Preparation

Through work with Jon Aldridge, London contact, I have also been using satellite maps to compare snow cover in different seasons from year to year. I have been working with Jon to create digitized maps of the area from publicly available satellite data, mostly available through US Government channels:

"Though a map of Tibet is part of any self respecting cartographic house's portfolio, none give more than a superficial coverage of the region. Chinese government data - though of poor quality - is not readily available, making geographical analysis impossible. Problems are further compounded by the multitude of placenames by which a single place can be known (Sershul, Ningxa, Gyurga, Serxu, and various mis-translations of the four all refer to the same small town in Kham)."

-Jon Aldridge

An example of the possibilities associated with digital mapping is shown in a digital map of Route 219, which we will travel for 800km from Kashgar.