China begins observation experiment on land-atmosphere interactions in Mt Everest region

Beijing: China has begun an observation experiment on land-atmosphere interactions in the Mount Everest Region in Tibet to study the interaction between the land surface and the atmosphere, a crucial component of ecological and climate systems.

A research team from the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences will conduct the observational experiment using unmanned aerial platforms at a site on the northern side of Mount Everest, called Qomolangma in Tibet, situated at an average altitude of approximately 4,200 metres (15,960 feet).

“In the Mount Qomolangma region, land-atmosphere interactions not only affect the climate of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and its surrounding areas but also have the potential to influence the global climate through complex climate feedback mechanisms and atmospheric circulation,” said Jia Li, a researcher at the Institute.

Studying the Tibetan Plateau becomes imperative given the exponentially changing climatic conditions leading to faster melting glaciers and snow.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a regional intergovernmental organisation, brought out the Summary of the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment Report in 2019 which stated there is ample evidence for elevation-dependent warming (EDW) in the HKH, especially in the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding regions.

In 2023, ICIMOD also pointed out that 79 glaciers surrounding Everest have thinned by over 100 metres in just six decades, and the thinning rate has nearly doubled since 2009.

The state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday that the researchers from the Aerospace Information Research Institute will collect spatial distribution data on, among other things, the radiation flux between the land surface and the atmosphere in the Tibetan Plateau.

They will also integrate ground-station and remote-sensing satellite data to conduct multi-temporal and multi-spatial comprehensive observations, the report said.

However, this is not the first time that China has sent out a research team to the roof of the world. The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research carried out a ground-penetrating radar survey of snow depth along the north slope of Mount Everest in May 2022.