Micro-meteorological -cum-glacial mass balance observation station was set up in late May, 2009, on the No.4 Parlung Glacier (4800 m of elevation), SE Tibetan Plateau, for observation and research of interactions between marine glaciers and atmosphere. This is the first time for such apparatus to be configured on glaciers in China, and would help collect such data as basic meteorological parameters, atmospheric turbulence flux, energy balance, glacial surface variation, hydrological monitoring and glacial surface physics.

Acquisition of these data will largely enrich our understanding of land-air interaction on glaciers and glacial surface physical features. It will be conducive in understanding turbulence of stable atmospheric boundary layers, as well as the energy balance of glaciers from the perspective of atmospheric physics.