Climatic suitability for tourism along theQinghai-Tibet Railway
青藏铁路旅游线气候适宜性分析

Qinghai-Tibet Railway,built through the high frigid plateau in western China,can considerably improve the traffic conditions of the districts along it.There are a great deal of world-class tourism resources along this railway.So,after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is open to traffic the districts along it may become hotspots of tourism.On the occasion,tourism along the railway will spring up.However,some restricting factors such as climate condition,thin air,low atmospheric pressure and strong ultraviolet radiation may form obstacles in tourism development.It is a pity that,still now,tourism-climate research along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is nearly blank. Taking into account all the above unfavorable conditions and based on the meteorological data covering the period 1991-2000 from 10 weather stations,this paper assessed climatic suitability for tourism along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and intended to offer some scientific basis for the tourism development.In this paper,air temperature(as well as effects of humidity,wind velocity and sunshine hours are also considered),ultraviolet radiation,atmospheric pressure and disasterous weather are respectively analyzed as the index of climatic suitability for tourism.It is found that,(1) as a whole,May to September is the most suitable season of tourism along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.There are neither hot nor cold,windy days in this season.But in the duration there are relatively frequent strong ultraviolet radiation,thunderstorm and hailstone.(2) With the rise of altitude suitable days and hours for tourism are shortened.Along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway,Lhasa and Xining,the terminals of the railway,are most suitable for tourism.However,Wudaoliang,Tuotuohe and Anduo have the shortest period with suitable climatic conditons for tourism because of cold weather(winter) and strong ultraviolet radiation(June,July).