The new station replaces the Balcony Station set up by American and British scientists as the highest weather station in the world
Representative photo of Mount Everest. AFP
A team of Chinese scientists has set up the world’s highest weather station on Mount Everest, or Qomolangma, at an altitude of 8,830 metres above sea level.
The team successfully tested the automatic station by conducting a transmission to show that the system is working.
According to CGTN, China now has seven such stations, including three on the north side of the mountain, between 5,200 metres and 8,300 metres.
The highest weather station in the world
According to the South China Morning Post, the weather station will be the first to use high-precision radar to measure the thickness of snow and ice on the peak on the China-Nepal border.
The report said that the new station replaces the Balcony Station, set up by American and British scientists in 2019. It was the highest weather station on Earth, sitting at about 8,430 metres above sea level, till now.
Powered by solar panels, the station is designed to last for two years under harsh weather conditions and is equipped with a satellite communications system for data transmission, CGTN reported.
According to Xinhua, the radio station has been coded to transmit every 12 minutes.
Twelve members of the expedition titled “Earth Summit Mission 2022” carried scientific research equipment from the temporary camp at an altitude of 8,300 metres at 3am on Wednesday and started the final-stage “summit moment”. The team established the station shortly before 1pm.
The team is composed of staff members from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, and the Meteorological Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region, etc.
Five scientific research teams, 16 scientific research groups and more than 270 researchers are taking part in the project, according to state broadcaster CCTV, which said the scientists would conduct research across a broad range of areas using advanced instruments and equipment.
According to reports, The station will obtain data from the surrounding area, filling the gap in the meteorological record of the world’s “third pole.”
After setting up the station, the scientific team also conducted observation and sampling missions.
The expedition is also conducting studies to detect the thickness of ice and snow at the summit. The team has collected snow ice and rock samples at the altitudes of 5,800 meters and 8,300 meters.
The expedition also aims to find the pattern of climate change and study the variation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the extremely high altitudes of Mount Everest.
With inputs from agencies
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