The height of mountains

In May 2004 a new measurement was performed of the depth of the snow on the summit of Mt. Everest with a new instrument coupling a Ground Penetrating Radar and a Global Positioning System (GPS). The instrument was carried to the top and was made to slide up and down along 8 profiles crossing the summit. This way it was possible to outline the surface of the snow covering the summit and of the rocky surface under it. From this it was discovered that the two summits do not coincide and a new value for the elevation of the snow summit and for the rocky top under it was obtained. Reference was made to the IGS (International GPS Service) permanent station in Lhasa and to the permanent GPS station at the Ev-K2-CNR Pyramid Laboratory along the Khumbu Valley in Nepal.