Main Participants: WANG Yuchun, BAO Yufei, WANG Yingcai, HU Mingming, LI Shanze, QU Xiaodong, WANG Zhongjun, CHENG Yao, WEN Jie, LI Tiancui, LUO Huihuang, DU Yanliang, LI Ang, LI Liping

The construction of the cascade hydropower projects on the Lancang River has profoundly altered the natural flow characteristics of the river. A series of high dams and large reservoirs have been built. The ecological processes within these newly formed deep and large reservoirs remain unstable.In addition, due to the vast scale of the projects, the environmental evolution occurs on a large temporal and spatial scale. Conventional hydrological and hydrochemical monitoring methods are inadequate for capturing the complex interactions between physical hydrology and ecological environment in these deep and large reservoirs. Consequently, the understanding of these processes remain quite limited. The development of multi-factor three-dimensional monitoring technology, as well as the analysis and evaluation methods for the water ecological environment of deep and large reservoirs will practically improve the comprehensive monitoring, sensing and early warning capability of these reservoirs, and hence supporting the integrated river basin management and facilitating sustainable development.

·   Research and development of proprietary technology and equipment for multi-factor three-dimensional monitoring buoys for the water ecological environment of deep and large reservoirs. These buoys enable the acquisition of scientific observation data on water quality, interfacial water carbon flux and meteorological conditions in a long sequence of reservoirs;

·   Design and development of space-air-ground integrated three-dimensional telemetry equipment and systems for monitoring the water environment in the river basin, which includes the creation of an integrated management platform for reservoir water quality safety and efficient data utilization;

·   Development of a unified management platform for buoy stations, which encompasses various types of data, system operation safety, and other relevant information, as well as a buoy BIM visual display model;

l  Utilization of the station network coverage of deep and large reservoirs and high-precision monitoring data from buoy stations to study the annual variation characteristics of water quality and potential ecological risks associated with the high-precision profiles of typical deep and large reservoirs in the Lancang River;

·   Investigation into the key parameters for the water body stratification in deep and large reservoirs, as well as the mechanisms of microbial action and environmental effects, providing robust support for targeted management and protection of the reservoir area.

·   In terms of key technology development, significant progress has been made in the research and application of the multi-factor three-dimensional monitoring buoy technology and equipment for the ecological environment of deep and large reservoirs. This breakthrough achievement includes achieving high-precision online real-time monitoring of over 20 elements, including meteorological conditions, water environment, and water carbon flux, simultaneously under water depth exceeding 300 meters.

·   In terms of data fusion platform, a comprehensive management platform for various heterogeneous monitoring results data from deep and large reservoirs has been developed. This platform integrates data from various sources such as water quality, meteorology and video surveillance, establishing a unified data storage platform;

·   In terms of comprehensive management and display, this research has achieved data exchange and sharing among application services on the platform, facilitating three-dimensional visual display for various environmental monitoring information and hierarchical early warning, and providing technical guarantee for the ecological security of the reservoir area.

·   In terms of key process innovation, this research has revealed the profile stratification characteristics and environmental effects of deep and large reservoirs, and clarified the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics and environmental effects of water body stratification, thereby providing essential data and a theoretical foundation for understanding the mechanisms behind deep and large water body stratification and the regulation of environmental impacts.

The multi-factor three-dimensional monitoring technology and complete equipment for the water ecological environment of deep and large reservoirs, have enabled a breakthrough in high-resolution sampling and monitoring of multiple parameters of 300-meter-level water layer profile. This technology and equipment possess the technical capability to quantitatively characterize the multi-process variations in meteorology-water environment-water vapor interface flux in deep and large reservoirs. The complete set of equipment has been installed and put into operation in the Nuozhadu Reservoir on the Lancang River, clarifying the key water environmental parameters and environmental effects related to water body stratification of Nuozhadu Reservoir. This practical application has significantly enhanced the comprehensive monitoring capabilities of the cascade hydropower development of the Lancang River, providing an important foundation for the relevant  research. The relevant patents have been applied by government authorities or business entities such as Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower Co., Ltd., Yunnan Hydrological Bureau, and Tibet Hydrological Bureau. These achievements have also been included in the 2023 Guideline Catalog for Promotion of Key Advanced Practical Water Technologies.

Figure 1 Multi-factor Three-dimensional Monitoring Buoy for Water Ecology in 300-meter-level Deep and Large Reservoirs

Figure 2 Nuozhadu Reservoir Water Quality Monitoring Data Platform and Visual Display

Figure 3 Space-Air-Ground Integrated Three-Dimensional Environment Telemetry Platform 

Figure 4 Comprehensive Management Platform of Real-time Monitoring Data of Nuozhadu Reservoir

Figure 5 Model Integration Logic of Various Heterogeneous Monitoring Data