Monitoring helps preserve China’s Mogao Grottoes

Monitoring carbon dioxide and humidity levels is important to preserving China’s precious historical sites, according to China Daily. The parameters are now being collected at the Mogao Grottoes in an effort to protect the caves.

The grottoes house prominent Buddhist statues and their walls contain fragile frescoes chronicling parts of China’s history. In all, there are more than 2,000 colored sculptures and 45,000 square meters of paintings within the caves.

Monitoring in the grottoes began in June 2013, and officials say 24 metrics are being collected on the area’s environment. They include data on carbon dioxide concentration, humidity and visitors to the site.

Image: Mogao Caves (Credit: Yaohua2000, via Wikimedia Commons)