Korean Peninsula imagery

A Thousand Islands in South Korea.

Located along the southwest coast of South Korea, Sinan County attracts people from many walks of life. Its world-renowned tidal flats host unique marine life as well a thriving salt production industry. Meanwhile, purple-painted islands draw tourists from around the country.

This image shows a portion of Sinan County, or Shinan-gun, on May 9, 2024. The image was acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite.

Adapted with more recent data and information from a story originally published at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148136

Green Harvest in South Korean Waters

As international demand for seaweed rises, images like this one showing part of South Korea have become common. According to one estimate, the country now produces up to 1.7 million tons of seaweed each year.

When the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired this image on February 19, 2021, seaweed cultivation had left an obvious mark on many of the bays, inlets, and straits separating Wando County’s many small islands. The colors in the image have been enhanced; the patterns are all real, but certain shades and tones in the data have been separated and filtered to make water features more visible. In some places, the lighter and darker tones reflect the depth of the water (darker is deeper); in other places close to the coast, there may be some suspended sediment from rivers.

Image originally published at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148215