China's BeiDou navigation system contributes to flood control

China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has played a significant role in the country's flood-control operations, said BDS Spokesperson Ran Chengqi on Monday.

The BDS system has helped the country fight against floods, assisting in deformation monitoring, early warning and resident transfer, Ran said at a press conference.

Based on its constellation and ground stations, the BDS system can provide high-precision services with centimeter-level accuracy in real-time processing and millimeter-level accuracy in post-processing.

With the help of the system and auxiliary equipment, debris flow can be predicted through real-time deformation monitoring to gain time for resident transfer and rescue.

In Shimen county, central China's Hunan province, the BDS-based monitoring system helped issue early warnings and relocate over 60 people threatened by a landslide, thus ensuring the safety of people's lives and property, according to Ran.

Another distinctive function of the BDS system is short message communication, which allows users to send messages without the support of a mobile network.

The short message communication capability of the BDS-3 system has been greatly improved. Users can send a message of 1,000 Chinese characters at one time, as well as pictures and voice messages, Ran said.

The BDS system can also aid international search and rescue with its bidirectional communication services. Ships in need of rescue can receive a reply from the ground station after sending a distress signal, which is a more advanced method than those used previously.

China will endeavor to provide legal and policy guarantees and create a sound, open environment for the development of the BDS system, according to Ran.

The integration of BDS with emerging technologies, including 5G, mobile communications and big data, will be further promoted to create new business models and growth points, he added.