The picture shows observers looking at the monitoring equipment, and there are about seven or eight hydrometeorological monitoring points on the Namtso Lake Line. Photo by Zhao Lang
Lhasa, February 9 (China News Network) -- Turning over the Nagon La Pass at an altitude of 5,190 meters, the snow is vast as far as the eye can see, like an illusion of ice and snow, and Namtso, one of the three "holy lakes" in Tibet, has also changed its blue appearance.
After slowly driving through the snow road and arriving at Namtso Township, the reporter of the China News Agency met two observers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Namtso Multi-Circle Comprehensive Observation and Research Station (Tibet Namtso Alpine Lakes and Environment National Field Science Observation and Research Station, referred to as Namtso Station).
The picture shows Dorje viewing the instrument. Photo by Zhao Lang
In recent days, it has received unprecedented snowfall in recent years. The snow on the way to the observatory was so deep that it would have been difficult to find the way had it not been pushed the previous day.
The two observers were from Namtso Township, Dangxiong County, Lhasa, named Dorje and Tashi Phuntsok. When they reached the sign at Namtso Station, it was difficult to advance again, and the snow was nearly half a meter thick. Dorje said: "Look at the station very close to us, the last time I climbed and took away, half a day to come out." Now, due to the thick snow and inconvenient transportation, it is difficult to guarantee the materials on the station, unlike in previous years, when people took turns on duty every day. ”
After measuring the snow depth, they continued to the next monitoring point. Due to the snow, the usual half-hour journey was more than two hours.
Dorje introduced that the monitoring point has installed an ultrasonic water level meter and a weather station, which mainly monitors temperature, humidity, water depth, wind speed, wind direction, etc. The patrol was mainly based on the proper functioning of these facilities. He also said that around Namtso Lake and in the center of the lake, there are about seven or eight hydro-meteorological monitoring points.
The only local observers at Namtso station are Dorje and Tashi Phuntsok, who patrol the equipment, download data, collect water samples, snow samples, and so on.
Dorje said that the station was built in July 2005, and a month before the station was built, I became a translator for the scientific expedition. At first, Dorje intermittently did translation, but also helped with guides, back equipment, and equipment, and the following year's contact monitoring work. Until 2013, Dorje had a long-term contract status, which inevitably had a love for scientific expeditions.
At first, these were only jobs for Dorje, and it took him a long time to truly understand the importance of scientific research, and to understand the significance of Tibet's ecological environment to China and even the world.
In 2008, Dorje followed the expedition team members on namtso Lake, the newly purchased boat did not estimate the fuel consumption, before returning to run out of oil, the boat floated on the lake for a day and a night. We can only wait for the other staff on the station to go to Lasara to get another small research vessel, and then assemble it to carry out rescue on the lake, which is a long process.
"Fortunately, there was no wind, and my parents watched the dry by the lake, and later scolded me and said that if I went to the lake again, I would not let me do it." In fact, many scientific expedition personnel have experienced this situation. ”
The picture shows the observer checking whether the instrument is working properly. Photo by Zhao Lang
Dorje also said: "The glacier expedition is particularly hard, and I, a local, will also have altitude sickness when I climb to an altitude of more than 5,000 meters." It is common to hike for a day or two from the place where you get off the bus to the end of the glacier, carrying dry food, you can't even eat a steamed bun a day, you only feel tired and sleepy, and the water you bring is not enough to drink, and when you are thirsty, you will eat snow while hiking. These have all been experienced by the expedition team. ”
Once, Dorje led a team of students from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to the glacier. At 12 o'clock in the evening, I went down the mountain, walked to the middle of the way, suddenly found that there was one less person, and everyone returned to look for fruitless results and could only go down the mountain first, when it was almost dawn. It just so happened that the lost people met at the parking lot.
"I asked what was going on, and he said that he had been walking along the mountain with the headlights, and when he reached the top of the mountain, he found that it was the moon. The expedition was really hard, and some students couldn't walk and cried when they were tired. ”
The picture shows Tashi Phuntsok inspection instrument. Photo by Zhao Lang
He confessed that he experienced the same hardships and loneliness as other scientific expedition personnel, and also felt their love for this plateau and their cherishing of the ecological environment.
Namtso Station is an important base for the second Qinghai-Tibet scientific expedition, and in 2021 it will become a national field scientific observation and research station in China, the object of observation and research is not only Namcuo Lake, but also the many glaciers, lakes, rivers, atmospheres, etc. of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, dorje and Tashi Phuntsok's work is only a small part of the scientific expedition, but these make them feel extremely proud. (End)