HOHHOT, April 11 (Xinhua) -- North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region launched its first desert ecological and meteorological center Thursday to strengthen desertification control.

The center, co-founded by the regional meteorological bureau and Alxa League, will conduct long-term monitoring on the weather, soil, hydrology and vegetation in the region, and provide basic data for the study of its desert ecosystem.

The center said that remote sensing technology would be applied to study the environmental changes of the desert.

Desert area in the region covers 279,400 square km, ranking second in China.

"The meteorological study is of great importance to the protection of the desert's ecosystem," said Pei Hao, an official of the regional meteorological bureau, adding that Inner Mongolia had enhanced meteorological monitoring of the desert since 2017.

The center will regularly issue monitoring evaluation reports and provide desert monitoring services for desertification control.