July 29: A new citizen science initiative is partnering with Buddhist monasteries across the Himalayas to host automated weather stations, helping close critical gaps in climate monitoring across some of the world’s least-observed mountain regions.
The initiative called High altitude Monasteries for Data Acquisition, Tracking and Awareness (HiM-DATA), is designed to improve long-term weather observations in the Himalayan region, often referred to as the “Third Pole.” The region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, increasing the risks of glacier melt, floods, droughts and water insecurity.
High altitude weather monitoring has long been a challenge because most meteorological stations are located at lower elevations, while those installed in remote mountain areas often fail due to harsh weather, difficult access and limited maintenance.
To address this Small Earth Nepal (SEN) in collaboration with climatologists and volunteers, mapped existing weather stations alongside Buddhist monasteries in Nepal and Bhutan. Many monasteries are situated above 3,000 metres in remote mountain regions where climate observations are scarce, making them ideal locations for automated weather stations.
Unlike isolated monitoring infrastructure, monasteries provide year round human presence, trusted local stewardship and strong community networks, improving the long term maintenance and reliability of weather stations.
The project is also developing low cost hydrometeorological sensors capable of operating in extreme mountain environments, along with satellite communication systems to transmit real time weather data from areas without mobile network coverage.
Researchers say the expanded monitoring network will strengthen weather forecasting, flood and drought prediction, glacier and snow monitoring, early warning systems, and mountain rescue operations.
Beyond scientific observations, HiM DATA is working with monastery schools to introduce environmental education and climate science programmes, encouraging younger generations to participate in weather monitoring and climate stewardship.
The initiative has gained international recognition as part of the Global Precipitation EXperiment (GPEX) under the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). It was recently presented at the GPEX Multistakeholder Workshop in Kyoto as an example of how community led climate observations can strengthen global precipitation research.
Project leaders aim to expand monastery based weather stations across the Himalayas while enhancing collaboration between local communities, meteorological agencies and international climate research networks, creating a more resilient climate observation system for one of the world’s most vulnerable mountain regions.