Located near Taihu Lake in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, TERFOS was established in 1988 by CAS. Now it is included in China Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) and the National Key Field Scientific Observation and Experiment Station as well. TERFOS is mainly used for data collection of the lake water quality and experiments of lake resources development, lake ecosystem restoration and lake environment research as well as the interaction among physical, chemical and ecological process in lake ecosystem. There are lake ecosystem restoration experiment field, standard meteorological observation field, and chemistry and biology laboratories at TERFOS.Now it is a base and platform for large shallow lake ecosystem research and  also the education and training center for water environment in China.

In the past 20 years, the researchers working at TERFOS have worked on underwater light transmission characteristics and effects of underwater light climate on primary productivity in shallow lakes, put forward the theoretical hypothesis for cyanobacterial bloom forming in four stages, developed the Taihu Lake hydrodynamic-ecosystem model, and developed the Taihu Lake water environment warning system. They have worked out the internal release from sediment which was used for ecological dredging by local government, developed the techniques for　 controlling algae diffusion, reducing waves, and cultivating aquatic plants. Also, they have built a large-sized experiment field for improving water quality and developed a theory for improving lake water quality with physical ecological engineering.