BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China has launched a project to conduct research on the effect of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau weather system.

The project, led by the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, will study the mechanism of the plateau's weather and its effect on disastrous weathers of its downstream regions, in order to provide support on improving the forecasting ability.

Researchers will focus on the central east, northeast and southeast parts of the plateau to conduct intensive observations on a land-boundary layer, rainfall, atmospheric water cycle, troposphere-stratosphere water vapor, ozone and aerosol.

Based on the observation data, satellites and reanalysis products, and numerical models, the researchers will also develop a method to estimate the heat source of the plateau.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau plays an important role in influencing extreme weather including droughts and floods in China, said Cheng Xiao, dean of the College of Global Change and Earth System Science at Beijing Normal University.