The Laに
its utility as a hA/eather radar systenn superseded by satellite
technolo9yof acupuncture
for the treatment of alti―
tudesickness.Everyyear,about 50,000
Mt F呵I Weather sttton today serves as a base in the summer rnonths
Japaneseoverseasgoto altitudes offor research in nurnerous scientificasfields′
well as for(unrnanned)
meteorolo9ical observation Asano Katsunll reports.

‖経
韓Altitude Research Station Jungfra可 och

替more than 6,000 meters, either for
mountaineering or for business, andtheir mortality rate exceeds 2% eachyear,which is quite high.Mt.Fuji
attracts about 400,000 climbers every(3,578m)in SWitZCrland,which
conducts astronomical research, and ycar, and several die of cardiac fallure
the Monte Rosa Laboratory(4,5591n) or other causes One ofthc mttor CttSes
述titudes is severe disor―
i n l t a l y , v、
h i c h i s f a m o u s f o r h i g h of death at highそestablished atop Mt.Rtti and yCar̲roundders caused by lo、v oxygen,or altitudc、veathcr obscrvation commenced at thealtitude medicine.
Moreover,a participant in the con― sickncss,At a height of lnore than 3,000
site.Since that tilne,Ineteorological data
meters,the lo、ver atinospheric prcssure
such as tcmperature,atmospheric pres―s t r u c t l o n o f t h e M t F 1可( 3 , 7 7 6 m )Weathcr Station says that proper main― reduccs the amount of oxygen in thesure,precipitation and huHlidity havc
been collected there.In 1964,a weather
tenance、vill perlnit another 1 00 ycars blood by 60ワうcompared with、 vhcn theof problem―free usage of the bullding
radar was installed at the site to instan―person is on level ground.The stresstancously detcct typhoons approachingitself,remaining resistant to thc scvere caused by the severe condition triggcrs
hyperactivity of thc sympathetic nerves,
climatc conditions、 vhere the average
Japan; a measure taken in response tolcading to the onset of altitude sickncss.
the great damage froln the lse、
van
low temperature is‑15° C and avcragc
Ho、vevcr,the strcss can be effectively
wind spccd is as high as 15 tm/sec.
Typhoon(Typh00n Vera)that hit thccontrolled by stimulating energy centers,
counttt in Septcmber 1959 and left more、vhich puts thc parasympathetic nerve tothan 5,000 people dead or rnissing。
Altitude issues
workt This led us to assume that stimu―
Ho、vever,becausc of the dcvclop―
ment of、 veather satellites and tech― WVith this as thc background,ve、es― lating cnergy ccntcrs、vould alleviate
ve conducted ant . F u i i sickness. So、
nologies that enable collection of lnete―t a b l i s h e d V a l i d U t i l i z a t i o n o f M altitudc
ent、vith twelvc cxaHlinecs re―
Weather Station,an NPO with moreexperil■orological data fronl remote areas,thesiding in the Mt.Ftti Weather Station.
than 200 members,including research―
Japan Meteorological Agency stopped
For each examinee、 ve inscrted a nccdle
using the、veathcr radar for observation ers and mountaineers.Thc organization
into thc gθ ″たοた″, an energy center
began observation and research at thein 1999,and since 2004,the staton has
Mt.Ftti Weather Station after rccciving
located at the base of the thumb,scnt
been unmanncd.
theCurrently,Ineteorological data atpermission to use the facilities fron■ electic cuHentto thc needle several umesa day,and measured degree of oxygen
it of Mt,Ftti arC C01lcctcd au―
Japan Meteorological Agency in thethe sunll■saturation in the blood Wc obtained atomatically by the lneteorological equip―
summcr of 2007,when the statioll be―ment installed in the Mt Ftti Weather came available for summer research
positivc rcsult frona this experilnent,、vhich suggests that stilnulating a po、ver、
vork by the privatc sector.
Station,Ho、 vever,it inust be stressed
center might alleviate the symptoms of
For t、vo mollths bet、
veen July andthat this highest point of our land is theAugust of 2007 and 2008,nine and thir― altitude sickness
perfect site for a variety of research that
Wc also conducted an experimenttccn rcscarch studies were respectively
utilizes the benefits of the high altitude,
c o n d u c t e d a t t h e M t . F u j i W e a t h e r for veritting the effectiveness of high―as、vell as for wcather obscrvation.
v hich many athletes
altitude training,、
In other countries, an array ofStation, on themes including high―have been undergoing in recent ycars.
altitude medical scienccs,atmosphcricachievements has becn madc by re―
Many of these athletes go overseas forsearch conducted in high―altitude bases, cheHlistry, ecology and training andcosmic―ray science.In the area of high― training because there is no appropriate
such as the Mauna Loa Observatory invovenue in Japan ln each of the past t、
H a w a i i ( 3 , 3 9 6 m ) w h i C h i S n o t e d f o raltitude medical scienccs,Iny reSearchvcusedelevenexalninees,whogreenhotlse gas observations,thc High group has been studying the application ycars、
24 TheJapan journal AUGUST 2009

雛韓A researcher sends electric current

辞一弾

1 幾‐ to a needle inserted into the
登 や thumb ofthe author as part of anexperiment to measure the de9reeof oxygen saturation in the blood,

田Cenial Univcrsity of Taiwan visited thesitc to obscrve mercury collcCntration.
This year,scicntists from the ABC―Pyramid atmosphe五 c observatory(5,079m)in the Himalayas plan to observe
acrosol on Mt.F可 1.MorCOVCr,thc Lulin
Baseline Station in Taiwan(2,862m),
ｚＤ∞三 王 ∽ 乏 ⊃一二 〇＞ ﹂〇 ＞のロトヒ⊃〇∪

ABC― Pyranlid atlnosphcric obscrvatory,
Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawali,alld

Valid Utilizatlon of Mt Ftti Weather
Station will bcgin collaboration tllis ycⅡ
in netM′
orked observations Rcal― tilne
meteorological data frolll the respcctivc
sites 、vill bc transIIlitted and sharcd
onlinc among the laboratorics
Other rcscarch conducted on Mt.
Ftti inCludes observation of cosmic―rays t a y e d a t t h e M t . F t t i W c a t h e r S tof、a t ivhato n substances are gcncratcd, and exposure. CosHlic rays grow stronger
for two nights,and measured fluctua― f lo ・m where.Mt F瑚
1 ' s a d V a n t a g e i n thc
o b ―higher one goes becausc thc atmo―
tions of their physlological responses scrving such substances lics in the fact spheric laycr bccomes thinner.This has
and physical capacity. Thc rcstllts
that data can bc collected ithoutu′dircct raised concerns about thc impact ofsho、
ved that thcir arterial oxygcn satu―
influence from automobile and factorycoslnic rays on the health of airlinc
ration,a parameter for oxygcn intake
fuel emisslons bccause the mountain iscre、
vs ln relatioll to global、
varHling,
locateda、
vay
froIII
mctrop01itanareas.
mcasurementof C02 COnCCntration andpotential,incrcased after they climbed
Mt Ftti The expcrimcnt also showed
Morcovcr,the summit of Mtt Ftti cx―
investigations on pcrmafrost have also
illlprovcmcnts in their heart ratcs and tends into thc frcc troposphere,the at―bccn conducted atthe site
blood lactate levcls,、
vhich indicate the mosphcrc between an altitudc of one
ln July 2007,wc held the World
degrcc of fatigue.These results indicated kilometer abovcground and the strato― Eco―Science Net、 vork Confcrcnce int h a t M t . F u j i m a y p r o v i d e a l t i t u d c sphcre ln this layer, substances travel Tokyo,which、 vas attended by membcrs
training cffects over a short pcriod andlong distanccs without being sutteCt tO
of rcpresentative lligh―altitudc laborato―that the mountain could serve as a sitcland surface frictions.In fact,black car― ries froHl all ovcr the、
vorld,including
for training those traveling to high alti―
bon gcncratcd by a ire in Sibcria,and
Valld Utnization of Mt Ftti Weather
tudes or for judging their capacityv s a n d f r o m C h i n a 、v e r e e a c hStation.Thc conference concludcd witlly e l l ofor、
high―altitude envirollmcnts.
o b s c r v c d a t t h e s u m m i t o f M t F 可1 . the release of thc Dcclaration on theSince substanccs generated on thc
formation of a global cllvironmental
Testing the Troposphere
Eurasian Continent arc carricd from 、
vatch net、
v ork,under、汀hich the labora―
west to cast by westerly winds gcneratcd
tories、
vlll collaboratc for protccting ourln thc ttea of atmosphcric chemistry re― in thc nlid‑latitude of the northcrn helni―
planet's futurc.We are deterlllined tosettch,groups of scientists from ttVaseda spherc,Mt F可 1,loCated at the castcrncontinue research for passing on a better
University and thc Tokyo University of cdgc of the Eurasian Contincnt,ls theglobal cnvironmcnt to co■ ling genera一Sciencc observed volatile organic com― optilnuln sitc for such observation.
位ons by making use of thc gcographicaladvantagcs provided by Mt.Ftti andpounds(VOCS),SuCh as toluene andinternational Research Summit
bcnzene,and substanccs such as aerosol
through coopcration、vith laboratories inothcr countries
剛(SuSpended particulates)contailled in thc
atlllosphere These substances are said
Bccausc of these advantagcs,Mt.Ftti
to be closcly rclated、vith air pollution also dra、vs a grcat dcal of attentlon fromASANO Katsumi s professor emetttus at theand clilnate changc,but inany pOints
ovcrscas resettchers.IIl cach of thc past
University of Tsukuba and cha rperson of Va dremaln ullkno、vn regarding how mucht、
vo years,scicntists fron■ the National
U 付セa t o n o f M t F t t W e a t h e r s t a t t o n
The」
apanJournal AUGU5T 2009 25