The 5th CAS-NASA Workshop on Earth Observation for Glacier Changes in High Mountain Asia was conducted in Chengdu, southwest of China from 15th to 18th May, 2018. The four-day event was sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States (NASA), and was organized by CAS Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI), and NASA Earth Science Division.
The workshop brought together over 60 participants specializing in ice, snow and earth observation fields. Experts are from relevant CAS institutes and Chinese universities, US laboratories and universities including Northwest Pacific National Laboratory, Washington University, University of California, NASA Goddard Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
In 2013, CAS and NASA reached an agreement that both sides will jointly use Earth observation technologies for studying glacial changes and associated hazards in the High Mountain Asia area. These research efforts are led by RADI, together with the NASA Earth Science Division. So far, four workshops have been successfully organized in Nepal, the United States, and China from 2015 to 2017.
The 5th workshop featured theme discussion on the topics of ice and snow process research, model analysis, downstream effects, data verification and applications, with a focus on how to acquire the research data in the region and to establish the Glacier Melt Toolbox (GMELT) platform. The workshop primarily focused on further identifying scientific issues such as snow cover changes and downstream response. The discussion included cross validation of the model, its contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and identifying priorities for future research.
The workshop also focused on the transition of GMELT, as a set of software tools for glacier monitoring, into a platform for scientific modeling and data sharing, with an aim to assist decision-making for sustainable development in the area. It was decided that efforts will be made to boost research data sharing through improving data set description document and increasing the openness of the GMELT platform.
The sixth CAS-NASA workshop is scheduled to be held in the United States in 2019.
Group photo of the 5th CAS-NASA Workshop on Earth Observation for Glacier Changes in High Mountain Asia.
