Spatio-Temporal Changes of Snow Cover and Its Relationship With Meteorological Factors on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

Abstract

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (TP) is one of the most sensitive areas to climate change, and its ecological environment changes directly or indirectly reflect the global climate change trend. The snow cover ratio (SCR) is an important indicator reflecting the climate and environmental changes of the TP. The daily remote sensing data of snow cover on the TP from 2003 to 2014 were used to study the spatio-temporal distribution of snow cover on the TP. The results have shown that the average snowmelt day on the TP starts on the 103rd day and ends on the 223rd day of a year, and the snowmelt duration has a downward trend. Snow is mainly distributed in the Nyainqentanglha Mountains, Karakoram Mountains and Himalayas. The SCR in summer has a downward trend, while in autumn has a rising trend. This shows that the difference in SCR during the year has enlarged, increasing the risk of snowmelt floods. The SCR is highly correlated with temperature, but weakly correlated with precipitation. Using the long-term remote sensing data of snow cover, the distribution of glacier coverage on the TP can be extracted, in which glaciers on the TP account for about 1%. This research provides an important reference for in-depth understanding of the snow cover changes on the TP and their impact on the environment.

Analysis of Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Vegetation Net Primary Productivity in the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2022

“…NPP serves as a vital parameter for assessing changes in terrestrial ecosystems and evaluating their sustainability [2][3][4]. It is one of the key indicators of the material foundation for ecosystem development [5,6] and plays a significant role in ecosystem assessment processes [7][8][9][10]. Furthermore, it is influenced by climate change [11][12][13][14].…”

Thunderstorm Activity over the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau Indicated by the Combined Data of the FY-2E Geostationary Satellite and WWLLN

“…In summer, the common weather systems over the QTP include the plateau shear line, vortex, and low trough [7][8][9]. Large-scale circulation combined with intense surface heating and active near-surface turbulence makes the convection activity very active over the QTP [4,10,11]. According to the "Atlas of China Disastrous Weather and Climate" issued by the Chinese Meteorological Administration [12], the central QTP presents approximately 80 thunderstorm days per year, and the number of thunderstorm days throughout the central and eastern QTP is apparently greater than those over Central and Eastern China at the same latitudes.…”

“…Studies directly focusing on the thunderstorm activity throughout the QTP are rare, but the existing studies based on the thunderstorm cases or concerned with the convection systems over the QTP have indicated that the characteristics of the thunderstorms over the QTP may be unique. For example, convective clouds over the QTP can constitute up to 90% of the total clouds in the central QTP [10,18], and the strong convective clouds over the QTP account for approximately 4-21% of cloud types, approximating five times that of other places in China [19]. Convective clouds over the QTP are typically isolated and have densely packed cloud tops, showing "popcorn-like" or "tower-mast-like" shapes [4,20,21].…”