HKUST Releases Hong Kong Remote Sensing Imagery Captured by the "Tianyun Camera

China News Service, Hong Kong, September 30 (Xinhua) — The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) released on September 30 the first batch of Hong Kong remote sensing images captured by the "Tianyun Camera," showcasing important achievements of Hong Kong's scientific research team participating in the national space program.

The "Tianyun Camera" is the world's first lightweight, small-sized, high-resolution, high-precision instrument for coordinated detection of carbon dioxide and methane point sources, developed under the leadership of HKUST. Currently, the instrument has been performing in-orbit scientific missions aboard the space station for more than 3 months, successfully completing multiple system tests, calibrations, and standardization work.

HKUST introduced that the images and videos released this time were separately acquired by the four detectors of the "Tianyun Camera" — carbon dioxide, methane, oxygen, and aerosol — clearly presenting the geomorphological features of Hong Kong and its surrounding areas. The relevant team has now completed the instrument's main in-orbit tests and precision calibration, and has officially entered the routine scientific operation phase.

Su Hui, project leader of the "Tianyun Camera" and Chair Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at HKUST, said that over the past few months, the "Tianyun Camera" has acquired images of more than 450 target areas worldwide, with a total data volume of 4.3TB (terabytes). As a scientific research payload independently developed by Hong Kong, the "Tianyun Camera" is contributing Hong Kong's strength to climate governance at both the national and global levels.

Zhai Chengxing, Associate Professor in the Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas at HKUST, said that the team is conducting processing, analysis, correction, and retrieval work based on the collected data, and will cooperate with national and international scientific research institutions to verify the retrieval accuracy of carbon dioxide and methane concentrations. The team is also further optimizing the relevant algorithms, and will gradually release more observation results in the future, providing strong support for global greenhouse gas monitoring and climate change research. (End)