By TANG Zhexiao

A Chinese scientific expedition team established an automatic meteorological monitoring station on Mount Qomolangma at an altitude of 8,800 meters after reaching its summit on May 4, making it the world's highest station of its kind.

▲ Chinese scientific researchers reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma on May 4 and established an automatic meteorological monitoring station on it. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

Yao Tandong, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and team leader, said that including the new station, eight elevation gradient meteorological stations have now been set up on Mount Qomolangma from 5,200 to 8,830 meters above sea level, forming a unique observational network that provides critical data for climate research and mountaineering safety.

Zhao Huabiao, researcher at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under CAS, noted that this vertical meteorological observation system is vital for monitoring high-altitude glacier and snowmelt dynamics, enhancing understanding of regional and global climate change.

At the summit, the team conducted the first high-precision radar measurement of ice and snow thickness and collected samples for laboratory analysis, marking a major advancement in glaciological research on the world’s highest peak.

This expedition, part of the second Qinghai-Tibet Plateau scientific survey, represents China’s first comprehensive scientific research mission above 8,000 meters on Mount Qomolangma. Prior to this, most studies were conducted below 6,000 meters, leaving a significant gap in environmental data above 8,000 meters.

Over 270 researchers from five teams and sixteen groups participated in the summit mission, underscoring the scale and importance of the project.

"The new understandings and breakthroughs we have achieved by conducting the comprehensive scientific expedition on the summit of Mount Qomolangma for the first time are our contributions to science, our people, our country and the whole world," said Yao.

Editor | SONG Ziyan

Supervisor | TIAN Xueke