The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is known as the "roof of the world" and "the third pole of the earth" The latest calculation by Chinese scientists based on data accumulated over the past 40 years gives an answer of 930 billion tons. Evapotranspiration plays a vital role in the region's water balance.
The data set is of great value to water resources management, drought monitoring, and ecological environment research and analysis on the Tibetan Plateau, scientists say.