Innovation

Chinese meteorologists set world record for height of atmospheric observations

Chinese meteorologists set a new world record on the altitude of atmospheric observations in Tibet on Sunday with the help of the independently developed Chinese airship "Jimu-1" - 9 032 meters above sea level, Xinhua reported.
The aircraft, which is a tethered balloon, was designed by the Institute of Aerospace Information of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to monitor the atmospheric environment. It is 55 m long and 19 m high. Its volume is 9,060 cubic meters.
"Jimu-1" took off from a launchpad near Jomolungma Station at 4,270 meters above sea level and rose to a record height of 9,032 meters in 3 hours and 40 minutes.
Scientific instruments aboard allow observation of water vapor transport processes as well as atmospheric composition in layers above 9,000 meters above sea level, said Gao Jing, a senior researcher at the Qinghai-Tibetan Highlands Research Institute.
The atmospheric observations are part of China's second Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Research Expedition. Sixty-four researchers from several research institutes participated in the project.
The blimp can be used to obtain key scientific data on the origin of water resources on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

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