The Himalayan-Karakoram Mountain chain is an important dam between the Indian ocean basin and the highland of Tibet. The powerful monsoon and the strong high pressure field called "Tibetan high" are determining climatic effects which highlight the mechanism of transportation and fall-out of pollutants transported at high altitude. Furthermore, the continual growth of the highest mountains of the word creates an intense geo-dynamic effect, causing in turn a growing interest in monitoring the seismic activity both for the scientific aspects of the movement of the Earth's surface and for the need to control the event of natural disasters.
In addition, GPS technology will support extremely precise land measurements, both for geodetic need and for the monitoring of the movement of unstable land, such as in the regular flow of glaciers but also in the case of landslides, which occur often in young, steep mountains.
ABC-Pyramid ABC Pyramid has been officially included as a Complimentary Site in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Project Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABC). Data collection is regularly supervised by the Pyramid Laboratory, which transmits the information in real time to the CNR Institute for Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (Isac) in Italy by the means of a satellite system. Isac, in his turn, publishes the data in the “Real time� section of the website shown in the border, for the benefit of researchers, scientists and general public that can consult them free. On March 28, 2006 CIMEL sensor tests began at the Pyramid Laboratory. CIMEL is a sunphotometer that provide a characterization of the optical and microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosols. High aerosol concentrations reduce water cloud’s ability to dissipate by turning into rain. This sensor is part of AERONET, the NASA Aerosol Robotic Network, an international network composed of more than a hundred of sunphotometers that covers a big part of Earth.
 
The station collects data on the atmospheric composition of the skies over the Himalaya and the Central Asia, providing essential information regarding the circulation of pollutants and aerosols.» read more
SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY INTERESTÂ
Considering these premises, the interest that an environmental-climatic monitoring network may create among our researchers in different fields is evident. A network of stations may also operate under an active co-operation with the local scientific reality, creating a wide scientific scenery with also interesting developments in prospective of international scientific co-operation between western countries and developing countries of the region.
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BACKGROUND
The idea for the SHARE-Asia project grew out of our expertise in high altitude and remote area investigations: the Ev-K2-CNR Project. The scientific committee which co-ordinates this Project in fact established the Pyramid Laboratory-Observatory, the key-installation for these studies at 5050 m. asl at the foot of Mount Everest. During its 12 years of activity Italian and international researchers have since understood the importance of expanding monitoring activities and increasing the potential of a system from a single point into a Network. A local climatic monitoring network, the Pyramid Meteorologic Network, has thus been established. The same philosophy is now driving the interest of the international scientific community to establish a monitoring network across the highest mountains of the world.
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MONITORING NETWORK
The carrying out of the monitoring network will go through three phases of development. In the first step of activity, SHARE-Asia will install and operate a network of 10 automatic stations in countries between Pakistan and Bhutan, at altitudes between 2500 and 5000 m. Each monitoring site will be provided of an advanced and automatic system for the management and transmission of data.
Sites will be equipped for surveys on:
In the second step of activity, staff will be employed for the carrying out of sampling and local tests. Each station will be provided of a laboratory for chemical analysis, and for analysis on water, snow and ice samples, to be carried out on the spot. This phase allows the retrieval of particularly focused data on high altitude lakes, waters and glaciers.
Assessment of their intrinsic characteristics and sampling of pollutant traces in waters as well as climatic studies, will be carried out.
The third step of activity represents an evolution of the system, in all its potentialities: Acquisition of standard parameters for the retrieval of specific data (i.e. in line with international environmental programmes requirements); Carrying out of systematic research campaigns in sectors such as limnology, glaciology, and geology; Enhancement of technology transfer which, in this phase, includes all automatic monitoring activities, local analysis and territorial investigations, and which will be carried out in close collaboration with local scientific bodies.
Acquisition of products will be made available for international research programmes, in sectors such as high altitude and remote environments.
