Recently, the selection results of the "2025 Typical Cases of Ecological and Environmental Science and Technology Achievement Transformation" were announced. The research achievement "Transformation and Application of Satellite Remote Sensing Monitoring Technology for Coastal Discharge Outlets and Offshore Water Quality", led by Researcher He Xianqiang of our laboratory, was successfully selected as the only typical case in the marine field. This selection involved extensive case collection nationwide, with 117 candidate cases shortlisted after expert review, and finally 49 outstanding typical cases were selected through competitive evaluation.
Addressing the challenges in coastal areas such as difficulty in detecting coastal discharge outlets, tracing pollutants from rivers entering the sea, and lack of refined monitoring of offshore water quality, Researcher He Xianqiang’s team has developed a series of achievements in satellite remote sensing monitoring for coastal discharge outlets and offshore water quality (Figure 1) by comprehensively integrating satellite, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), artificial intelligence (AI), and big data technologies. The team has overcome key technologies including remote sensing identification of abnormal water color from coastal discharge outlets (Figure 2), remote sensing spatial source tracing of pollutants in rivers entering the sea, remote sensing monitoring of coastal bay eutrophication, and remote sensing monitoring of excellent water quality rate in coastal waters. The achievements include over 10 high-level academic papers published, more than 10 invention patents authorized, 1 group standard issued, and 1 industry standard approved for formulation, forming a promotable technical system for satellite remote sensing monitoring of coastal discharge outlets and offshore water quality.
Since May 2022, this scientific and technological achievement has been applied operationally in 7 coastal prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang Province. The remote sensing dynamic monitoring information supports the provincial digital government platform "Zhejiang Blue Ocean", realizing rapid information release and closed-loop management application. It has served multiple scenarios including environmental protection inspections and the sailing events of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Innovations in Ecological Environment of Zhejiang Province". The demand for independence and timeliness of remote sensing data has directly promoted the research, development and launch of Zhejiang’s first pollution-carbon synergistic satellite "Blue Carbon-1". This achievement has formed a new model of "data-driven, remote sensing-led, and business closed-loop", winning the first prize in Zhejiang Province and the third prize nationwide in the 2025 "Data Element ×" Competition.
Currently, a long-term service mechanism has been established for this scientific and technological achievement, which has the capability for national promotion. It can continuously provide near-real-time remote sensing dynamic monitoring products and decision support for the efficient supervision of the marine ecological environment.
Public announcement webpage of the selected cases:
https://www.ceett.org.cn/zhzx/tzgg/750722559049797.shtml
Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of the Four Key Technological Achievements
Figure 2 Examples of Remote Sensing Monitoring Results for Abnormal Water Color of Coastal Discharge Outlets. (1) High-resolution remote sensing original image; (2) Remote sensing identification results of abnormal water color.
