The first radiometric calibration site for China's remote sensing satellites officially began operations today, according to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).
According to Qin Dahe, CMA chief, the completion of the site, which aims to improve the observation accuracy of these satellites, represents a breakthrough in China's efforts to improve the remote sensing technique.
The imprecision of the observation data produced by these satellites, resulting from the aging of its remote sensing instruments, has been a constant source of concern for experts at home and abroad.
The use of the radiometric calibration site is generally recognized as the correct solution to the problem, said Fang Zongyi, a CMA researcher.
He noted that the data collected by the site's ground instruments is far more accurate and can therefore be used to calibrate the data observed by on-orbit satellites.
Fang said that, as a result of preliminary research, the Gobi Desert, located west of Dunhuang in northwest China's Gansu Province, and Qinghai Lake in northwest China's Qinghai Province, have been selected as the radiometric calibration sites.
China has the capacity to develop remote sensing satellites independently, and has already launched a series of satellites for research purposes in the fields of meteorology, land resources, and maritime science. Others have been launched for military surveillance purposes.
Once the site is operational, it will calibrate the data produced by each of China's various on-orbit satellites for one month each year, Fang said.
Sponsored by the National Planning Commission (NPC) and led by CMA, the project was initiated in 1993.
(People's Daily October 17, 2002)
