The conference for the 2013 science and technology progress award of Xinjiang Autonomous Region was held in Urumchi on Jan. 6, 2014. Outstanding prize-winners in 2012 and 2013 were awarded on the conference. 

The research on the ice snow and its response to the climate change in the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, which is performed by the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (CAREERI), the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG), the Northwest Normal University and the Peking University, won the first prize for the 2013 Science and Technology Progress Award of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. 

This program focused on the ice snow and its response to the climate change in Tianshan Mountain, and this research deepened the scientific understanding to the glacier, snow and water resource. This program estimated the temporal-spatial change in the field of glaciers, ice snow water resource, and it also revealed change laws of the hydrology and water resource in different regions in Xinjiang. The program provided an important scientific foundation to manage and use the water resources in northwest regions, and promoted the regional economic sustainable development. Otherwise, the program also made contributions to the characteristic tourism, scientific popularization and the application for the World Natural Heritage. 

Water resources in Xinjiang mainly derive from the ice and snow melting on high mountains, so the water resource changes caused by the climate change has a very important influence in this region.