China, EU strengthen space technology co-op to monitor climate change

SHANGHAI, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China and the European Union have strengthened their cooperation in space technology to better monitor climate change and improve the ability to prevent and control natural disasters.

At a conference entitled "Let's Embrace Space" , held by the EU pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, Reinhard Schulte Braucks, head of Unit Space Research and Development, European Commission, said air pollution is a common problem facing the entire world. He said China and the EU should strengthen cooperation and act to improve air quality monitoring.

Further, China' s Ministry of Science and Technology and the European Space Agency are conducting a cooperation project-DRAGONESS, which is China' s largest international cooperation project in the field of earth observation.

The project includes joint scientific research, sharing data, technological training and an exchange of scholars.

Braucks said China has many resources that the EU doesn' t have. China has sent many satellites into orbit, which can provide a large quantity of important data. Besides that, he said Chinese and European scientists are able to share their complementary knowledge regarding space and technology.

Zhang Peng, a researcher with the National Satellite Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration, said "Within the framework of DRAGONESS, Chinese and European scientists combine the satellite data of the two sides to monitor the climate and offer advice to the environmental protection departments."

"The research will help evaluate the changing process of greenhouse gases in the long term," Zhang said.