After completing a pilot project in March to identify polluting wastewater outlets along the Yangtze River, China’s environmental watchdog is fully turning to satellite remote sensing and unmanned aerial and surface vehicles.
The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment will conduct an investigation of wastewater outlets covering nine tributaries, including the Minjiang, Chishui and Ganjiang rivers, during the next two years. This will come to add to its investigations of the main channel of the Yangtze and Ta ihu Lake.
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Yang Haijun, an expert in the ministry’s satellite environment centre, mentioned that satellite remote sensing helps define the area for the investigation due to its capacity to see the distribution of population and enterprises.
Prior to the pilot program in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, satellite remote sensing and unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with infrared imagers were sent to find suspected outlets.
In addition, Guo Qingwei, an expert at the ministry’s South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, noted that field investigations are necessary to discover outlets on the surface where there is no temperature difference, while sonar can be used to find underwater ones.
The trial found at least 10 underwater outlets, though many of them are not currently in use
Mr. Qingwei stated.
Moreover, Gong Xianjun, an official with the ministry’s law enforcement bureau, reported that one of the key tasks for the pilot projects in Chongqing and Jiangsu is to train environmental officers. He explained that with new technologies coming up, officers must learn about these technologies and how to handle them.
The investigation along the Yangtze and its tributaries will last two years, with the ministry monitoring the outlets before it traces pollution to its sources and takes steps to control it.
