On July 4, 2014, a joint meeting was held in Beijing by TPE working-group on glacial mass balance and that on precipitation.

The joint meeting first witnessed the summaries by Prof. YAO Tandong and Daqing Yang on, respectively, progresses in the glacial mass balance study in the Third Pole, and updates of the TPE precipitation working-group. Members in each working group then presented their research achievement in the past two years. According to their work reports, observation network of temperature, precipitation and water stable isotopes has been established in extremely high elevations. Partition of Tibetan Plateau precipitation types has witnessed milestone progress. Progress has also been made in utilizing remote sensed precipitation products. Glacial mass balance working group also introduced their continuous study in glaciated regions over the southeastern Tibet, central Tibet, the Qiangtang Plateau and the southern slope of Himalayas in Nepal.

Invited talks include one by Prof. Samuel Shen of State Universtity of San Diego on the latest understanding of precipitation remote sensing product, and one by Prof. Yongwei Sheng of UCLA on possible contribution of Tibetan Plateau glacial changes to lakes’ variation.

The final discussion among participants arrived at four research foci in the future: 1) standardization of field observation and quality control of ground data, 2) establishment and improvement of the TPE database, 3) potential application of arithmetical approaches in integrating multi-sourced data, and 4) a closer collaboration to realize regional hydrology and glacial mass balance coupling.