I. About the station
The Nam Co Station for Multisphere Observation and Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Nam Co Station, 30°46.44'N, 90°59.31'E, and 4,730 m a.s.l) is located on the southeast bank of Nam Co Lake in Nam Co Township, Dangxiong County, Tibet Autonomous Region. The area is backed by Nyainqêntanglha Mountains and covered by alpine meadows, which belongs to the typical semi-arid plateau monsoon climate zone.
The Nam Co station
At present, there are 10 researchers (including two permanent researchers), one administrative staff and five outsourced staff. At the same time, there are about 10 postdoctoral, doctoral and master students participating in scientific research work of the station. Since its establishment, the station has applied 49 scientific research projects, and published a total of 117 journal papers (including 63 SCI papers), as well as two monographs, Seed Plants in Nam Co Basin, Tibet and Modern Environmental Processes and Changes in Nam Co Basin.
II. Research objectives
The Tibetan Plateau is one of the crucial areas for the global change study, boasting unique and advantageous characteristics that make it an ideal location for research on this topic (e.g., its impact on adjacent areas, diverse natural geographic zones, and media for environmental records). However, there is currently a dearth of systematic quality observational data across a long span. The establishment of an integrated station in the representative Nam Co Basin for comprehensive scientific monitoring and research holds immense and far-reaching significance. This will yield valuable information for climate, hydrology, and ecological environment research not only in neighboring areas but also globally. Through long-term located observations of the atmosphere, glaciers, lakes, permafrost, vegetation, etc., and centering on the general objective of "the coupling relationship between glaciers, lakes, atmosphere and vegetation", the following scientific objectives are achieved:
① The interconnectedness between the glacier and lake, as well as their responses to global changes;
②Understand the modern process in various environmental records (ice cores, sediment cores, etc.), such as establish quantitative relationships between various media record proxies and environmental factors;
③Establish mass and energy transfer and exchange processes interfaces between ice/air, water/air, and lane/air;
④Understand the responses of vegetation to global change;
⑤Understand the basic characteristics of atmospheric background and flux.
Ground-based radiation observation and atmospheric sounding measurements
Chemical monitoring of atmosphere and observation sections of river hydrology
Ice regime observation of lake and glacier observation
Greenhouse gas flux observation and lake monitoring system
Atmospheric boundary layer meteorological observation tower, automatic meteorological station, and on-line monitoring of atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5)
IV. Contact information
Academic director: Zhu Liping
Station director: Wang Junbo (010-84097055, wangjb@itpcas.ac.cn)
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