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A reconstruction of Jeholornis prima.
As released at the recent annual work conference of CAS, CAS scientists scored important S&T achievements in the fields of natural resources, the environment and sustainable development in 2002.
A parallel data processing system for reservoir geophysics was developed, leading to confirmation of a natural gas bonanza up to 60.9 billion cubic meters in additional proven reserves at Daqing oilfield, surpassing the expected quota documented in the written contract by 50 billion cubic meters. The permafrost research along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on construction achieved staged results, and partial results and values of related parameters were enlisted in the Railroad' s technical specifications for guiding the Railway' s design and construction. The work was well received by the Ministry of Railroads. In paleontology, CAS scientists made substantial advances in Jehol biota of western Liaoning Province, such as Cenozoic vertebrates, early evolution of osteichthians (bony fishes) and phylogenetic origin of tetrapods (four-limbed animals), resulting in more than a dozen of research papers published by Nature and Science. In developing and perfecting the theory of flocculation, a related methodological system was erected, leading to wide application to developing new types of highly effective flocculants and harvesting remarkable socio-economic returns. In climate prediction, some major advances have been attained, such as China' s first regional variance and distributive patterns in climate predicability in summer, which are of important value in providing professional service of China' s short-term weather calamities, China' s first ocean data assimilation system in professional service, and the second-generation and extra-seasonal IAP/CAS system for numerical climate prediction. Some results provided scientific grounds for decision makers, including studies on the Loess Plateau, China' s Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) project on a rice-wheat inter-cropping system, the evolutionary prediction of China' s subsistence environment and aridity tendency in north China, the basic research on the biological pest outbreak and its control in seawater aquatic farms, dynamic monitoring of the global growth of farming crops, the planted acreage estimate and total yield prediction of China' s eight major crops, an experimental demonstration district for comprehensive harnessing of the eco-environment in the farming-herding transition zone between the Hunshandak Sands in Inner Mongolia and downtown Beijing. In addition, various CAS stations of experimental demonstration attained remarkable effects at Yangling High-tech District, water-and-soil conservation and eco-environment reconstruction and testing patterns for Yellow River' s upper reaches in Guyuan Prefecture, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.