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Science/Technology
Science/Technology
UPDATED: March 26, 2012 NO. 13 MARCH 29, 2012
Blue Tech Revolution
Satellite monitoring drives the development of China's coastal waters
By Tang Yuankai
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STORM IS COMING: Soldiers of the border police station in Shishi, southeast China's Fujian Province, lay a protective net along the sea to prevent travelers from being hurt by an upcoming storm on August 29, 2011 (WEI PEIQUAN)

Benefits

China, lying on the west coast of the Pacific, is subject to oceanic disasters such as storm surges. Every year, China suffers big losses due to these disasters. "With typhoons, for example, we could obtain important information only from satellite weather maps, but we could not get accurate information of the changes of wind vector and waves caused by typhoons," said Jiang of the CAS.

HY-2 can conduct synchronous, real-time and continuous monitoring of a large area of the ocean, and the microwave scatterometer and radar altimeter it carries can solve the problem of monitoring storm surges.

These remote sensors are developed from the multi-molding microwave remote sensor carried by China's Shenzhou IV unmanned spaceship that was launched on December 30, 2002, and returned on January 5, 2003. The multi-molding microwave remote sensor is an important part of the payload of Shenzhou IV and is China's first experimental microwave remote system.

"It has achieved a technical breakthrough," said Jiang. "The four remote sensors on the HY-2 work together to realize a comprehensive remote sensing."

"China has become the second country that can independently conduct comprehensive microwave remote sensing after the United States," he said.

The radar altimeter, which operates constantly when the satellite orbits the Earth, has an accuracy of 3-5 centimeters and can measure sea height changes down to the centimeter at an orbit of nearly 1,000 km, said Jiang.

Perhaps for the ordinary people, the technology the professors are developing is irrelevant. But all kinds of oceanographic technology research results are getting closer to the ordinary people. The Outline of the 12th Five-Year Plan for Oceanographic Science and Technology Development (2011-15), which was issued by the State Oceanic Administration and three other ministries, is very much concerned with the livelihood of the people.

In 2003, the State Council approved to launch the 908 Special, a project dedicated to oceanic studies with heavy investment. It covers a wide range of disciplines and adopts the most up-to-date technology. Now the project is coming to a close.

In the past eight years, researchers of the project surveyed the conditions of offshore resources and environment, thoroughly updated the basic statistics of offshore environment and compiled relevant atlas series. It has provided scientific support and necessary references for the exploitation of the ocean for the benefit of the country and the people.

In December 2011, China's first national-level industry base for the purpose of "exploring the ocean with technology" was formally established in Pudong District, Shanghai. In the first half of this year, China's first "oceanographic technology demonstration island" will take shape in Zhoushan, east coastal Zhejiang Province, which will be built into a world-class oceanic technology island that takes on such functions as scientific research, entertainment, tourism and ecology.

Email us at: tangyuankai@bjreview.com

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