The ecological environment monitoring network system through remote sensing, which is called "Western Golden Eyes Action", was launched recently in the western region. This was the first time that China used such technology to conduct large-scale systematic investigation of the ecological environment in this region.
The area at about 4,000 meters above sea level on average in the fountainhead of rivers is the highest natural wetland in the world and embraces the most concentrated bio-diversity and the most sensitive ecological variation among the areas at high altitude. For various reasons, lakes here are drying up, the snow line rising, grasslands degenerating, desertification accelerating and the ecological environment is deteriorating day by day. However, due to the vast territory with sparse population and extremely bad weather, scientific and systematic monitoring with traditional technology is unavailable here.
In the Western Golden Eyes Action now under way, satellite remote sensing ground observation technology will be used to investigate the ecological environment in the source area of rivers, including resources of land, grassland, forest, soil and water.
(People's Daily 10/09/2000)
