scholarly journals Improved parameterization of snow albedo in Noah coupled with Weather Research and Forecasting: applicability to snow estimates for the Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 4967-4981
Author(s):  
Lian Liu ◽  
Yaoming Ma ◽  
Massimo Menenti ◽  
Rongmingzhu Su ◽  
Nan Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Snow Albedo

Abstract. Snow albedo is important to the land surface energy balance and to the water cycle. During snowfall and subsequent snowmelt, snow albedo is usually parameterized as functions of snow-related variables in land surface models. However, the default snow albedo scheme in the widely used Noah land surface model shows evident shortcomings in land–atmosphere interaction estimates during snow events on the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we demonstrate that our improved snow albedo scheme performs well after including snow depth as an additional factor. By coupling the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Noah models, this study comprehensively evaluates the performance of the improved snow albedo scheme in simulating eight snow events on the Tibetan Plateau. The modeling results are compared with WRF run with the default Noah scheme and in situ observations. The improved snow albedo scheme significantly outperforms the default Noah scheme in relation to air temperature, albedo and sensible heat flux estimates by alleviating cold bias estimates, albedo overestimates and sensible heat flux underestimates, respectively. This in turn contributes to more accurate reproductions of snow event evolution. The averaged root mean square error (RMSE) relative reductions (and relative increase in correlation coefficients) for air temperature, albedo, sensible heat flux and snow depth reach 27 % (5 %), 32 % (69 %), 13 % (17 %) and 21 % (108 %), respectively. These results demonstrate the strong potential of our improved snow albedo parameterization scheme for snow event simulations on the Tibetan Plateau. Our study provides a theoretical reference for researchers committed to further improving the snow albedo parameterization scheme.

scholarly journals Improved parameterization of snow albedo in WRF + Noah. Part II: Applicability to snow estimates for the Tibetan Plateau

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian Liu ◽  
Yaoming Ma ◽  
Massimo Menenti ◽  
Rongmingzhu Su ◽  
Nan Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Snow Depth ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Parameterization Scheme ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Snow Albedo

Abstract. Snow albedo is important to the land surface energy balance and to the water cycle. During snowfall and subsequent snowmelt, snow albedo is usually parameterized as functions of snow related variables in land surface models. However, the default snow albedo scheme in the widely used Noah land surface model shows evident shortcomings in land-atmosphere interactions estimates during snow events on the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we demonstrate that our improved snow albedo scheme performs well after including snow depth as an additional factor. By coupling the WRF and Noah models, this study comprehensively evaluates the performance of the improved snow albedo scheme in simulating eight snow events on the Tibetan Plateau. The modeling results are compared with WRF run with the default Noah scheme and in situ observations. The improved snow albedo scheme significantly outperforms the default Noah scheme in relation to air temperature, albedo and sensible heat flux estimates, by alleviating cold bias estimates, albedo overestimates and sensible heat flux underestimates, respectively. This in turn contributes to more accurate reproductions of snow event evolution. The averaged RMSE relative reductions (and relative increase in correlation coefficients) for air temperature, albedo, sensible heat flux and snow depth reach 27 % (5 %), 32 % (69 %), 13 % (17 %) and 21 % (108 %) respectively. These results demonstrate the strong potential of our improved snow albedo parameterization scheme for snow event simulations on the Tibetan Plateau. Our study provides a theoretical reference for researchers committed to further improving the snow albedo parameterization scheme.

Accelerated Changes of Environmental Conditions on the Tibetan Plateau Caused by Climate Change

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (24) ◽  
pp. 6540-6550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Zhong ◽  
Zhongbo Su ◽  
Yaoming Ma ◽  
Mhd. Suhyb Salama ◽  
José A. Sobrino
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Asian Monsoon ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Land Surface Parameters

Abstract Variations of land surface parameters over the Tibetan Plateau have great importance on local energy and water cycles, the Asian monsoon, and climate change studies. In this paper, the NOAA/NASA Pathfinder Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Land (PAL) dataset is used to retrieve the land surface temperature (LST), the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and albedo, from 1982 to 2000. Simultaneously, meteorological parameters and land surface heat fluxes are acquired from the 40-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40) dataset and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), respectively. Results show that from 1982 to 2000 both the LST and the surface air temperature increased on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The rate of increase of the LST was 0.26±0.16 K decade−1 and that of the surface air temperature was 0.29 ± 0.16 K decade−1, which exceeded the increase in the Northern Hemisphere (0.054 K decade−1). The plateau-wide annual mean precipitation increased at 2.54 mm decade−1, which indicates that the TP is becoming wetter. The 10-m wind speed decreased at about 0.05±0.03 m s−1 decade−1 from 1982 to 2000, which manifests a steady decline of the Asian monsoon wind. Due to the diminishing ground–air temperature gradient and subdued surface wind speed, the sensible heat flux showed a decline of 3.37 ± 2.19 W m−2 decade−1. The seasonal cycle of land surface parameters could clearly be linked to the patterns of the Asian monsoon. The spatial patterns of sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, and their variance could also be recognized.

Estimation of Land Surface Heat Fluxes over the Tibetan Plateau Using GMS Data

2007 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichiro Oku ◽  
Hirohiko Ishikawa ◽  
Zhongbo Su
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Surface Heat Fluxes ◽  
Diurnal Range

Abstract A Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) originally developed for the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer was applied to Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS)-5 Visible/Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer data that were supplemented with other meteorological data. GMS-5, which is a geostationary satellite, recorded continuous hourly information. Surface temperatures obtained from the GMS-5 data were entered into SEBS to estimate the hourly regional distribution of the surface heat fluxes over the Tibetan Plateau. The estimated fluxes are verified by using corresponding field observations. The diurnal cycle of estimated fluxes agreed well with the field measurements. For example, the diurnal range of the estimated sensible heat flux decreases from June to August. This reflects the change of dry to wet surface characteristics resulting from frequent precipitation during the summer monsoon. Over the Tibetan Plateau, the diurnal range of the surface temperature is as large as the annual range, so that the resultant sensible heat flux has a large diurnal variation. Thus, the hourly estimation based on the GMS data may contribute to a better understanding of the land surface–atmosphere interaction in this critical area.

scholarly journals Method Development for Estimating Sensible Heat Flux over the Tibetan Plateau from CMA Data

2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (12) ◽  
pp. 2474-2486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Yang ◽  
Jun Qin ◽  
Xiaofeng Guo ◽  
Degang Zhou ◽  
Yaoming Ma
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Method Development ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Atmospheric Stability ◽  
Surface Energy Budget ◽  
New Method ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Hourly Data

Abstract To clarify the thermal forcing of the Tibetan Plateau, long-term coarse-temporal-resolution data from the China Meteorological Administration have been widely used to estimate surface sensible heat flux by bulk methods in many previous studies; however, these estimates have seldom been evaluated against observations. This study at first evaluates three widely used bulk schemes against Tibet instrumental flux data. The evaluation shows that large uncertainties exist in the heat flux estimated by these schemes; in particular, upward heat fluxes in winter may be significantly underestimated, because diurnal variations of atmospheric stability were not taken into account. To improve the estimate, a new method is developed to disaggregate coarse-resolution meteorological data to hourly according to statistical relationships derived from high-resolution experimental data, and then sensible heat flux is estimated from the hourly data by a well-validated flux scheme. Evaluations against heat flux observations in summer and against net radiation observations in winter indicate that the new method performs much better than previous schemes, and therefore it provides a robust basis for quantifying the Tibetan surface energy budget.

Elevation-dependent sensible heat flux trend over the Tibetan Plateau and its possible causes

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 3997-4009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihua Zhu ◽  
Gang Huang ◽  
Guangzhou Fan ◽  
Xia Qü ◽  
Zhibiao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat

scholarly journals Spatio-Temporal Trends of Surface Energy Budget in Tibet from Satellite Remote Sensing Observations and Reanalysis Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 256
Author(s):  
Usman Mazhar ◽  
Shuanggen Jin ◽  
Wentao Duan ◽  
Muhammad Bilal ◽  
Md. Arfan Ali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Latent Heat Flux ◽  
Energy Budget ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Being the highest and largest land mass of the earth, the Tibetan Plateau has a strong impact on the Asian climate especially on the Asian monsoon. With high downward solar radiation, the Tibetan Plateau is a climate sensitive region and the main water source for many rivers in South and East Asia. Although many studies have analyzed energy fluxes in the Tibetan Plateau, a long-term detailed spatio-temporal variability of all energy budget parameters is not clear for understanding the dynamics of the regional climate change. In this paper, satellite remote sensing and reanalysis data are used to quantify spatio-temporal trends of energy budget parameters, net radiation, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux over the Tibetan Plateau from 2001 to 2019. The validity of both data sources is analyzed from in situ ground measurements of the FluxNet micrometeorological tower network, which verifies that both datasets are valid and reliable. It is found that the trend of net radiation shows a slight increase. The latent heat flux increases continuously, while the sensible heat flux decreases continuously throughout the study period over the Tibetan Plateau. Varying energy fluxes in the Tibetan plateau will affect the regional hydrological cycle. Satellite LE product observation is limited to certain land covers. Thus, for larger spatial areas, reanalysis data is a more appropriate choice. Normalized difference vegetation index proves a useful indicator to explain the latent heat flux trend. Despite the reduction of sensible heat, the atmospheric temperature increases continuously resulting in the warming of the Tibetan Plateau. The opposite trend of sensible heat flux and air temperature is an interesting and explainable phenomenon. It is also concluded that the surface evaporative cooling is not the indicator of atmospheric cooling/warming. In the future, more work shall be done to explain the mechanism which involves the complete heat cycle in the Tibetan Plateau.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Heat Sources and Clouds over Eastern China and the Tibetan Plateau in Boreal Summer

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (18) ◽  
pp. 7279-7296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinghua Chen ◽  
Xiaoqing Wu ◽  
Yan Yin ◽  
Hui Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Cloud Water ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Upward Motion ◽  
Surface Sensible Heat Flux

Abstract In this study, the summer clouds and precipitation over eastern China and the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are examined by analyzing the satellite observations and the apparent heat source Q1 and moisture sink Q2 computed from the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis. The vertically integrated [Q1] and [Q2] and precipitation have similar interannual variations in eastern China, revealing the important contribution from the condensation process. This relationship is weakened in east TP (ETP) because of the contribution of the surface sensible heat flux. In west TP (WTP), [Q1] is negatively correlated with precipitation because the surface sensible heat flux can be sharply weakened by the decrease of ground–air temperature difference due to rainfall. High clouds and deep convection are closely related with [Q1] and [Q2] over eastern China and ETP, while middle clouds and nimbostratus are responsible for the condensation over WTP. During the rainy summer, more convective rains and stronger upward motion appear in eastern China. Greater Q1 and Q2 and stronger upward motion present over ETP, while weaker Q1 and upward motion are observed over WTP in the rainy summer when compared to the dry summer. The cloud-water path over eastern China positively correlates with [Q1] and [Q2] over ETP. The deep convection over eastern China also positively correlates with the convection over ETP. These correlations suggest that moisture due to the evaporation of cloud water in anvil clouds detrained from the deep convection over ETP can be transported downstream and benefit the development of convection over eastern China.

scholarly journals Sensible heat flux estimated from one-level air temperature near the land surface

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Fitzmaurice ◽  
Jingfeng Wang ◽  
Rafael L. Bras
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Sensible Heat

scholarly journals Characteristics of the summer atmospheric boundary layer height over the Tibetan Plateau and influential factors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junhui Che ◽  
Ping Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Height Distribution ◽  
Sensible Heat

Abstract. Based on intensive sounding, surface sensible heat flux, solar radiation, and soil moisture observational datasets from the Third Tibetan Plateau Atmospheric Scientific Experiment and the routine meteorological operational sounding and total cloudiness datasets in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) for the period 2013–2015, we investigate the features of summer atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over the TP and its major influential factors. It is found that the convective boundary layer (CBL) and the neutral boundary layer (NBL) show remarkable diurnal variations over the TP, while the stable boundary layer (SBL) diurnal variation is weak. In the early morning, the ABL height distribution is narrow, with a small west-east difference. The SBL accounts for 85 % of the TP ABL. At noon, there is a wide distribution in the ABL height up to 4000 m. The CBL accounts for 77 % of the TP ABL, with more than 50 % of the CBL height above 1900 m. The ABL height exhibits a large west-east difference, with a mean height above 2000 m in the western TP and around 1500 m in the eastern TP. In the late afternoon, the CBL and SBL dominate the western and eastern TP, respectively, resulting in a larger west-east difference of 1054.2 m between the western and eastern TP. The high ABL height in a cold environment over the western TP (relative to the plain areas) is similar to that in some extreme hot and arid areas such as Dunhuang and Taklimakan Deserts. For the western (eastern) TP, there is low (high) total cloud coverage, with large (small) solar radiation at the surface and dry (wet) soil. These features result in high (low) sensible heat flux and thus promotes (inhibits) the local ABL development.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document