National Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (NMRS) was founded in 1973 and from then on it has been involving in researches and applications of microwave remote sensing and information technology. Since the beginning of 1980’s, the NMRS Lab has been playing a main role in various space science and technology projects of the national sixth, seventh and eighth Five-Year-Plan and has developed a number of microwave remote sensing instruments including ground- and air-based active and passive microwave sensors of different frequency bands and modes. From 1987 up to now, the NMRS Lab has fulfilled the conceptual study of space-borne multi-mode microwave sensor sponsored by the "National '863' High Technology Development Program" and the development of new types of sensors such as modularized microwave sensor, three dimensional imaging altimeter and synthetic aperture radiometer.

In the mid 1980’s, the NMRS Lab initiated the field of microwave remote sensing technology applied in natural disaster monitoring and established an air-borne semi-real time disaster monitoring data transmitting system. The NMRS Lab also first proposed the aeroplane-satellite-ground real time remote sensing data transmission concept in the world. This concept has opened a new dimension for the application of microwave remote sensing technology and furthermore, it has recently been made into reality in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Conservancy of China.

There are 65 researchers currently working in the NMRS Lab, including 20 Ph. D. Most of the researchers are under the age of 45 and 18 have the title of associate research fellow and above. Because of their excellent work in the state key projects, the NMRS Lab has successively won 11 high-ranking prizes, including the special, first and second prizes of the National Science and technology Achievements and those awarded by Chinese Academy of Sciences and other Ministries. In the past few years, researchers in the NMRS Lab have published dozens of papers in both international and domestic journals and conferences.

At present, the NMRS Lab focuses its research topics on the microwave remote sensing instrument developments, sensor calibration, electromagnetic wave scattering theory, microwave signature measurements, new sensor theory and experiments, digital signal processing, image processing, remote sensing data analysis and applications.

Academician, Professor Jingshan Jiang, a prominent scientist in space and microwave remote sensing technologies in China, is the founder of the NMRS Lab.