In this article

the current status of the application of remote sensing techniques in China is introduced. Due to urgent requirements in resources exploration

environmental protection

and scientific decision-making

remote sensing techniques and applications are developing rapidly in China. The Chinese Landsat Ground Station was put into operation this summer

and more than thirty low and medium altitude aircraft for remote sensing applications are now operational

some of them operated by airborne remote sensing corporations. Digital image processing systems are widely used in remote sensing applications. New instruments and sensors have been developed

and are now in use.In land use survey

Landsat MSS and TM

Large Format Camera

SLR-A and SIR-B space shuttle imagery

Space Lab Metric Camera imagery

and aerial color infrared photographs are used for land use mapping at different scales. Landuse maps at a scale of 1:1

000

000 based on Landsat MSS imagery and land inventories of the Tianjin region

the Tarim River Basin and the Tibet Plateau done with the use of different types of remote sensing imagery all demonstrate the successful practical applications of remote sensing.Pollution detection and environmental monitoring become more important with the increased industrialization of urban areas. In recent years

remote sensing techniques have been used in the cities of Beijing

Shengyang

Shanghai Chongqing and Luoyang for environmental quality assessment.In agsicultural applications

Landsat MSS imagery

airborne infrared photos and multispe-ctral data have been used to detect the degree of soil salinity and alkalinity in Henan and Hebei provinces and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Crop yield forecasting and grassland resources surveys have been carried out by remote sensing agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture.Aerial photos have been used for timber survey since the 1950s by the Ministry of Forestry. Two test sites have been established for experiments in forestry remote sensing. Multiple data sources including MSS

airborne infrared and sidelooking radar imagery are used in forestry remote sensing research.Remote sensing images have been used for real-time flood hazard detection by the remote sensing agencies under the Ministry of Water Conservancy and Electric Poker. Remote Sensing techniques are also used in analyzing soil types for prevention of soil erosion. Some research results have been used in engineering planning for water conservancy for the seven most important rivers in China. Evaluation of land areas submerged by reservoirs is another important application of remote sensing. In hydrogeology

remote sensing imagery plays an important role in lo- eating water springs

underground water overflow zones and concealed water-bearing fractures in arid areas. The mapping and analysis of ground water using remote sensing imagery increases survey speed and improves accuracy. Remote sensing imagery is also widely used in estuary research and for recognition of old river basins.Remote sensing techniques have been succussfully applied in geological mapping and structural analysis

mineral exploration

hydrogeology

and seismological studies. The Ministry of Geology and Mineral Exploration has determined that remote sensing imagery must be used in regional geological suveys at the 1:200

000 scale. Many mineral deposits have been discovered with the hep of remotely sensed image data. Many large landslides and debris flows have been analyzed and forecasted. Knowledge of these is very useful for site selections

construction

geological stability analysis of dams for reservoirs and power plants. Remote sensing techniques also-provide basic information for long and medium term earthquake prediction in areas when intense earthquakes may occur.The Ministry of Coal Industry uses remote sensing imagery successfully in coal field exploration. For example

total storage of coal is estimated at about 7.2 billion tons in the coal field found recently in Inner Monglia. Large-scale coal field geological maps were co