Chinese Drones Keep Eye on Polluters

China has deployed drones to gather air pollution data in key northern areas to inspect how well environmental laws are enforced.

A total of eleven small and medium-sized drones have been engaged in collecting air pollution data in the provinces of Hebei and Shanxi as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

These drones flew for about 20 hours , covering over 1,000 square kilometers in total.

Zhang Dawei is an official from the Environment Inspection Bureau of Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Zhang says illegal emission can be located from images collected by the drones.

"This is an image taken in the mountainous area. We can see the roads here. If we take a closer look, we will find two Calcined Lime workshops and their emission pose great danger to the environment. We wouldn't find them in our daily inspection due to its location, but now we can clearly see them by using drones."

Different types of drones equipped with infrared cameras have been used during the inspection.

Zou Shoumin, Director of Environment Inspection Bureau, says this creative way of inspection has many advantages and is quite effective.

"One of the advantages is that the drones are capable of avoiding human interference. What's more, they can quickly capture the illegal and secret emissions of some industries that cannot be easily detected through ordinary methods. Combined with the ground inspection, it is of great effect."

More than 250 enterprises have been inspected this time.

Over one fourth of them are suspected to have failed to meet the anti-pollution requirements.

Feng Yinchang, professor with the College of Environmental Science and Engineering of Nankai University, says the new technology has strengthened environmental supervision.

"One important reason why the air pollution in our country is so heavy is that there's a lack of effective means of supervision. As there are so many pollution sources in our country, we should utilize some advanced methods, such as the drones, to inspect the illegal enterprises that were difficult to find. Through the aerial photos, we can obtain accurate evidence. In this way, law enforcement and supervision can be enhanced."

The Ministry of Environmental Protection says that drones are set to be used for law-enforcement checks on a regular basis.