Brief communication: How deep is the snow on Mount Everest?

Yang, Wei; Zhao, Huabiao; Xu, Baiqing; Li, Jiule; Wang, Weicai; Wu, Guangjian; Wang, Zhongyan; Yao, Tandong

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2625-2023

Articles | Volume 17, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2625-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2625-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 7

Brief communication

| Highlight paper

|

06 Jul 2023

Brief communication | Highlight paper |

| 06 Jul 2023

Brief communication: How deep is the snow on Mount Everest?

Wei Yang, Huabiao Zhao, Baiqing Xu, Jiule Li, Weicai Wang, Guangjian Wu, Zhongyan Wang, and Tandong Yao

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2625-2023-supplement

Video abstract

How deep is the snow on Mount Everest? Wei Yang, Huabiao Zhao, Baiqing Xu, Jiule Li, Weicai Wang, Guangjian Wu, Zhongyan Wang, and Tandong Yao https://doi.org/10.5446/62320

Short summary

There is very strong scientific and public interest regarding the snow thickness on Mountain Everest. Previously reported snow depths derived by different methods and instruments ranged from 0.92 to 3.5 m. Our measurements in 2022 provide the first clear radar image of the snowpack at the top of Mount Everest. The snow thickness at Earth's summit was averaged to be 9.5 ± 1.2 m. This updated snow thickness is considerably deeper than values reported during the past 5 decades.