Ceci n'est pas une pipe

They made it. From today the new weather sensor will send hourly information valuable to scientific research centers in the world. An all-Italian project well sailed by a team of trained and stubborn.

I assisted in the tests to confirm the correct transmission of data collected from the new weather station on South Col at 8000 meters above sea level: difficult to describe the explosion of joy of the crew, a choir of thunderous applause and shouts that he joined the staff that ideally work here in Italy with members of the expedition that found on the slopes of Everest. Now it made the transmission of live images, and this time there is a small part of the work for me. Cross your fingers!

Here's the press release announcing the extraordinary event:

Press release

No. 008, May 15, 2008

Lobuche, Nepal - It 'a memorable date for today's science and mountaineering Italians. In the midst of a violent storm, the climbers Italian Silvio Mondinelli, Michele Enzio and Marco Confortola have installed a weather station at South Col, at 8,000 meters altitude without using oxygen. The station - by far the highest in the world - is sending a few minutes, from the top of Mount Everest, unique and valuable data on the global atmosphere. An exceptional enterprise, conducted under the scientific-mountaineering expedition SHARE Everest 2008, led by Agostino Da Polenza, expedition leader and President of EvK2Cnr.

The operation ended a few minutes ago on the Nepalese side of Everest Everest 2008 team Share is unprecedented. A South Col, at 8,000 meters, has installed a weather monitoring station that broadcasts regularly, hourly weather data critical to study climate change.

"I am extremely proud of this new success - says Agostino Da Polenza - Gnaro, Mark and Michael have managed in a single company: install without the aid of an oxygen-climate weather station at the highest point reached today with this type of instrumentation . It did so in very critical conditions, with strong winds and freezing temperatures. "

"This station - From Polenza continues - it will be inserted in the SHARE network of environmental monitoring, providing unique data and unique because of the height at which detected and will come to fill an important part in major international monitoring projects promoted by UNEP and World Meteorological Organization. "

The first paragraph ametri detected at 16 hours room during the first automatic connection, are found at: -17 ° outside temperature, humidity 41.3 mbar, 382.1 mbar pressure, wind direction 262.8, 12.8 meters according to wind intensity, solar radiation 711.9 watts per meter square, less than 8.7 degrees internal temperature station, ultraviolet channel A 30.4 watts per square meter.

"It 's the first time in history that the pressure at 8000 meters above sea level is detected by a fixed station on the ground and not from a balloon," says Giampietro proud Cabbage, technical manager of the monitoring stations EvK2Cnr who led step by step the climbers in the activation of data transmission from the station.

The SHARE Everest 2008 team is playing tonight at three o'clock, local time, from the tents of Camp 2 (6,400 meters). After 8 hours of climbing alpinists have come to South Col, 8000 m altitude, with the & rsquo; the weather station equipment carried by them and by some Sherpas. The first to arrive was Mondinelli, which identified the best location for the installation and started to work despite the storm at 50 mph that hampered the movements and breathing. Shortly after it has reached Michele Enzio and Marco Confortola finally with the remaining part of the materials, transported by some Sherpa.

In an hour and a half, Mondinelli and his comrades mounted equipment, working always to eight thousand meters of altitude without oxygen.
"It 's been hard but we made it - he said Mondinelli -. We transport frozen, but we put the station at South Col, at 8 thousand meters of altitude, in about an hour and a half. The storm has put us in trouble but we did well to hold on. Despite the wind and the cold we were able to complete the work and to send the first data to the Pyramid. It & rs quo; a great satisfaction. "

Mondinelli and company have done something truly memorable, calculating the weight they had to bring up there. "The station weighs about 50 pounds - explains Gian Pietro Cabbage, and who coordinated the installation of Pyramid Observatory Laboratory -. The mountaineers have brought to the South Col with all electronics spare available to address any problems. They quickly mounted the mechanical part, on which were shod now after training in recent days. And then I have driven in the activation of the transmission of data in continuous mode ".

"From South Col - Cabbage continues - there is a radio link to a dozen kilometers up to Kala Patthar. The data that is traveling at an altitude of 8000 meters to 5600 meters. From there they are transmitted by radio to the ABC shelter pyramid and the pyramid to a dedicated computer that downloads data every hour. The server picks them up the pyramid from the disk of this computer and transfers them in Italy.

"Station Hill South - explains Bonasoni, project leader Abc Pyramid - represents a technological challenge and climbing all about and is an exceptional point of meteorological observation can provide an important reference for meteorology, the only 8000 meters, SHARE network that integrates into the Khumbu Valley, contributing to the study of the phenomena of atmospheric circulation, exchange of air masses between the stratosphere and troposphere, temperature gradient ".

"The station also - continues Bonasoni - will also provide valuable information on mountaineering expeditions, integrating weather forecasts already supplied by the Meteorological Forecasting Division - Department of Hydrology and Meteoro logy (DHM) that the Nepalese Government provides subsidies and mountaineering expeditions in the Himalayas ".

The complex equipment which is the monitoring station of South Hill was built by the Italian-Lastem LSI, and is able to sample and acquire data related to environmental temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, radiation sun and rain. It is a fine precision machinery, able to withstand the icy cold and the pressures of the eight thousand meters of altitude.

"To ensure the operation of the station during the long winter months - explains Cabbage - we thought of three independent fuel systems and connected so that any of them can go to failure without affecting the operation of the station. Today the Mountaineers have one installed. In the coming days will rebound to connect to ven solar panels and extra batteries, as well as to calibrate the instruments in the light of the checks that will carry on. Then install the weather station will be completed at the South Col one hundred percent. "