This project addresses the need for reliable in-situ data in Bhutan’s remote high mountain regions by deploying cutting-edge technologies and ensuring sustainable long-term monitoring.
Bhutan’s high mountain regions face numerous challenges due to changes in the cryosphere caused by rapid and ongoing climate change. To better understand these changes and their impacts, in-situ observations are crucial, particularly in these remote and topographically complex high-mountain areas. However, continuous, high-altitude in-situ meteorological observations in these areas are limited, hindering robust analysis of cryospheric change and validation of satellite or modelled data. This project replaced and upgraded the automatic weather station near Thana Glacier (5,200 m), one of Bhutan’s benchmark monitoring sites, adding new radiation and wind sensors plus near real-time satellite data transmission.
Key Activities & Outputs
The additional funding provided to this project by the MRI GEO Mountains Small Grant allowed for:
- An enhanced automatic weather station with additional sensors and satellite data transmission, deployed at an altitude of about 5,200 meters above sea level, near the Thana Glacier.
- Hands-on training for local collaborators on maintaining and repairing the weather station in order to ensure sustainability of the weather station beyond the project duration.
- A dataset comprising measurements of key meteorological parameters, including temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, radiation at a 30-minute time resolution and snow water equivalent at a hourly resolution.
Contact
Rebecca Gugerli, Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss: rebecca.gugerli [at] meteoswiss.ch
Supported by GEO Mountains under the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Adaptation at Altitude Programme (Project Number: 7F-10208.02.01).
This GEO Mountains Small Grant was embedded in the SNSF-funded project CRYO-SPIRIT.