UAVs Track Pollution in China

China contsructIn nine cities in China, including Beijing, 90% of air pollution has been attributed to vehicles, industrial production, coal burning and dust, according to a Ministry of Environmental Protection report. The ministry will adapt its strategies for curbing pollution according to the different regions of the country, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily.

The ministry’s 10 supervisory teams will conduct randomized surveillance using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Beijing and other areas, pressuring enterprises that have violated environmental laws, said Wu Xiaoqing, vice minister.

According to the ministry, the major sources of pollution in Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are motor vehicles; in Shijiazhuang and Nanjing it is burning coal; in Tianjin, Shanghai and Ningbo it is dust, mobile source emissions, and industrial production, respectively.

The ministry in 2015 will conduct analysis on air pollutants in 26 targeted cities, strengthening the prevention of particulate matter emissions.

Some local governments, in a bid to reduce the pressure of monitoring and match standards of environmental protection, have produced false monitoring information, disrupting the surveillance system and the ministry’s plans on air pollution prevention, said Wu. The ministry will look into such cases and find those responsible in the future, he added.

The ministry’s 10 supervisory teams have begun using UAVs as surveillance weapons in areas such as Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. They have thus far successfully found six enterprises guilty of excessive emissions.

The ministry has expanded application of UAVs for aerial photography by establishing a project to integrate drones, data processing and applications to form a surveillance system to monitor the air pollution, said Wang Qiao, director of the surveillance project.

Photo:CNS

Source: Want China Times

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