Snow means work, not fun, for researchers

For one group of scientists, winter does not bring exciting prospects of skiing or riding snowmobiles.

Instead, they spend weeks trekking through the snow covered wilderness of the Tianshan mountains in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

A team of nine researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography recently completed a 12-day field study of snow in the area, which features a vast variety of snowcapped peaks, glaciers, alpine meadows, canyons and lakes. It was one of three planned for snow season.

The researchers began collecting data on Jan 14 on the depth, distribution and surface characteristics of snow in the Tianshan mountains.

"Snow is an indicator of global climate change and also an important source of water," said Li Lanhai, a member of the team. "Understanding snow is vital to studying water resources in the area, predicting a trend, evaluating climate change, and giving warnings of disasters such as avalanches."