At 2:00 a.m. on October 21, geoatmosphere interaction and its climate effect research team of the second Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau scientific expedition launched the first sounding balloon of this three-dimensional integrated observation experiment in Southeast Tibet alpine environmental integrated observation research station. 15 scientific research staff harnessed automatic meteorological stations, boundary layer tower, sounding balloon, drones, microwave radiometer and other instruments to acquire observation data like temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind direction and wind speed from the surface to 30 kilometers in the atmosphere, in a bid to depict vertical profiling line of the atmosphere in southeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. 

 

The obtained data will provide reference for the study into hydro-thermal change and its effects on neighboring weather and climate in southeastern Tibet. They will also provide key scientific basis for revealing the formation mechanism and change trend of Water Tower of Asia.

 

 

Team members harnessed drones to conduct sounding observation. The computer can detect meteorological factors like atmospheric temperature, relative humidity or air pressure on a real-time basis Photoed by Gu Xingyue

 

Scientific expedition team members are conducting radiosonde observation Photoed by Gu Xingyue

This experiment lasts 5 days. The expedition team carried out 4 radiosonde observations and 7 drone observations each day. The three-dimensional integrated intensive observation experiment was conducted in 7 sites like Himalayas, Naqu, Dunhuang, and so on within the same period of time.

For a long time, observation data in special geographic regions like Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are deficient, which restricted the systemic understanding of geoatmosphere interaction of the Plateau.

This team carried out synchronic consecutive networking observation of myriad-layer ground-atmospheric interactions in complex underlying surface, combine Fengyun satellite data, numerical weather model, statistical analysis, and diagnosis analysis, and obtains high temporal and resolution geoatmosphere interaction data. Based on these, the team elucidated the innate mechanism of Water vapor transport and heat transfer of the Plateau, and the change rule of geoatmosphere interaction process and its climate effect in Westerly-Monsoon Region. (Oct. 31)

 

 

Scientific expedition team members are pumping the sounding balloon Photoed by Gu Xingyue

Reporter: Gu Xingyue

Editor: Liu Shuqiao