China Meteorological Administration (CMA) recently released its first national greenhouse gas
observation network directory, which means that after nearly 40 years of construction China’s first
greenhouse gas observation network has been basically established.
The network is expected to improve China’s capacity for observation and assessment of climate
change and continuously provide data support for the country’s efforts to peak carbon dioxide
emissions and achieve carbon neutrality.
The national greenhouse gas observation network directory includes 60 stations focusing on high-
precision observation and covering major critical climate areas in the country.
The network is comprised of organizations including the country’s national atmospheric baseline
observatory, national climate observatory, as well as national and provincial applied
meteorological (greenhouse gas) observation stations.
Seven types of greenhouse gases specified in the Kyoto Protocol, including carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbon, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen
trifluoride, are observed under the network.
China is one of the first countries in the world to carry out background observation of greenhouse
gases. In 1982, the country’s first regional atmospheric background monitoring station was put
into operation in Beijing.
In 1994, China Global Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory on Mount Waliguan, Hainan
Tibetan autonomous prefecture, northwest China’s Qinghai province, was established at an
altitude of 3,816 meters on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Its monitoring data have enjoyed a great
reputation in the world, making China rank high among countries in the world in terms of
greenhouse gas observation.
The China Global Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory is one of the 31 global atmospheric
baseline stations in the international atmosphere watch network coordinated by the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) as well as the only continental global atmospheric baseline
observatory in the hinterland of Eurasia.
The observatory can measure the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere after
adequate mixing. Its data are quite regionally representative.
The observational results of the observatory can represent the concentrations and changes of
atmospheric greenhouse gases in the inland regions in the middle latitudes of the Northern
Hemisphere.
“The greenhouse gas data from China Global Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory at Mount
Waliguan are supporting data of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC),” said Zhai Panmao, Co-Chair of the Working Group I that participated in the
production of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) of the United Nations and chief scientist of the Chinese Academy of Meteorological
Sciences (CAMS).
When China started practical exploration of background atmospheric observation and established
its first regional atmospheric background monitoring station in Beijing in 1981, the trend of rising
carbon dioxide concentrations across the globe became increasingly prominent and global
atmospheric baseline observatories were set up in many regions including the North Pole and the
South Pole. The hinterland of the Eurasian continent was an exception, which meant that the data
provided by existing observation stations then couldn’t represent the changes of Earth.
In 1994, China Global Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory at Mount Waliguan was put into
service, and the WMO officially awarded the station identification number WLG236N10.
Over the past few decades, the atmospheric monitoring stations in the country have evolved into a
three-dimensional integrated greenhouse gas monitoring system integrating ground, air, and space
observations, further improving China’s capacity for observing and responding to climate change.
The country now has a national greenhouse gas observation network that consists of a total of
seven national atmospheric background monitoring stations including the China Global
Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory at Mount Waliguan and six regional atmospheric
background monitoring stations in Beijing, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, east China’s
Zhejiang province, central China’s Hubei province, southwest China’s Yunnan province, and
northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
“After nearly 40 years of exploration, our country has formed a complete system covering
atmospheric composition observation, correction, product, application, and service, and finally
basically established today’s greenhouse gas observation network,” said Cao Xiaozhong, head of
the comprehensive observation division of the CMA.
The greenhouse gas observation network will have a profound influence, said Zhang Xiaoye,
academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a researcher with the CAMS.
Since the beginning of this year, the CMA has, relying on sequence data and professional team,
established a national greenhouse gas and carbon neutrality monitoring and assessment center with
branches in multiple provinces, and a system for evaluating the effectiveness of China’s carbon
neutrality actions, enabling the country to accurately distinguish natural and man-made carbon
fluxes at the global, regional and urban scales and make progress in peaking carbon dioxide
emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, Zhang noted.
