China's ocean monitoring satellite, "Haiyang-1B" (Ocean 1B), is functioning well and data transit tests have been successfully carried out, the state oceanic authority said on Friday.

The China-made satellite, which monitors the color and temperature of the ocean, went into the orbit on April 11 aboard a Long March-2C carrier rocket.

The data collection center in Beijing received the first batch of signals from the satellite on Friday morning. "The satellite is in good condition and working well," said Jiang Xingwei, director of the National Satellite Ocean Application Service.

The satellite will roam over the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and emit signals when it passes over Beijing and Sanya, the coastal city of southern Hainan province.

Jiang said the State Oceanic Administration has sent a team to the South China Sea to carry out a simultaneous field survey over the next 40 days to check the reliability of satellite data.

"Haiyang-1B", an upgraded version of the earlier model "Haiyang-1A", provides three times as much information. Its observational range is 3,000 kilometers.

Oceanic officials say the satellite will be used to survey oceanic resources and develop coastal areas, help with port construction and monitor and prevent oceanic pollution, and also to study global environmental changes.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2007)