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1500 Sets of Soil Moisture Observation Apparatuses to be Installed within Three Years in China
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| 2009-09-04 |
Our correspondent has learnt from 2009 Working Conference on Construction of Automatic Soil Moisture Observation Station held by Department of Integrated Observations, China Meteorological Administration (CMA) in Zhengzhou, Henan Province that CMA plans to build up a Nationwide Automatic Soil Moisture Observation Network with the main automatic soil moisture observation apparatuses supplemented by portable soil moisture observation apparatuses based on the existing 1,500 manual soil moisture measurement points within 3 years, so as to meet the demand of modern agro-meteorological services and drought monitoring services. With the use of a batch of modern fully automatic hi-tech observation apparatuses, substantive changes have taken place in the traditional agro-meteorological observation method of “gritting teeth and goggling eyes with a ruler and a steelyard” by older agro-meteorological observers.
The monitoring on soil moisture storage and change rules of the soil temperature is among the basic work of agro-meteorology, eco-environment and hydrological environment monitoring. Grasping change rules of the soil moisture is of great significance to the services and theoretical studies on agricultural production, drought monitoring and forecasting and other relevant eco-environment monitoring and forecasting. For many years, the meteorological departments have been using the manual measurement method of soil drilling and drying for drought monitoring, with the observation frequency being 3 or 6 times a month. In recent years, as the weather becomes warmer and warmer, the drought problem in China becomes increasingly prominent, with the frequency and extent of occurrence of droughts being dramatically increased, seriously threatening the agricultural production, hindering economic development and making a great impact on the eco-environment. More urgent requirement for automation of agro-meteorological observation has been put forward by decision-making bodies and the public especially after the severe droughts occurred in Henan, Shandong, etc. during last winter and this spring and the drought disaster in the northeast China at present.
“To construct a Nationwide Soil Moisture Observation Network with uniform density distribution, which can effectively monitor the drought occurrence and the practical soil moisture environment for crops growth, will enable the real-time transmission and real-time display of nationwide soil moisture content monitoring data and continuous single-station monitoring on soil moisture changes, and realize regional drought early warning and other functions in combination with such meteorological data as cloud atlas and rainfall, etc.” Hu Wen, Deputy Director General of Department of Integrated Observations of CMA, said, “The initiative will achieve the goals of monitoring the farmland drought situation, scientific irrigation and effective utilization of water resources, significantly enhance and improve the capacity of agro-meteorological observation level and agro-meteorological services, and provide a powerful guarantee for eco-friendly and high-efficient agriculture.”
In accordance with relevant arrangements, CMA will preferentially develop the construction of automatic soil moisture observation station in major winter wheat growing areas in Northern China and Huanghai Region and regions of frequent drought occurrence in Southwest China this year. Meanwhile, 3 sets of portable soil moisture observation apparatuses will be installed in each of 31 mainland China provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) to facilitate the experiment and demonstration of mobile soil moisture observation.
Source: Office of China Meteorological News |
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