1. Introduction
- Institute of Remote Sensing Applications (IRSA) was founded in 1980.
In 1981, State Science and Technology Commission of China established
National Remote Sensing Centre of China and admitted IRSA as Department
of Research and Development of the Centre. Then in 1989, Joint Centre for
Remote Sensing (JCRS) was established in Chinese Academy of Sciences, and
its office was set up in the Institute.
IRSA is a comprehensive and opening research organization, pursuing
the theories, techniques and methods of remote sensing technology
integratively applied in the fields of geoscience, biology, and environment
sciences, etc. Special attention is paid on the important, comprehensive
key problems about remote sensing of resource environment, agriculture,
ecology and natural disaster in the nation's construction.
2. IRSA Framework
- The main research fields of IRSA include remote sensing fundament
and high technologies (e.g. radiation features of remote sensing, spatial
features of remote sensing, high spectrum remote sensing, microwave remote
sensing, and global change remote sensing), remote sensoing technical
development(e.g. RS data aquiring techniques, RS image processing technique
and GIS technique) and remote sensing application research (renewable
resource and ecological environment remote sensing, and unrenewable resource
and engineering environment remote sensing), etc.
In the Institute there are 284 staffs including 23 professors, of which
two are academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 60 associate professors
and 112 assistant professors, The subjects of the scientists' cover complete
fields of remote sensing, and more than 60 scientists have the experience of
going abroad to study, investigate and be trained.
3. IRSA Environment
- IRSA owns 2 high altitute aircrafts equipped with advanced high pricise
navigating positioning devices to meet the flight needs for remote sensing
photogrammetry, and the airborne remote sensing technological system and
meteorological satellite data receiving and preprocessing system consisting
of high resolution airborne camera (RC-10A and RC-10), multi-spectrum scanner,
infrared and thermal infrared scanner, spectrum imager and SAR, which can
obtain the airborne remote sensing data from visible, infrared to microwave
bands and the data from both pole orbit meteorological satellite AVHRR
and static Meteorological satellite GMS. The system with good functions
has been put into practical use for several years and can provide both
the foreign and domestic users with excellent services in the investigation
about resource, environment and disasters. IRSA also has a series of
image processing systems and geographic information system (GIS) including
those developed by IRSA itself. there are also interpreting, analyzing,
measuring and mapping systems. IRSA has formed a complete system of
remote sensing and information engineering including remote sensing information
acquiring, processing, analysing, applying and mapping.
4. Achieved Projects
- IRSA is doing best to implement the CAS's principles to put main
power into national economic construction. Since the establishment,
IRSA has successfully undertaken and fufilled a series of national and
regional important remote sensing application tasks for resource
investigation, environment research, geological mineral exploration,
engineering construction, crop estimation, disaster monitoring and
regional planning. IRSA has obtained 65 achievements in which 26
have been awarded, including 2 CAS special awards, 6 first awards, 11
second awards and 7 third awards; also 2 national second awards and
3 third awards, where some projects have very good technical and
social benefit and important effect, such as Tengchong airborne
remote sensing experiment, Ertan power station site selection, Xinjiang
geological mineral exploration, Tibetan land resource investigation
,and high altitude airborne spectrum imaging technique have been used
in geological exploration and urban environmental monitoring in
Australia and IRSA-3 computer image processing system won the bid
of the World Bank.
5. Education and Society
- IRSA has paid special attention to education and talent fostering.
Till now, 70 post graduate students have been accepted, of which 23
students were elected to study abroad and 15 of them has obtained
Ph.D. degree there. Also 29 scientists have been trained abroad. Most
of the people are playing important roles in the scientific research
and some of them have got excellent achievement.
The Environment Remote Sensing Society of China is attached to IRSA.
IRSA is also in charge of editting and publishing the journal
"Environmental Remote Sensing China".
6. International Exchange and Cooperation
- Developing the scientific and technical relationship with foreign
countries is paid attention in IRSA. About 50 scientists are going abroad
for visiting, lecturing or attending scientific conferences every year.
IRSA has also invited several dozens of remote sensing experts to come
to give lectures and exchange. Several hundred foreign scientists have
visited and inspected IRSA. IRSA has developed scientific exchange and
cooperation relations with more than 30 countries such as US, Japan,
Australia, UK, Hooland, Italy, Russia, Canada, Austria, and Germany, etc.
IRSA will do its effort to develop further cooperation with other
organizations in the world to develop new remote sensing technologies
and open up new application fields.
7. IRSA Leadership and Address
- Honor Director: Chen Shupeng, Professor,
Academician of CAS
- Director: Xu Guanhua, Professor,
Academician of CAS
- Deputy Director: Guo Huadong, Professor,
Liu Jiyuan, Professor,
Yu Weiyan, Senior Engineer
- Address: P.O.Box 9718, Datun Road,
Village of Asian Games
Beijing 100101, China
- Tel: +86-10-491-9268 (Administrative Office)
4919458 (Office of Scientific Affairs)
Telgram: 6674 Beijing
Fax: +86-10-491-5035
email: guohd@sun.ihep.ac.cn