China to accelerate digitalization of eco-environment monitoring network

BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment has unveiled a plan to further transform the country's national ecological monitoring network into a digitized and smart system.

By 2027, China aims to explore a new generation of monitoring networks in key regions, utilizing advanced technologies such as unmanned maintenance and smart sampling, with standardized monitoring operations being carried out nationwide, according to the plan.

By 2030, China's eco-environment monitoring network system will be systematically revamped to include an integrated aerial, terrestrial and maritime monitoring network, along with a basically established "smart brain," it said.

The move marks a concrete step toward digitalized and smart environmental monitoring, said Jiang Huohua, head of the ministry's ecological and environmental monitoring department.

Air and water monitoring will be updated with unmanned operations, as well as smart sampling and analysis. Additionally, biodiversity tracking will leverage advanced smart equipment such as infrared cameras and bird sound recorders to achieve over 85 percent accuracy in species identification.

In terms of noise monitoring, urban sound environment monitoring equipment will not only be able to track decibel levels but also identify sources of the noise, according to Jiang.

New technologies like artificial intelligence and satellite remote sensing will play increasingly significant roles in China's eco-environmental monitoring, with policies rolled out to develop environmental protection robots and remote-operation equipment, he told a press conference last month.