China has introduced a nationwide reference system designed to improve the accuracy and consistency of satellite remote-sensing data across its mainland territory.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has released its first complete set of geometric benchmark imagery, with a resolution of better than 0.5 metres. The imagery provides a common high-precision reference, or national “spatial scale,” that allows images from different satellites to be aligned and calibrated more accurately.
The development addresses long-standing differences in satellite imagery that have affected China’s growing commercial remote-sensing sector. Without a common reference, images of the same location captured by different satellites could show shifted roads, disconnected features and misaligned buildings.
At the ministry’s Land Satellite Remote Sensing Application Center, comparisons showed that applying the new benchmark makes building footprints, road lengths and road directions more consistent.
“Different satellites produce imagery with varying geometric quality, making it impossible to overlay them accurately,” said Zhou Ping, director of the data processing department at the center. “Once the geometric benchmark is applied, measurements such as the area of buildings and the length and orientation of roads become highly accurate.”
The benchmark comes as China’s commercial remote-sensing satellite constellation continues to expand. Inconsistent geometric references had made data integration more difficult and increased production costs. The new imagery can serve as a base map for correcting raw satellite data and ensuring accurate registration across different sources.
The system also addresses challenges in mountainous and plateau regions, where establishing ground control has traditionally been difficult. Officials said the overall positioning accuracy of remote-sensing imagery nationwide has more than doubled.
“We have established China’s first set of geometric benchmark imagery that covers all land territory and achieves the highest overall accuracy,” said Yu Dequan, deputy director of the Land Satellite Remote Sensing Application Center.
The imagery is expected to support applications including the development of a real-scene 3D China, natural resources surveys and monitoring, and commercial aerospace remote sensing.
The benchmark will be openly shared with society, which officials said could significantly reduce image-production costs across industries and support the growth of the satellite remote-sensing applications sector.
Regulatory work is also underway. Sun Hua, an official in the ministry’s land surveying and mapping department, said, “Within 2026, work will be done on researching and formulating documents to standardize the application of geometric benchmark imagery results, ensuring they are used efficiently and securely.”
The ministry will also work with other departments to encourage commercial satellite companies to use the benchmark and develop new industrial models and ecosystems.
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