Temporospatial distribution and trends of thunderstorm, hail, gale and heavy precipitation events over the Tibetan Plateau and associated mechanisms

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-74
Author(s):  
Jie Tang ◽  
Xueliang Guo ◽  
Yi Chang ◽  
Guangxian Lu ◽  
Peng Qi
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
Anticyclonic Circulation ◽  
Vapor Flux ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Sst Anomaly ◽  
Precipitation Events

AbstractTemporospatial distribution and trends of thunderstorm, hail, gale and heavy precipitation events over the Tibetan Plateau (TP), as well as the associated mechanisms with observational data from 1979-2016 are investigated, which have not been fully studied under a changing climate. The results indicate that thunderstorm, hail and gale events over the whole TP show significant decreasing trends, while heavy precipitation events have an insignificant increasing trend. The southeast (SE) and central south (SC) subregions have obvious significant decreasing trends in thunderstorm, hail and gale events, while the northeast (NE) subregion has a significant increasing trend in heavy precipitation events. It is found that the atmospheric circulation anomaly caused by the northwestern Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomaly associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) should be responsible for these changes. A strong wave train triggered by the northwestern Atlantic SST anomaly propagates from the northern Atlantic to East Asia through Europe, and induces a more upper-level warming over the TP and an anomalous anticyclonic circulation near the Lake Baikal, resulting in more stable atmosphere and blocking effect, which forces the mid-latitude westerlies and associated cold air to shift poleward. The weakened cold air advection over the TP decreases the baroclinic instability and convection initiation, and finally causes the significant decreasing trends in severe weather events. On the other hand, the enhanced easterly winds in the southern flank of the anticyclonic circulation can significantly increase the water vapor flux from the eastern boundary of the TP and heavy precipitation events in the NE subregion.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of Intraseasonal Amplification of the Cold Siberian High

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 4423-4440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koutarou Takaya ◽  
Hisashi Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
Thermal Anomalies ◽  
Siberian High ◽  
Vertical Coupling ◽  
Rossby Wave Train ◽  
Upper Level

Abstract Mechanisms of intraseasonal amplification of the Siberian high are investigated on the basis of composite anomaly evolution for its strongest events at each of the grid points over Siberia. At each location, the amplification of the surface high is associated with formation of a blocking ridge in the upper troposphere. Over central and western Siberia, what may be called “wave-train (Atlantic-origin)” type is common, where a blocking ridge forms as a component of a quasi-stationary Rossby wave train propagating across the Eurasian continent. A cold air outbreak follows once anomalous surface cold air reaches the northeastern slope of the Tibetan Plateau. It is found through the potential vorticity (PV) inversion technique that interaction between the upper-level stationary Rossby wave train and preexisting surface cold anomalies is essential for the strong amplification of the surface high. Upper-level PV anomalies associated with the wave train reinforce the cold anticyclonic anomalies at the surface by inducing anomalous cold advection that counteracts the tendency of the thermal anomalies themselves to migrate eastward as surface thermal Rossby waves. The surface cold anomalies thus intensified, in turn, act to induce anomalous vorticity advection aloft that reinforces the blocking ridge and cyclonic anomalies downstream of it that constitute the propagating wave train. The baroclinic development of the anomalies through this vertical coupling is manifested as a significant upward flux of wave activity emanating from the surface cold anomalies, which may be interpreted as dissipative destabilization of the incoming external Rossby waves.

Dynamics of evapotranspiration and variations in different land-cover regions over the Tibetan Plateau during 1961-2014

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shan Lin ◽  
Genxu Wang ◽  
Zhaoyong Hu ◽  
Kewei Huang ◽  
Xiangyang Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Southeastern Part ◽  
Available Energy ◽  
Forest Region ◽  
Energy Factors ◽  
Term Change ◽  
Increasing Trend

AbstractIn this study, the spatiotemporal changes and driving factors of evapotranspiration (ET) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are assessed from 1961-2014, based on a revised generalized nonlinear complementary (nonlinear-CR) model. The average annual ET on the TP was 328 mm/year. The highest ET value (711 mm/year) was found in the forest region in the southeastern part of the TP, and the lowest value (151 mm/year) was found in the desert region in the northwestern part of the TP. In terms of the contribution of different sub-regions to the total amount of ET for the whole plateau, the meadow and steppe regions contributed the most to the total amount of ET of TP, accounting for 30% and 18.5%, respectively. The interannual ET presented a significant increasing trend with a value of 0.26 mm/year from 1961 to 2014, and a significant positive ET trend was found over 35% of the region, mainly in the southeastern part of the plateau. The increasing trend of ET in swamp areas was the largest, while that in the desert areas was the smallest. In terms of the seasonality, the ET over the plateau and different land-cover regions increased the most in summer, followed by spring, while the change in ET in winter was not obvious. The energy factors dominated the long-term change in the annual ET over the plateau. In addition, the available energy is the controlling factor for ET changes in humid areas such as forests and shrublands. Energy and water factors together dominate the ET changes in arid areas.

scholarly journals Continuous Wetting on the Tibetan Plateau during 1970–2017

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huamin Zhang ◽  
Mingjun Ding ◽  
Lanhui Li ◽  
Linshan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Piecewise Linear ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Significant Trend ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Intensity Analysis ◽  
Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index ◽  
Piecewise Linear Regression ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
Surrounding Areas

Based on daily observation records at 277 meteorological stations on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its surrounding areas during 1970–2017, drought evolution was investigated using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). First, the spatiotemporal changes in the growing season of SPEI (SPEIgs) were re-examined using the Mann–Kendall and Sen’s slope approach—the piecewise linear regression and intensity analysis approach. Then, the persistence of the SPEIgs trend was predicted by the Hurst exponent. The results showed that the SPEIgs on the TP exhibited a significant increasing trend at the rate of 0.10 decade−1 (p < 0.05) and that there is no significant trend shift in SPEIgs (p = 0.37), indicating that the TP tended to undergo continuous wetting during 1970–2017. In contrast, the areas surrounding the TP underwent a significant trend shift from an increase to a decrease in SPEIgs around 1984 (p < 0.05), resulting in a weak decreasing trend overall. Spatially, most of the stations on the TP were characterized by an increasing trend in SPEIgs, except those on the Eastern fringe of TP. The rate of drought/wet changes was relatively fast during the 1970s and 1980s, and gradually slowed afterward on the TP. Finally, the consistent increasing trend and decreasing trend of SPEIgs on the TP and the area East of the TP were predicted to continue in the future, respectively. Our results highlight that the TP experienced a significant continuous wetting trend in the growing season during 1970–2017, and this trend is likely to continue.

Drying Tendency over the Southern Tibetan Plateau in Recent Past Decades

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziqian Wang ◽  
Song Yang ◽  
Anmin Duan
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
Dynamic Change ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Southern Slope ◽  
South Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Budget Analysis ◽  
Upper Level

&lt;p&gt;The Tibetan Plateau (TP) exerts a significant impact on the weather and climate over many places of the world through both mechanical and thermal-dynamical effects. In summer, the major rainfall of the TP occurs over the southern slope, and the associated atmospheric latent heating dominates the total diabatic heating of TP. Then the variation of summer rainfall can directly regulate the TP&amp;#8217;s thermal effects. On the other hand, the rainfall center over the southern slope is corresponding with the northern branch of South Asian summer monsoon, which is important to the agricultural productivity and economic stability along the Ganges River with dense population. This study shows that there existed a drying tendency over the southern TP (STP) in the rainy season of recent decades. A moisture budget analysis indicates that the dynamic change in vertical moisture advection is the dominant contributor to the drying trend, which is associated with the weakened upward motion over the STP. The changes in dynamic process over STP are induced by the northward shift of the subtropical westerly jet, whose northward shift reduces the upper-level anticyclone over STP and weakens the upper-level divergence, leading to a trend of vertical sinking motion. Furthermore, the northward shift of the jet is mainly attributed to the internal variability of the atmosphere, characterized by an upper-level circum-global wave train. The influence of atmospheric internal variability is demonstrated by the CESM Large Ensemble Project data.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Influence of Tibetan Plateau On The North American Summer Monsoon Precipitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Wen ◽  
Zixuan Han ◽  
Hajun Yang ◽  
Jianbo Cheng ◽  
Zhengyu Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North American ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Hadley Cell ◽  
Dynamical Process ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The North

Abstract It has been well known that the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) can significantly enhance the Asian monsoon. Here, by comparing the sensitivity experiments with vs without the TP, we find that TP uplift can also increase the precipitation of North American Summer Monsoon (NASM), with atmosphere teleconnection accounting for 6% and oceanic dynamical process accounting for another 6%. Physically, TP uplift generates a stationary Rossby wave train traveling from Asian continent to the North Atlantic region, resulting in an anomalous high-pressure over tropical-subtropical North Atlantic. The anomalous subtropical high enhances the low level southerly winds, forcing an anomalous upward motion over North American monsoon (NAM) region and then an increased summer precipitation there. In addition, TP uplift enhances the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, which reduces the meridional temperature gradient and leads to a northward shift of Hadley Cell over eastern Pacific-Atlantic section. The latter shifts the convection center northward to 10°N and further increases the NASM precipitation. The enhanced NASM precipitation can also be understood by the northward shift of Intertropical Convergence Zone. Our study implies that the changes of NAM climate can be affected by not only local process but also remote forcing, including the Asian highland.

The AMV phase-dependence of the connection between February NAO and March surface air temperature over the Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Li ◽  
Fei Li ◽  
Shengping He ◽  
Huijun Wang ◽  
Yvan J Orsolini
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The North ◽  
Rossby Wave Train ◽  
The North Atlantic

&lt;p&gt;The Tibetan Plateau (TP), referred to as the &amp;#8220;Asian water tower&amp;#8221;, contains one of the largest land ice masses on Earth. The local glacier shrinkage and frozen-water storage are strongly affected by variations in surface air temperature over the TP (TPSAT), especially in springtime. This study reveals a distinct out-of-phase connection between the February North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and March TPSAT, which is non-stationary and regulated by the warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV+). The results show that during the AMV+, the negative phase of the NAO persists from February to March, and is accompanied by a quasi-stationary Rossby wave train trapped along a northward-shifted subtropical westerly jet stream across Eurasia, inducing an anomalous adiabatic descent that warms the TP. However, during the cold phase of the AMV, the negative NAO does not persist into March. The Rossby wave train propagates along the well-separated polar and subtropical westerly jets, and the NAO&amp;#8722;TPSAT connection is broken. Further investigation suggests that the enhanced synoptic eddy and low-frequency flow (SELF) interaction over the North Atlantic in February and March during the AMV+, caused by the enhanced and southward-shifted storm track, help maintain the NAO anomaly pattern via positive eddy feedback. This study provides a new detailed perspective on the decadal variability of the North Atlantic&amp;#8722;TP connections in late winter&amp;#8722;early spring.&lt;/p&gt;

Trends in Summer Rainfall over China Associated with the Tibetan Plateau Sensible Heat Source during 1980–2008

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anmin Duan ◽  
Meirong Wang ◽  
Yonghui Lei ◽  
Yangfan Cui
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Heat Source ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Summer Rainfall ◽  
Monsoon Circulation ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Local Circulation ◽  
Precipitation Events

Abstract The impacts of the thermal forcing over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) in spring on changes in summer rainfall in China are investigated using historical records from the period between 1980 and 2008. The spring sensible heat (SH) flux and snow depth over the TP both decreased over this time period, although the trend in SH was more significant than that in snow depth. The similarity between patterns of precipitation trends over China and corresponding patterns of regression coefficients on the leading mode of spring SH change over the TP demonstrates the distinct contribution of changes in TP SH during spring. Enhanced precipitation in southern China was accompanied by increases in heavy rainfall, precipitation intensity, and the frequency of precipitation events, while reduced precipitation in northern China and northeastern China was primarily associated with decreases in the frequency of precipitation events. Further analysis using observational data and numerical simulations reveals that the reductions in SH over the TP have weakened the monsoon circulation and postponed the seasonal reversal of the land–sea thermal contrast in East Asia. In addition, the positive spring SH anomaly may generate a stronger summer atmospheric heat source over the TP due to the positive feedback between diabatic heating and local circulation.

scholarly journals A zonally-oriented teleconnection pattern induced by heating of the western Tibetan Plateau in boreal summer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingquan Li ◽  
Mengchu Zhao ◽  
Song Yang ◽  
Xinyong Shen ◽  
Lili Dong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Heat Source ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Wave Train ◽  
Teleconnection Pattern ◽  
Radiative Heating ◽  
Boreal Summer ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Circumglobal Teleconnection

AbstractThe thermal effect of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) on the northern hemisphere climate has long been a hot topic of scientific research. However, the global effects of the TP heat source are still unclear. We investigate the teleconnection patterns coincident with the TP heat source in boreal summer using both observational data and numerical models including a linearized baroclinic model and an atmospheric general circulation model. The western TP shows the most intense variability in atmospheric heating and the most active connection to atmospheric circulations. The surface sensible heating component of the western TP heat source is associated with a high-latitude wave train propagating from North Japan to central North America through the Bering Sea and Canada. The radiative heating component is accompanied by a wavenumber-4 wave train over Eurasia. We focus on the global zonally-oriented pattern that is connected with the latent heat release from the western TP, referred to here as the TP–circumglobal teleconnection (TP-CGT). The TP-CGT pattern is triggered by the western TP latent heating in two parts starting from the TP: an eastward-propagating wave train trapped in the westerly jet stream and a westward Rossby wave response. The TP-CGT accounts for above 18% of the total variance of the circumglobal teleconnection pattern and modulates mid-latitude precipitation by superimposition. The western TP is the key region in which diabatic heating can initiate the two atmospheric responses concurrently, and the heating over northeastern Asia or the Indian Peninsula is unable to induce the circumglobal pattern directly. The unique geographical location and strong tropospheric heating also make the western TP as a “transit area” of transferring the indirect impact of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) to the TP-CGT. These results enhance our understanding of the relationship between the circumglobal teleconnection and the ISM and is helpful for improving the prediction of the circumglobal teleconnection variability.

scholarly journals Annual and Seasonal Precipitation and Their Extremes over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Surroundings in 1963–2015

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 620
Author(s):  
Jin Ding ◽  
Lan Cuo ◽  
Yongxin Zhang ◽  
Cunjie Zhang ◽  
Liqiao Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Daily Precipitation ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Westerly Jet ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
Daily Precipitation Data ◽  
Moisture Transports ◽  
Precipitation Events

Based on daily precipitation data from 115 climate stations, seasonal and annual precipitation and their extremes over the Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings (TPS) in 1963–2015 are investigated. There exists a clear southeast-northwest gradient in precipitation and extreme daily precipitation but an opposite pattern for the consecutive dry days (CDDs). The wet southeast is trending dry while the dry center and northwest are trending wet in 1963–2015. Correspondingly, there is a drying tendency over the wet basins in the southeast and a wetting tendency over the dry and semi-dry basins in the center and northwest in summer, which will affect the water resources in the corresponding areas. The increase (decrease) in precipitation tends to correspond to the increase (decrease) in maximum daily precipitation but the decrease (increase) in CDDs. Extreme precipitation events with 20-year, 50-year, 100-year, and 200-year recurrence occurred frequently in the past decades especially in the 1980s. The greatest extreme precipitation events tend to occur after the late 1990s and in the southeastern TPS. The ERA5 reanalysis and climate system indices reveal that (1) decreased moisture transports to the southeast in summer due to the weakening of the summer monsoons and the East Asian westerly jet; (2) increased moisture transports to the center in winter due to the strengthening of the winter westerly jet and north Atlantic oscillation; and (3) decreased instability over the southeast thus suppressing precipitation and increased instability over the northwest thus promoting precipitation. All these are conducive to the drying trends in the southeast and the wetting trends in the center.

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