China is expected to launch a constellation of oceanic satellites
to form its own stereoscopic observation system by 2010 to monitor
the ocean's environment, government officials said Thursday.
Developing these oceanic satellites is a strategic task for China
to monitor its waters, said Wang Shuguang, director of State
Oceanic Administration (SOA).
Following the successful launch of the HY-1 (HY are the initials
for the Chinese word for ocean), the first in the series of
satellites to monitor the ocean's color in mid-May, China plans to
place another remote sensing satellite into space in 2004, said Lin
Mingshen, deputy chief designer of the satellite's ground
application system.
The HY-1, launched on May 15, is the country's first-ever oceanic
satellite. On Wednesday, it sent back the first batch of ocean
pictures to Earth.
The 360-kilogram satellite, which costs 200 million yuan (US$24
million) to manufacture, will be ready for use by the SOA in a few
months, Lin said.
The launch of the HY-1 will soon end the country's reliance on
foreign satellites for information on the ocean's colour, said Wu
Jinyou, an SOA official.
Compared with foreign satellites used by China, including
satellites made in the United States and Europe, HY-1's fairly
complete spectral coverage and co-existence of visible light and
infrared remote sensing enables it to obtain more precise data
about the color and temperature of the ocean's surface, said chief
designer Zhang Yongwei.
Apart from ocean color monitoring satellites, China also plans to
send a series of satellites to monitor the dynamic environment of
oceans around 2005, and several satellites focusing on the
comprehensive oceanic environment are scheduled for 2010, he
said.
The oceanic satellites, along with helicopters, ships, marine buoys
and coastal stations, will create a stereoscopic ocean monitoring
network, Wang said.
Among their many functions, the satellites will monitor pollution,
particularly contamination caused by oil spills, to aid in
mitigating disasters, Lin said.
China has suffered increasing losses due to marine disasters in
recent years, SOA sources said.
Last year alone, China registered 77 red tides, and 401 people were
either killed or missing in marine accidents, according to Chinese
newspaper reports.
China outlined its goals for earth observation in a policy paper in
2000. The paper said China plans to bring together current
meteorological satellites, resource satellites, oceanic satellites
and disaster monitoring satellites into an earth observation system
for long-term use. The system will conduct stereoscopic observation
and monitoring of the country and the whole world's land,
atmosphere, and oceanic environment.
(China
Daily June 7, 2002)