Maintenance work of world's highest weather station completed

Members of a Chinese expedition team display the Chinese national flag at the summit of Mount Qomolangma on May 23, 2023. A Chinese expedition team reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma on Tuesday, as they look to carry out scientific research on the world's highest peak. (Photo by Lhagba/Xinhua)

MOUNT QOMOLANGMA BASE CAMP, Tibet, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Maintenance work of the world's highest weather station at an altitude of 8,830 meters on Mount Qomolangma was completed on Tuesday.

At approximately 3 a.m., a Chinese expedition team comprising 13 members embarked from the assault camp at 8,300 meters on Mount Qomolangma, and arrived at the station after eight hours of arduous climb, the team told members at the camp base via video link.

The team diligently worked on fixing steel ropes, replacing batteries, and installing wind speed and direction sensors. After nearly an hour, the weather station upgrade was successfully completed, thus marking the completion of maintenance work of all eight elevation gradient meteorological stations at altitudes between 5,200 meters and 8,830 meters.

In 2022, Chinese researchers established the automatic meteorological monitoring station weighing 50 kg at an altitude of 8,830 meters, making it the world's highest of its kind.

"The automatic weather station is powered by a combination of solar panels and batteries that normally last for many years. However, at the extremely high altitude of Mount Qomolangma, the weather changes quickly, the wind is strong and the temperature is low, constantly testing the operational resilience of the weather station," said Zhao Huabiao, a researcher with the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to Zhao, several automated weather stations experienced sensor component damage as a result of severe weather conditions, leading to disruptions in the transmission of meteorological data.

"In addition to the maintenance work of the weather station, the crew also added precipitation observation to obtain more comprehensive gradient meteorological data, which provides basic data for researchers to study the changes in meteorological elements at extremely high altitudes, glacier changes and snow accumulation," Zhao said.

Meteorological observation data at extremely high altitudes are scarce all over the world. The automatic weather stations set up on Mount Qomolangma can obtain more comprehensive and detailed data to uncover the "mystery" of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau's climate and ecological environment, Zhao added.

Researchers also plan to build models to simulate and predict the future changes in glaciers and water resources to aid ecological environment protection and sustainable development efforts in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. ■