MEE Initiates the Pilot Program on Remote-sensing Monitoring of Ecological Environment

The Department of Ecological and Environmental Monitoring of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment ("MEE") has recently enacted and issued the Circular on Launching the Pilot Program on Remote-sensing Monitoring of Ecological Environment (the "Circular").

The Circular clearly states that this pilot program will be initiated in eight provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government), including Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai, and in three prefecture-level cities which are Jinan in Shandong Province, Taizhou in Jiangsu Province and Yuncheng in Shanxi Province, beginning from March 2019 till August 2021. Further, the Circular specifies that among six aspects on which the pilot program will focus are "remote-sensing monitoring of water environment", "remote-sensing monitoring of atmospheric environment", "remote-sensing monitoring and evaluation of ecological conditions" and "remote-sensing monitoring of soil environment". Among others, the Circular states that, the remote-sensing monitoring of water environment covers the remote-sensing monitoring of sources of drinking water, heavily-polluted and foul water, cyanobacterial bloom in lakes and reservoirs and their nutrient conditions, and red tides and spilled oil in the ocean. The remote-sensing monitoring and evaluation of ecological conditions includes the remote-sensing monitoring and evaluation of such ecological conditions as ecological functions, ecological services and ecological structure.



(Source: http://www.mee.gov.cn/xxgk2018/xxgk/sthjbsh/201903/t20190306_694554.html)

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