On October 30, 2014, Hainan Airborne Remote Sensing Experiment kicked off in RADI Sanya Campus. The experiment belongs to the Space-based Remote Sensing System, a big science project of China.

Jointly organized by RADI and Hainan Provincial Science & Technology Bureau, this comprehensive experiment would be carried out by two high-altitude remote sensing airplanes in Hainan. The early task of the experiment is to test the effectiveness, resolution, data acquisition capability, and other functions that various types of imported and self-developed airborne sensors claim. After that, considering the demands of Sanya City, Hainan Province and the South China Sea for high-resolution and multi-source remote sensing data, the experiment is also designed to acquire high-resolution airborne remote sensing data of all sorts in this region, provide basic data sources for the subsequent comprehensive application, and work with other relevant departments of Hainan Province to conduct application studies.

In the kick-off meeting, CAS Academician GUO Huadong, also Chief Scientist of the Airborne Remote Sensing System, introduced how the airborne remote sensing was progressing in China and the significant role the system as an apparatus and facility of national fundamental sciences played in scientific research and economic development. Besides, he also gave an academic report titled “Earth Observation Technology and Application VS Hainan Airborne Remote Sensing Experiment”, shared with other attendees the progress China has made in Earth observation technology through some practical examples and expounded the great importance this experiment would take on given Hainan Province’s special geographic location and other features.

As required by the national strategies, RADI has strengthened the layout of scientific researches in Hainan. Such an effort has effectively alleviated the shortage of remote sensing satellite data the South China Sea and the peripheral regions have long suffered from and contributed a lot to such aspects as overall planning, disaster prevention & mitigation, frontier defence, and construction of digital city. This experiment will be conducive to Hainan Province’s development in terms of territorial development, marine monitoring, agriculture, forestry and mining, city planning and management, disaster prevention & mitigation, and census and monitoring of ecological resources.