Introduction
:: Location of Everest |
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Mount Everest is part of the Sagarmatha (‘‘Mother
Universe’’) National Park, Nepal, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. The Tibetans and Sherpas know
the mountain by another name—Chomolungma or
Jomolangma.
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:: History |
Sagarmatha is an exceptional area with dramatic
mountains, glaciers and steep valleys, dominated by
Mount Everest. The park shelters several rare species,
such as snow leopard and the lesser panda. The
presence of Sherpas, with their unique culture, adds
further interest to this site. The destruction of the natural resources accelerated
rapidly with the influx of Tibetan refugees during
1959–1961 and the large-scale growth of trekking and mountaineering from
1963 onwards. Nowadays,
the heavy pressure from tourism has placed large
demands on natural resources and even introduced
problems with waste disposal.
The demand for construction timber and firewood has destructed the forests to
an alarming degree.
Consequent soil erosion has made re-afforestation difficult. Pastures at lower
altitudes are overgrazed and even water is becoming unfit for drinking. This
is a situation, which applies to many high-mountain
areas worldwide. Therefore, environmental protection and conservation, together
with the preservation of cultural heritage, are becoming pressing issues for
these
regions. The recording of the current situation and the
monitoring of ongoing processes are prerequisites
for analysis and the establishment of sustainable
measures of protection. |
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Topographic Mapping of Everest |
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In the late 1840s British surveyors took theodolite sightings of Himalayan
peaks from six geodetic stations along a triangulation chain in Nothern India.
In 1852 the position and the elevation of Peak XV, as Everest was then known,
were determined. The mountain received its official name in 1865 in honor
of Sir
George Everest,
the British Surveyor General from 1830–1843 who had mapped the Indian
subcontinent. It took until 1954 to establish today's accepted height for Everest
(8.848m). Important were also British, Chinese and Austrian topographic maps,
made between 1921 and 1975 by standard ground surveying methods and aerial
photography. |
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Part of the map 1:100'000 of the
English Royal Geographic Society
(British Survey 1921-1936).
Full size::394 KB.
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Part of the Chinese map
(Chinese surveys 1960, 1975).
Full size::293 KB.
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Part of the Austrian map
(Austrian survey 1957).
Full size::362 KB.
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National Geographic Mapping Project
What seemed to the pilots of the 1933 Mount Everest flight a novel technology—aerial
photogrammetry, then only occasionally used—has grown in the meantime
to a formidable standard procedure as a first step in topographical mapping.
A spectacular example, both in terms of object to be mapped and of quality
of result, was the photogrammetric mapping of
Mount Everest. This project was sponsored by the National Geographic Society
and the Boston Museum of Science and produced in 1988 a highly acclaimed topographical
map 1:50,000. This project was pursued
by
Bradford Washburn after
his
retirement
in 1980
as Director of Boston's Museum of Science.
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The summit of Mount Everest indicated
with the red circle in the aerial image.
Full size::238 KB |
Part of the 1:50'000 topographic map
of Mount Everest, signed by Sir Edmund Hillary.
Full size::364 KB |
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