China and Finland have agreed to deepen joint research on climate and cold regions by combining respective strengths in remote sensing and snow science, said Qiu Yubao, a professor at the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
As climate change accelerates across cold regions, particularly the Arctic and Pan-Arctic regions, China and Finland signed an agreement on April 8, 2018 to establish a joint research center for Arctic space observation and data sharing services.
The collaboration combines China's advanced remote-sensing technologies with Finland's world-leading expertise in snow and ice science.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Qiu, who is also the director of Digital Environment Division under the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), explained that the shared scientific needs in vast snow-covered regions and complementary technological strengths brought the two sides together.
"In snow research, particularly studies of snow cover, Finland is at the global forefront. China, on the other hand, has comparative advantages in remote sensing observation technologies. Both countries have vast snow-covered regions and broad application scenarios," said Qiu.
Qiu then introduced a major breakthrough in coupling physical models with remote sensing technologies.
"In recent years, especially from 2023 to 2025, a major breakthrough has been the coupling of physical snow and ice process models with microwave remote sensing models. This has become a frontier topic internationally, enhancing both sensor observation capabilities and our understanding of Earth's geophysical processes. We are also jointly developing new technologies, such as atmospheric corrected high-frequency detection of new snow, based on the experiments. These studies can provide strong support for emergency monitoring of snow-related disasters in southern China, especially for the humid atmosphere and shallow snow cover area," he highlighted.
Qiu also shared a profound personal memory from the demanding fieldwork.
"Experimental work is demanding, sometimes we had to go outdoors in the middle of the night to wait for satellite overpasses and conduct synchronized ground measurements. That was when I saw the aurora for the first time. The sky was completely covered in blue-green light. I was walking alone in the snow, with dogs barking in the village nearby. I was terrified at the time, but it has since become one of my most beautiful memories," Qiu said.
China, Finland integrate strengths to deepen cold-region research
