The National Geographic Society will set up automatic weather stations on Mount Everest as part of its multi-year, partnered initiative to increase understanding of extreme environmental conditions, the media reported on Friday.
According to Nepal government officials involved in issuingpermits for the scientific research, NatGeo has been permitted to install fiveautomatic weather stations at different elevations along the climbing route andon the “roof of the world”, reports The Himalayan Times.
It has also been issued permits for on-site meteorologicalexperiments.
Bishnu Prasad Shrestha, Under-Secretary at the Department ofNational Parks and Wildlife Conservation, said the NatGeo team had already leftfor the Everest expedition to carry out research on weather, atmosphericconditions and changing climate by placing weather stations in the highaltitude areas to gather data for the improvement of large-scale climate andweather models.
“As per their plan, satellite-link technology willshare near-real-time information about conditions on the mountain withscientists, regional managers and climbers,” he added.
According to NatGeo’s research plan seen by this daily, itis going to carry out a broad scientific assessment of – and expedition to – MtEverest and the Solukhumbu region, working closely with Nepali partners.
The expedition will collect samples for scientific researchon current and historical climate patterns. It will use remotely sensed imagesto improve mapping of the glacial extent to better understand changingenvironmental conditions.
To understand the complexities of a high-mountainenvironment, the team will collect ice core, surface snow and water samples atregular intervals along the climbing route and at or near the summit.
NatGeo has also partnered with the Department of Geology andthe Department of Botany of Tribhuvan University to study the aspects ofextremophiles and biology, Prof Bhupa Prasad Dhamala, executive director at thevarsity’s Centre for International Relations, said.
“Examination of rock, lake sediment, snow, firn, and ice samples for biological evidence, including eDNA, will add to understanding of the range of life that can survive in extreme environments.”