October, 2012, Sino-Pakistan cooperation continued by jointly conducting a field expedition to the North Pakistan. Participants from the Chinese side were headed by Profs. ZHANG Yinsheng and WU Guangjian, and those from the Pakistani side were headed by Dr. Rahmatullha Jilani of SUPARCO.

To download the automatic weather station (AWS) data is one of the major tasks of this joint expedition, and has been completed smoothly at the glacial moraine of Rama Glacier near Astore. Expedition crew also fixed those AWSs to ensure normal operation in the coming year, added more apparatus such as ultrasonic snow depth meter and automatic total rain gauge at the site, and placed some water level indicators in River Astore at the lower reach of Glacier Rama. River water was sampled from River Hunza, Gilgit, Astore and Indus, and passive air sampling since 2011 for the POPs study was also collected from Gilgit.

During the field expedition, scientific staff from both countries was also shown around the Mountain Agricultural Research Center (MARC) in the northern Pakistan, where Mr. Shafiullah, head of the center, briefed on research content and routine operation of its station at Juglote. Automatic total rain gauges were then configured at the Juglote and Skardu stations, and research staff at both stations was trained to maintain the normal operation of the equipment.

The joint expedition is within the framework of Sino-Pakistan cooperation under the Third Pole Environment program. Expedition crew from both sides later all expressed willingness to further promote the bilateral cooperation in the future.