Observe & Thrive: Science at the Summit

MENDOZA, Argentina – February 18, 2025 – A team of international scientists has successfully installed a high-altitude weather station just meters below the summit of Aconcagua (22,769 feet / 6,940 meters), the tallest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres. This summit station completes a network of five new observation sites on the mountain, delivering vital data on water availability in the Central Andes—a region grappling with a 15-year mega-drought and historically under-monitored despite its importance as a water tower for Argentina.

The expedition was led by climatologist and National Geographic Explorer Baker Perry of the University of Nevada, Reno; Pierre Pitte of the Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA); and fellow National Geographic Explorer Tom Matthews of King’s College London.

“We have huge gaps in our understanding of just the basic processes that enable the glaciers to exist, and the snow to fall up here,” Perry said. “Now, these weather stations will allow us to really quantify and improve projections into the future for water resource availability, for the health of the glaciers, and many other really important scientific topics.”

OTT HydroMet brands on the Aconcagua sensor network will monitor:

Perry, who has led similar observational efforts on some of the world’s highest peaks—including Mt. Everest—relies on the precision and durability of sensors donated by OTT HydroMet. "So much of my work over my career has focused on precipitation, whether it's liquid or solid or some combination, especially when we're talking about water resources, we've got to have accurate measurements of precipitation," he explains. “These stations we set up on Aconcagua, nobody’s going back until…nine, ten months. If something stops working, it’s impossible to send somebody out. We have confidence in the OTT HydroMet products because we’ve used them on other mountains around the world, and they have performed very well there.”

The data will support scientific research by agencies such as NOAA, IANIGLA-CONICET, and NASA, while also aiding local irrigation authorities in Mendoza and enhancing climber safety in Aconcagua Provincial Park “If we think about the unpredictability of weather, or of enabling a new era of energy in the solar space," Nadia Iannuzzi, president of OTT HydroMet said "these are all trends that tell us what our customers need to preserve and protect our communities, which drives OTT HydroMet to innovate and provide the insights that matter, when they matter most."

The expedition team and OTT HydroMet collaborated on a video documenting the success of the mission, its impact on local communities, and what networks of robust sensors means for the future of climate research and discovery. Visit https://www.otthydromet.com/en/projects to discover this awe-inspiring project to monitor the atmosphere of Aconcagua in "Observe & Thrive From the Top of the World."

About OTT HydroMet 

OTT HydroMet is a subsidiary of Veralto, comprising a family of experienced and tenured scientific companies whose purpose is empowering communities to observe and measure the natural world, strengthening resilience against climate variability. For community leaders and environmental stewards, OTT HydroMet is the one environmental monitoring and measuring provider that offers accurate, reliable, and efficient integrated solutions for impact-based decision support in the face dynamic climates, supported by the most experienced and diversified portfolio of innovative brands under one roof. OTT HydroMet brands, Kipp & Zonen, Lufft, OTT, Sutron, HYDROLAB, and MeteoStar champion networks of scientific data accessible to all, democratizing information, turning ideas into reality and driving advancements to accelerate the pace of discovery. Their exceptional technical expertise and solutions seamlessly integrate hardware, software, and services across an unmatched range of environmental monitoring applications in Solar Energy, Hydrology, and Meteorology.