A new permanent multi-parameter monitoring network in Central Asian high mountains – from measurements to data bases

Abstract

Long-term monitoring of water resources and climate parameters at the scale of river basins requires networks of continuously operated in-situ stations. Since 2009, GFZ and CAIAG, in cooperation with the National Hydrometeorological Services (NHMS), are establishing such a regional monitoring network in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan) which is collecting observations of meteorological and hydrological parameters and delivering them to the end-users. The network design focuses mainly on the higher elevations where the recent decline of monitoring stations and networks established in Soviet times was strongest, and the resulting observational gap hinders research on climate and hydrological change as well as operational tasks in water management such as the seasonal runoff forecast. <br><br> The newly developed and installed Remotely Operated Multi-Parameter Stations (ROMPS) do not only monitor standard meteorological and hydrological parameters, but also deliver GPS data for atmospheric sounding as well as tectonic studies. The observational data from the ROMPS is transmitted at least once a day to a centralized geo-database infrastructure for long-term storage and data redistribution. Users can access the data manually using a web-interface or automatically using SOS requests; in addition, data is distributed to the NHMS through standard communication and data exchange channels

Estimating the spatial distribution of snow water equivalent in the world's mountains

“…Across parts of Europe and north‐central Asia, networks of weather stations measure both precipitation and snow depth. While automated measurement of snowfall remains the subject of research, test, and evaluation, many sites observe snow depth with sensors and thus have to model or manually measure snow density to arrive at point estimates of SWE …”

The 2015 Mw7.2 Sarez Strike‐Slip Earthquake in the Pamir Interior: Response to the Underthrusting of India's Western Promontory

“…Only 13 GPS markers in the Pamir region are equipped with continuously operating instruments, and they are mostly located along the active northern rim (Mohadjer et al, ; Schöne et al, ; Zubovich et al, ). In this study, we used the data of eight GPS stations at distances from 100 to 500 km of the epicenter (Figure a).…”

Tectonic interaction between the Pamir and Tien Shan observed by GPS

“…While ALA1 and ALA3 send the data directly to the main station, ALA2 is routing the data through ALA1, using it as a bridge (Figure b). Being the master station, ALAI is built as consistent as possible with the Remotely Operated Monitoring Station concept [ Schöne et al , ]. It transfers the data of all four stations to our processing center via the satellite system VSAT.…”

“…ALAI is also equipped with a low‐bandwidth satellite system link (Iridium) that is used for information reception and station management during VSAT outages. The ALAI GPS data are sampled at 1 Hz in accordance to Schöne et al [].…”