Under the auspices of the National 973 Project entitled “Study of Tibetan plateau climate changes, their mechanisms and influences on the East Asian region”, ITP Prof. TIAN Lide led a 9-member expedition team to the central and northern parts of the Tibetan Plateau for hydrological investigation and monitoring, departing from Lhasa on May 9, 2011.

The expedition team tripped along Nagqu river catchment and arrived at Amdo and Bange in the northern Plateau. They inspected lakes en route, including the Cona Lake, Daru Lake, Bamu Lake and Pengco Lake. The first three of these lakes were also subjected to sampling along two profiles, the vertical and the horizontal ones; While all those four lakes were measured for their lake levels using Starfire Differential GPS. Those data will facilitate in further understanding lake hydrology and water cycle in the region.

 

Precipitation, river and ground water samples were also collected along the Nagqu river catchment for water stable isotope analysis. Besides, precipitation sampling project was planned for the Naco Lake region for the future years, with a rain gauge and some sampling facilities set up by the lake.

What’s more important to this expedition was the acquisition of water level and temperature data on the Nagqu Hydrological Station for the past one and half years, as they will contribute to the study of water resources variation in the region and related water cycle.

The expedition not only harvested with water samples and river hydrological data, but also added up to current program with more observation items and contents, thus preparing well for the upcoming hydrological and atmospheric experiment in the region.