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Chinese satellites to aid in disaster relief
September 25, 2013, 8:49 am

Over 10 million Chinese have been affected in the north and the south of the country [Xinhua]

Millions of Chinese have been affected by flooding this past summer [Xinhua]

China’s National Space Administration successfully launched a satellite Wednesday that will be used to monitor areas hit by natural disasters and provide crucial information for relief efforts.

The Satellite Launch Centre said that the Kuaizhou I satellite will send information to the National Remote Sensing Centre of China, a public institution under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

China has already been hit by a number of powerful storms in the past few weeks.

In mid-August, Typhoon Utor battered China’s southern regions after making landfall in Guangdong Province, killing at least 22 and affecting some 8.4 million people.

At the same time, flooding devastated northeast China’s Liaoning Province, killing 54 and damaging over 200,000 hectares of farmland.

The Kuaizhou I launch came two days after China launched its third polar-orbiting meteorological satellite – the Fengyun-3 – to provide data on air temperature, humidity profiles, and meteorological parameters such as cloud and surface radiation to assist in weather forecasting.

China hopes the increased monitoring will help enhance evacuation and disaster relief efforts.

On September 22, over 4,000 elderly, women and children living on rafts in in coastal fish farms in Guangdong were evacuated ahead of Typhoon Usagi making landfall.

Sources: Agencies