China is establishing a network to monitor the climate and ecology of 16 cities in the Yangtze River valley.

The surveillance is expected to improve the forecast of typhoons, rainstorms, high and low temperature, gales, flooding and other disasters in the region.

The network is believed to be the first cross-provincial system of its kind ever built in the country.

Under the scheme, a database for sharing information is to be built by the Shanghai meteorological bureau to collect all related real-time information and statistics offered by the cities.

The regional network will center on surveillance of the urban and wetland and lake ecological situation, as well as the performance of ecological agriculture.

Information will be offered on general weather, road temperature, acid rain, ultraviolet, dust, sand and organic compound content in earth, phenology, coastal water temperatures, and changes of marshes.

(CRI May 27, 2004)