China will carry out a national agricultural census once every 10 years, and will conduct one in 2016
In 2016, China will carry out a national agricultural census once every 10 years, and remote sensing technology with higher precision and efficiency is expected to be applied on a large scale in the census.
In 2016 China will carry out a national agricultural census once every 10 years
One drone and two operators, in only two hours, can measure the entire crop area within a 4 sq km range and clearly identify rice and cotton from the air.
In early December, when reporters visited Maoshuibang Village, Gaoqiao Town, Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province, to report from the grassroots, the Zhejiang Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics demonstrated this agricultural remote sensing measurement device.
The staff first used medium-resolution remote sensing map data provided by satellites to delineate the plots that needed remote sensing, and then released the drone to hover and ascend for actual measurement. Within nearly two hours, the drone, guided by satellite positioning, automatically captured high-definition remote sensing images of the plots to be monitored, and the staff then synthesized the images into a high-resolution remote sensing measured map.
The head of the Zhejiang Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics further told our reporter that after obtaining the remote sensing data, the cultivated land area would be used as a frame, and current image data reflecting the characteristics of rice at different growth stages would be used on a computer to extract the areas where rice might be planted, establish a spatial sampling frame, and implement sampling surveys mainly through automatic system identification and interpretation, supplemented by field survey verification. Finally, the results of remote sensing interpretation and the results of field survey verification would be used to estimate the rice planting area, with overall precision to be controlled at above 95%.
Even in hilly and mountainous areas with highly variable terrain and differing slopes, drones can capture the actual area of cultivated land in detail. According to the staff's explanation, because such differences in ground terrain are very small relative to the drone's flight altitude of about 300 m, precise crop planting area can be obtained through remote sensing.
It is precisely because of the huge potential of agricultural remote sensing that Ma Jiantang, then Director of the National Bureau of Statistics, clearly stated that in surveys concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers, spatial information technology has enormous application advantages, and that a series of projects had already been arranged and launched, including "National Statistical Operational Application Demonstration Based on High-Resolution Remote Sensing" and "Comprehensive Service Platform for Rapid Agricultural Statistics Survey Based on Independent Satellites." This will greatly change the production method of China's agricultural statistical data.
In traditional agricultural statistics, sample surveys are conducted on agricultural growers, but this method has problems such as long survey cycles, low survey efficiency and susceptibility to interference. Remote sensing technology can greatly improve efficiency and reduce interference. Through the combination of sky patrol and ground measurement, it can not only increase the accuracy of data, but also dynamically monitor crop growth and promptly provide accurate forecasts of agricultural production conditions. If sudden droughts, floods and other disasters occur, sending drones up to "scan" can promptly, accurately and effectively monitor and forecast the disaster situation and impact.
For the grassroots level, grain output is an important piece of data. This is because grain output and planting area data are directly linked to grain subsidies on the one hand, and directly connected to some performance assessments on the other. Changing from surveys of people to remote sensing monitoring is also expected to reduce the possibility of interference with data from various sides.
The head of the Zhejiang Survey Office said that Zhejiang Province was the first in the country to produce remote sensing data for 12 major grain-producing counties with "satellite images above and field measurements below." The crop sown area measured through satellite remote sensing technology can accurately reflect the actual level of the monitored cities and counties.
In 2016, China will carry out a national agricultural census once every 10 years, and remote sensing technology with higher precision and efficiency is expected to be applied on a large scale in the census.
A relevant official from the Rural Department of the National Bureau of Statistics once told the media that the National Bureau of Statistics has joined with Beijing Normal University and Xinxing Cathay International Group to jointly build the "Comprehensive Service Platform for Rapid Agricultural Statistics Survey Based on Independent Satellites," making full use of independent satellite remote sensing and BeiDou navigation technology, transforming and upgrading the existing agricultural survey system, and developing an agricultural output survey vehicle integrating drones, handheld tablets, agricultural parameter collectors and other measurement terminals, so as to achieve a revolutionary transformation in the methods and means of agricultural statistics surveys and comprehensively improve the capacity of agricultural statistical surveys and data quality.
The official said that the National Bureau of Statistics has currently completed the transformation and integration of 1 provincial-level survey vehicle and 2 county-level survey vehicles for the "Comprehensive Service Platform for Rapid Agricultural Statistics Survey Based on Independent Satellites," and that this new system will be promoted nationwide in the future on the basis of pilot projects.