Tibetannet

A buoy system was set up to monitor the lake environment in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Photo provided by the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have set up a large-scale buoy system to monitor the lake environment in Nam Co, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, according to its developer Tuesday.

Lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are mostly distributed in sparsely populated areas with high altitudes and harsh climates, making it hard to obtain long-term observation data.

Researchers from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a large-scale buoy monitoring platform to keep a close look on the lake.

The buoy platform is made of anti-corrosion materials and is equipped with an integrated data collector and wireless signal controller. It carries a range of monitoring equipment including a multiparameter water quality detector and an acoustic doppler current profiler.

The system can continuously monitor the temperature, pH levels and chlorophyll content of the water, as well as the lake surface temperature, air humidity and wind speed. It can automatically transfer the acquired data to the Beijing data center through the 4G signal communication module.

The system offers informatization measures for lake monitoring, helping researchers get a better understanding of the physical and chemical conditions of the lakes in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to the institute.