and climate studies. The author reported shifts in research focus from simple observations to complex climate modeling and integrated environmental modeling. The author concluded that polar research in Korea had made significant progress through advancements in remote sensing technology and addressed research gaps and challenges on the need for long-term data.

This editorial summarizes the eleven invited review papers published in this special issue. We hope that this issue can provide a milestone for remote sensing advancements in Korea for the last 40 years and suggest insights for remote sensing developments for the next era.

This research was funded by the Korean Society of Remote Sensing.

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.