China sets up world's highest weather station on Qomolangma

(ECNS) -- Chinese researchers have installed the world's highest automatic weather station on Qomolangma at an altitude of 8,830 meters above sea level after a 13-member team reached the summit of the mountain on Wednesday.

This is the first time that Chinese scientists have reached an altitude of over 8,000 meters above the sea level, which is a significant milestone on the history of the scientific investigation and research on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The establishment of such an observation station is very essential to monitor the changes of glaciers and mountain snow at an extremely high altitude, said Zhao Huabiao, a research fellow with the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Chinese researchers also measured the thickness of the ice and snow on the top of the mountain on the same day by using high-precision radars.

The Chinese team will carry out an array of scientific studies as planned.