scholarly journals Modeling study on the transport of summer dust and anthropogenic aerosols over the Tibetan Plateau

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (21) ◽  
pp. 12581-12594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Liu ◽  
Y. Sato ◽  
R. Jia ◽  
Y. Xie ◽  
J. Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Radiation Transport ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Taklimakan Desert ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Northern Slope ◽  
Southern Slope ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosol ◽  
Dust Aerosols

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is located at the juncture of several important natural and anthropogenic aerosol sources. Satellites have observed substantial dust and anthropogenic aerosols in the atmosphere during summer over the TP. These aerosols have distinct effects on the earth's energy balance, microphysical cloud properties, and precipitation rates. To investigate the transport of summer dust and anthropogenic aerosols over the TP, we combined the Spectral Radiation-Transport Model for Aerosol Species (SPRINTARS) with a non-hydrostatic regional model (NHM). The model simulation shows heavily loaded dust aerosols over the northern slope and anthropogenic aerosols over the southern slope and the east of the TP. The dust aerosols are primarily mobilized around the Taklimakan Desert, where a portion of the aerosols are transported eastward due to the northwesterly current; simultaneously, a portion of the particles are transported southward when a second northwesterly current becomes northeasterly because of the topographic blocking of the northern slope of the TP. Because of the strong upward current, dust plumes can extend upward to approximately 7–8 km a.s.l. over the northern slope of the TP. When a dust event occurs, anthropogenic aerosols that entrained into the southwesterly current via the Indian summer monsoon are transported from India to the southern slope of the TP. Simultaneously, a large amount of anthropogenic aerosol is also transported from eastern China to the east of the TP by easterly winds. An investigation on the transport of dust and anthropogenic aerosols over the plateau may provide the basis for determining aerosol impacts on summer monsoons and climate systems.

scholarly journals Modeling study on the transport of summer dust and anthropogenic aerosols over the Tibetan Plateau

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 15005-15037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Liu ◽  
Y. Sato ◽  
R. Jia ◽  
Y. Xie ◽  
J. Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Radiation Transport ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Taklimakan Desert ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Northern Slope ◽  
Southern Slope ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Dust Aerosols

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is located at the juncture of several important natural and anthropogenic aerosol sources. Satellites have observed substantial dust and anthropogenic aerosols in the atmosphere during summer over the TP. These aerosols have distinct effects on the earth's energy balance, microphysical cloud properties, and precipitation rates. To investigate the transport of summer dust and anthropogenic aerosols over the TP, we combined the Spectral Radiation-Transport Model for Aerosol Species (SPRINTARS) with a non-hydrostatic regional model (NHM). The model simulation shows heavily loaded dust aerosols over the northern slope and anthropogenic aerosols over the southern slope and to the east of the TP. The dust aerosols are primarily mobilized around the Taklimakan Desert, where a portion of the aerosols are transported eastward due to the northwesterly current; simultaneously, a portion of the particles are transported northward when a second northwesterly current becomes northeasterly because of the topographic blocking of the northern slope of the TP. Because of the strong upward current, dust plumes can extend upward to approximately 7–8 km a.s.l. over the northern slope of the TP. When a dust event occurs, anthropogenic aerosols that entrain into the southwesterly current via the Indian summer monsoon are transported from India to the southern slope of the TP. Simultaneously, a large amount of anthropogenic aerosols is also transported from eastern China to east of the TP by easterly winds. An investigation on the transport of dust and anthropogenic aerosols over the plateau may provide the basis for determining aerosol impacts on summer monsoons and climate systems.

scholarly journals Seasonal Responses of Indian Summer Monsoon to Dust Aerosols in the Middle East, India, and China

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (17) ◽  
pp. 6329-6349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinjian Jin ◽  
Zong-Liang Yang ◽  
Jiangfeng Wei
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Heating Effect ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Dust Aerosols ◽  
Northern India ◽  
Monsoon Flow ◽  
Seasonal Responses

Abstract The seasonal responses of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) to dust aerosols in local (the Thar Desert) and remote (the Middle East and western China) regions are studied using the WRF Model coupled with online chemistry (WRF-Chem). Ensemble experiments are designed by perturbing model physical and chemical schemes to examine the uncertainties of model parameterizations. Model results show that the dust-induced increase in ISM total rainfall can be attributed to the remote dust in the Middle East, while the contributions from local and remote dust are very limited. Convective rainfall shows a spatially more homogeneous increase than stratiform rainfall, whose responses follow the topography. The magnitude of dust-induced increase in rainfall is comparable to that caused by anthropogenic aerosols. The Middle East dust aerosols tend to enhance the southwesterly monsoon flow, which can transport more water vapor to southern and northern India, while the anthropogenic aerosols tend to enhance the southeasterly monsoon flow, resulting in more water vapor and rainfall over northern India. Both dust and anthropogenic aerosol-induced rainfall responses can be attributed to their heating effect in the mid-to-upper troposphere, which enhances monsoon circulations. The heating effect of dust over the Iranian Plateau seems to play a bigger role than that over the Tibetan Plateau, while the heating of anthropogenic aerosols over the Tibetan Plateau is more important. Moreover, dust aerosols can decrease rainfall over the Arabian Sea through their indirect effect. This study addresses the relative roles of dust and anthropogenic aerosols in altering the ISM rainfall and provides insights into aerosol–ISM interactions.

Dynamic and Thermodynamic Relations of Distinctive Stratus Clouds on the Lee Side of the Tibetan Plateau in the Cold Season

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (21) ◽  
pp. 8378-8391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Rucong Yu ◽  
Jian Li ◽  
Weihua Yuan ◽  
Minghua Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Cold Season ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Moist Air ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Stratus Clouds

Abstract Given the large discrepancies that exist in climate models for shortwave cloud forcing over eastern China (EC), the dynamic (vertical motion and horizontal circulation) and thermodynamic (stability) relations of stratus clouds and the associated cloud radiative forcing in the cold season are examined. Unlike the stratus clouds over the southeastern Pacific Ocean (as a representative of marine boundary stratus), where thermodynamic forcing plays a primary role, the stratus clouds over EC are affected by both dynamic and thermodynamic factors. The Tibetan Plateau (TP)-forced low-level large-scale lifting and high stability over EC favor the accumulation of abundant saturated moist air, which contributes to the formation of stratus clouds. The TP slows down the westerly overflow through a frictional effect, resulting in midlevel divergence, and forces the low-level surrounding flows, resulting in convergence. Both midlevel divergence and low-level convergence sustain a rising motion and vertical water vapor transport over EC. The surface cold air is advected from the Siberian high by the surrounding northerly flow, causing low-level cooling. The cooling effect is enhanced by the blocking of the YunGui Plateau. The southwesterly wind carrying warm, moist air from the east Bay of Bengal is uplifted by the HengDuan Mountains via topographical forcing; the midtropospheric westerly flow further advects the warm air downstream of the TP, moistening and warming the middle troposphere on the lee side of the TP. The low-level cooling and midlevel warming together increase the stability. The favorable dynamic and thermodynamic large-scale environment allows for the formation of stratus clouds over EC during the cold season.

scholarly journals Sub-seasonal Variability in the Boundary Layer Sources for Transport into the Tropopause Layer in the Asian Monsoon Region

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Chen ◽  
Bärbel Vogel ◽  
Xiangde Xu ◽  
Shuai Yang
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Mass Transport ◽  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Southern Slope ◽  
Seasonal Behavior ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
Source Regions ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. The Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is associated with an upper-level anticyclone and acts as a well-recognized conduit for troposphere-to-stratosphere transport. The Lagrangian dispersion and transport model FLEXPART forced by ERA-Interim data from 2001–2013 was used to perform climatological modeling of the summer season (May–July). This study examines the properties of the air mass transport from the atmospheric boundary layer (BL) to the tropopause layer (TL), with particular focus on the sub-seasonal variability in the tracer-independent BL sources and the potential controlling mechanisms. The results show that, climatologically, the three most impactful BL source regions are northern India, the Tibetan Plateau, and the southern slope of the Himalayas. These regions are consistent with the locations of sources identified in previous studies. However, upon closer inspection, the different source regions to the BL-to-TL air mass transport are not constant in location or shape and are strongly affected by sub-seasonal variability. The contributions from the Tibetan Plateau are most significant in early May but decrease slightly in mid-May to mid-June. In contrast, the contributions from India and the southern slope of the Himalayas increase dramatically, with peak values occurring in mid-July. Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis provides further evidence that the BL sources in the ASM region vary across a wide range of spatiotemporal scales. The sub-seasonal behavior of these BL sources is closely related to the strength of persistent deep convection activity over the northern Bay of Bengal and its neighboring areas.

scholarly journals Summer dust aerosols detected from CALIPSO over the Tibetan Plateau

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianping Huang ◽  
Patrick Minnis ◽  
Yuhong Yi ◽  
Qiang Tang ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Dust Aerosols

Anthropogenic Aerosol Pollution over the Eastern Slope of the Tibetan Plateau

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 847-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Jia ◽  
Min Luo ◽  
Yuzhi Liu ◽  
Qingzhe Zhu ◽  
Shan Hua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Eastern Slope ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Pollution

scholarly journals Air pollution slows down surface warming over the Tibetan Plateau

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 881-899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aolin Jia ◽  
Shunlin Liang ◽  
Dongdong Wang ◽  
Bo Jiang ◽  
Xiaotong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Surface Warming

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a vital role in regional and global climate change. The TP has been undergoing significant surface warming starting from 1850, with an air temperature increase of 1.39 K and surface solar dimming resulting from decreased incident solar radiation. The causes and impacts of solar dimming on surface warming are unclear. In this study, long-term (from 1850 to 2015) surface downward radiation datasets over the TP are developed by integrating 18 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) models and satellite products. The validation results from two ground measurement networks show that the generated downward surface radiation datasets have a higher accuracy than the mean of multiple CMIP5 datasets and the fused datasets of reanalysis and satellite products. After analyzing the generated radiation data with four air temperature datasets, we found that downward shortwave radiation (DSR) remained stable before 1950 and then declined rapidly at a rate of −0.53 W m−2 per decade, and that the fastest decrease in DSR occurs in the southeastern TP. Evidence from site measurements, satellite observations, reanalysis, and model simulations suggested that the TP solar dimming was primarily driven by increased anthropogenic aerosols. The TP solar dimming is stronger in summer, at the same time that the increasing magnitude of the surface air temperature is the smallest. The cooling effect of solar dimming offsets surface warming on the TP by 0.80±0.28 K (48.6±17.3 %) in summer since 1850. It helps us understand the role of anthropogenic aerosols in climate warming and highlights the need for additional studies to be conducted to quantify the influence of air pollution on regional climate change over the TP.

scholarly journals Air pollution slows down surface warming over the Tibetan Plateau

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aolin Jia ◽  
Shunlin Liang ◽  
Dongdong Wang ◽  
Bo Jiang ◽  
Xiaotong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Surface Warming

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a vital role in regional and global climate change. The TP has been undergoing significant surface warming since 1850, with an air temperature increase of 1.39 K and surface solar dimming resulting from decreased incident solar radiation. The causes and impacts of solar dimming on surface warming are unclear. In this study, long-term (from 1850–2015) surface downward radiation datasets over the TP are developed by integrating 18 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models and satellite products. The validation results from two ground measurement networks show that the generated downward surface radiation datasets have higher accuracy than the mean of multiple CMIP5 and the fused datasets of reanalysis and satellite products. After analyzing the generated radiation data with four air temperature datasets, we found that downward shortwave radiation (DSR) remained stable before 1950 and then declined rapidly at a rate of −0.53 W m−2 per decade and that the fastest decrease in DSR is in the southeastern TP. Evidence from site measurements, satellite observations, reanalysis, and model simulations suggested that TP solar dimming was primarily driven by increased anthropogenic aerosols. The TP solar dimming is stronger in summer, at the same time that the increasing magnitude of the surface air temperature is the smallest. The cooling effect of solar dimming offsets surface warming on the TP by 0.80 ± 0.28 K (48.6 ± 17.3 %) in summer. It helps us understand the role of anthropogenic aerosols in climate warming, and highlights the need for additional studies to be conducted to quantify the influence of air pollution on regional climate change over the TP.

scholarly journals Differences in Cloud Vertical Structures between the Tibetan Plateau and Eastern China Plains during Rainy Season as Measured by CloudSat/CALIPSO

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingjian Yi
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Probability Density ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Cloud Development ◽  
Elevated Surface ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds ◽  
Cloud Thickness

Cloud vertical structures over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and Eastern China Plains (ECP) were analyzed by using data in rainy seasons from 2006 to 2009, in order to clarify the cloud development over adjacent regions but with distinct topographies. Results indicate that the largest occurrences of cloud top height over the TP are at 7-8 km above mean sea level, which is about 4 km lower than that over the ECP. Mixed-phase clouds dominated more than 30% over the TP, while it is lower than 10% over the ECP. The infrequent mixed-phase clouds over the ECP are attributed to the unique dynamic and moisture situations over the downstream areas of the TP. Ice clouds have similar occurrences over the two regions. The prominent distinctions are manifested by the probability density of cloud thickness. The probability density of cloud thickness around 4–8 km is about 2% higher over the TP than the ECP. However, there is almost no ice cloud thicker than 10 km over the TP, while it is about 1% over the ECP. Compared with those over the ECP, every cloud layer within multilayered clouds is generally higher and thinner over the TP, which is closely related to the elevated surface and the resulting thinner troposphere. The significant differences in cloud vertical structures between the TP and the ECP present in this study emphasize that topographical characteristics and the resulting moisture and circulation conditions have strong impacts on the cloud vertical structures.

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