How was the world's highest meteorological station built?

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At about 12:46 on May 4, an automatic weather observation station was successfully set up at an altitude of 8,830 meters on the north slope of Mount Everest (hereinafter referred to as "Mount Everest"), and real-time data was transmitted back normally. This is the highest automatic weather observation station in the world.

▲The snow-capped mountains and the blue sky, the five-star red flag once again flutters on the top of the earth. At 1:30 p.m., the 13 members of the second Qinghai-Tibet scientific expedition "Peak Mission" Everest scientific expedition team successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest. (Photo source: CCTV News)

On April 28, the scientific expedition named "Peak Mission" was fully launched. This is the most comprehensive scientific expedition with the widest coverage of disciplines, the largest number of scientific expedition members, and the most advanced instruments and equipment since the second Qinghai-Tibet scientific expedition was launched in 2017. It will reveal a series of issues such as the laws of environmental changes in the extremely high altitude areas of Mount Everest under the background of climate warming. Building an altitude gradient meteorological station on the north slope of Mount Everest is an important task of this scientific expedition.

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Solar powered, real-time transmission of weather data

This automatic weather observation station installed at the "top of the world" weighs 50 kilograms and is powered by solar panels. It can be used for two years under normal circumstances and transmits meteorological information such as temperature, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, and solar radiation through satellite communications and other means. It can realize automatic observation and data transmission of meteorological gradients in the extremely high altitude area of ​​Mount Everest, and the measured data obtained can fill the gap in the meteorological records of the extremely high altitude of Mount Everest.

▲The climbers are setting up an automatic weather observation station (Photo source: CCTV News)

Many people may be curious about why the weather station is not built on the peak at 8,848 meters. Professionals explain that this is because it is difficult to fix the snow and ice on the peak, so they find a bedrock surface at around 8,800 meters to fix it.

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There are 8 extremely high altitude gradient automatic weather stations in total

Mount Everest is located in an extremely high area. Since the beginning of this year, Mount Everest scientific expedition experts and scientific expedition climbers have overcome numerous difficulties and successively set up four automatic weather stations at altitudes of 5,200 meters, 7,028 meters, 7,790 meters and 8,300 meters. Together with the three automatic weather stations set up at altitudes of 6,500 meters, 5,800 meters and 5,400 meters in 2021, a seven-gradient automatic weather station from 5,200 meters to 8,300 meters above sea level has been built and put into operation. The automatic weather station set up at an altitude of 8,830 meters is the last weather station set up in the "Peak Mission" Mount Everest scientific expedition, which is equivalent to the last piece of the altitude gradient weather station "puzzle".

▲Distribution map of 8 weather stations (Source: CCTV News)

Setting up eight extremely high altitude automatic weather stations in the Everest region is a huge challenge and a pioneering effort in scientific research in China and even the world. The eight automatic weather stations with different gradients mainly monitor the changes in temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind speed, air pressure, radiation and other parameters in the Everest region in three dimensions, and can realize real-time remote transmission of data.

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How was it transported up there when it weighs more than 50 kilograms?

As we all know, climbing Mount Everest is a very challenging activity. Climbers have to face a series of problems such as high altitude, cold weather and lack of oxygen. So, how are these automatic weather stations transported up there?

▲Using yaks to transport supplies is very common in the local area (Photo source: People's Post and Telecommunications)

"Some equipment and instruments are fragile and must be carefully protected. They have to be carried up by the team members themselves. Some that are not fragile are carried to 6,500 meters by yaks, and then transported up from 6,500 meters upwards by hand," said Tashi Phuntsok, deputy leader of the "Peak Mission" Mount Everest expedition team, to the media.

Although the total weight of the automatic weather stations at 8,300 meters and 8,830 meters above sea level is 50 kilograms, which is 20 kilograms lighter than conventional weather stations at lower altitudes, it is not an easy task to transport these weather station equipment to 8,300 meters.

It takes nearly seven hours for the team members to travel from the forward camp at an altitude of 6,500 meters to the North Col camp at an altitude of 7,028 meters, and it will take even more time and energy to carry the load to an altitude of 8,830 meters. Zhao Huabiao, a researcher at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the entire equipment will be split up and handed over to the climbers, and the weight each of them will carry will not exceed 7 kilograms.

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Why set up weather stations at extremely high altitudes?

Setting up a weather station at an extremely high altitude is an important part of the second Qinghai-Tibet expedition, and is also a pioneering effort in China and even the world. Zhao Huabiao introduced that conventional meteorological observations are generally below 5,000 meters, and there are few above 5,000 meters. This kind of high-altitude meteorological observation is currently lacking.

▲An automatic weather station set up at an altitude of about 5,200 meters in the Everest region (Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)

The completion of the weather station at an altitude of 8,800 meters surpassed the automatic weather station at an altitude of 8,430 meters built by British and American scientists on the south slope of Mount Everest in 2019, becoming the world's highest automatic weather station.

After completion, the temperature and gradient changes in this area will be studied, and the temperature and altitude changes in the entire Third Pole area will be understood. This also means that the China Mount Everest gradient meteorological observation system has been initially established. The collected meteorological data can further study the changing characteristics of meteorological elements at extremely high altitudes, which is of great significance for monitoring changes in high-altitude glaciers and snow.

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What other work will be carried out during this scientific expedition?

The second comprehensive scientific survey and research on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which has lasted for 5 years, launched this year the "Peak Mission 2022-Comprehensive Scientific Survey and Research on Extremely High Altitude Areas of Mount Everest".

The summit was part of the entire Everest scientific expedition, and the team members successfully completed the relevant scientific expedition tasks. In addition to setting up a high-altitude gradient meteorological observation station, the expedition team also used high-precision radar to measure the thickness of ice and snow on the peak for the first time, and collected ice and snow samples and atmospheric samples at the "top of the earth". The summit team also used the high-precision ground-penetrating radar they brought to measure the entire Rongbuk Glacier on Mount Everest.

▲Team members are taking samples (Photo source: CCTV News)

"In addition to measuring the thickness of ice and snow on the top of Mount Everest, samples of surface snow on the top will also be collected. We also want to know what components are in the surface snow at the highest altitude." Wu Guangjian, a researcher at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Studies, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the media.

This Mount Everest scientific expedition was jointly implemented by the Second Qinghai-Tibet Scientific Expedition Team and the Tibet Mountaineering Team. 16 scientific expedition teams from 5 scientific expedition teams, with a total of more than 270 expedition members, participated in the expedition. They mainly conducted research on a series of major scientific issues, including the westerly-monsoon synergy, changes in the Asian water tower, ecosystems and biodiversity, changes in human activities, and geodynamic surveys.

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Meteorological support is essential for scientific expedition to Mount Everest

High altitude areas are prone to changeable weather, with complex weather systems and frequent extreme weather events. Therefore, meteorological support is extremely important for conducting comprehensive scientific research at extremely high altitudes in the Everest region.

▲The "Peak Mission" Everest Scientific Expedition Base Camp is built at the foot of Mount Everest at an altitude of 5,200 meters. The picture shows a bird's-eye view of the base camp (Photo source: "The Third Largest Base Camp" WeChat official account)

In order to ensure the smooth completion of various scientific expedition tasks on Mount Everest and the safe ascent of the summit by the team members, the meteorological support mechanism was launched for the expedition. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Meteorological Science Academy, the Tibet Autonomous Region Meteorological Bureau and other units jointly carried out meteorological support work. They set up high-altitude detection equipment, debugged instruments, inflated balloons, released balloons, collected high-altitude data, and produced and released special service reports... After arriving at the Mount Everest Base Camp, the meteorological support service team "listened to the wind and watched the sky" according to the support service plan.

▲Scientific expedition team members release high-altitude radio sounding balloons (Photo source: "Third Maximum Base Camp" WeChat public account)

For example, the timing of climbing to the summit depends on the weather conditions in the extremely high altitude areas of Mount Everest. If the wind is particularly strong, it is easy to get into danger. According to Ma Weiqiang, director of the Mount Everest Station of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the recent temperature at the summit of Mount Everest is basically around -25℃, and the wind speed is equivalent to about level 7. "Comprehensively judging that the atmospheric circulation in the Mount Everest area is relatively stable recently, the wind speed and temperature at the summit of Mount Everest are suitable for climbing."

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Mount Everest is sparsely visited by people, so why do we need to conduct scientific research here?

Experts explained that humans live in an interconnected and influential earth ecosystem. Although Mount Everest seems far away from us, it is actually closely related to us. Climate and environmental changes are changes in the entire earth ecosystem, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of the regions that responds most strongly to this change. The background of the second Qinghai-Tibet scientific expedition is the rapidly changing global ecological environment, and the deep meaning of exploring the third pole is to understand the relationship between man and nature.

The roof of the world, the water tower of Asia, the third pole of the earth... The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is an important ecological security barrier and strategic resource reserve base in my country, and an important place to protect the unique culture of the Chinese nation. Carrying out scientific research in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, revealing the mechanism of environmental change in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and optimizing the ecological security barrier system will have a very important impact on promoting the sustainable development of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, advancing the construction of national ecological civilization, and promoting global ecological environmental protection.

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(The content of this article is compiled from CCTV News, China Meteorological Bureau, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, Guangming Online, etc.)

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