International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, IEAS

Academician

Baoxi ZHUO

Profile:

Elected Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences in 2008, Professor Baoxi Zhuo is a Chinese specialist in engineering geology and remote sensing whose career has focused on the application of aerial and satellite remote sensing to railway route selection, engineering-geological investigation, and geological hazard assessment. Born in February 1934 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, he graduated from the railway construction programme of Tongji University in 1954. In 1956 he was transferred from the Lanzhou–Xinjiang Railway construction site to the Beijing Aerial Survey Office, where he studied aerial geology under the Soviet expert G. F. Golubenko and began his career in remote-sensing geology. He joined the Specialised Design Institute of the Ministry of Railways in 1957 and subsequently served in a series of technical and managerial positions, including Director of the Railway Aerial Survey and Remote Sensing Centre and Deputy Chief Engineer. The institute later became China Railway Engineering Consultants Group, where he serves as Senior Adviser and Professor of Engineering. Over more than four decades, he directed or participated in engineering-geological remote-sensing investigations for more than 30 railway lines, including the Lanzhou–Xinjiang, Qinghai–Tibet, Chengdu–Kunming, and Nanning–Kunming railways, undertaking field and remote-sensing work across China. He was recognised as a China Engineering Survey Master in 1994, received the State Council Special Allowance in 1992, and was awarded the Zhan Tianyou Railway Science and Technology Achievement Prize in 2003. He has also served as an adviser and Deputy Chairman of the Expert Committee of the China Association of Remote Sensing Applications, Government Adviser of Fujian Province, and Concurrent Professor at Beijing Jiaotong University and Southwest Jiaotong University.

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Professor Zhuo’s principal contribution has been the systematic development and application of remote sensing in railway engineering geology. Drawing on extensive engineering practice, he established an approach in which remote sensing serves as an important basis for integrated geological investigation and route selection, particularly in areas characterised by complex geology and difficult access. During the construction of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, his remote-sensing investigation of the Fenghuoshan–Tanggula section enabled large areas to be mapped efficiently and contributed to the selection of a route that avoided significant permafrost-related hazards. For the Qinling crossing of the Xikang Railway, he led remote-sensing-based geological investigations that supported the selection of the Shibianyu tunnel scheme. He also applied remote sensing to flood and geological-hazard assessment, including investigations of flood and debris-flow hazards in northern Beijing in 1991. Subsequently, he promoted the use of remote-sensing geological interpretation throughout the construction of the Nanning–Kunming Railway and directed large-scale satellite and aerial-photograph interpretation for the Sichuan–Chongqing east corridor. His research included methods for evaluating tunnel water abundance through remote sensing and systematic techniques for railway engineering-geological interpretation. He has published more than 100 papers and authored or edited six monographs, including Interpretation and Application of Engineering-Geological Remote Sensing and Principles of Remote Sensing and Engineering-Geological Interpretation. He also served as chief editor of the industry standard Technical Code for Railway Engineering-Geological Remote Sensing and contributed extensively to professional training and academic exchange. Through sustained work integrating remote sensing with engineering geology, Professor Zhuo has contributed to the development of engineering-geological remote sensing in China and to its application in railway planning, construction, and geological hazard assessment.