What is the relationship between China summer precipitation and the change of apparent heat source over the Tibetan Plateau?

Xu, Xiangde; Lu, Chungu; Ding, Yihui; Shi, Xiaohui; Guo, Y.; Zhu, Wenhui

doi:10.1002/asl2.444

Cited by 54 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…These changes are no doubt a combination of natural variability and anthropogenic influences and are variable across the large territory of China. The collocation of the transition in China's large‐scale topography and southwesterly monsoonal flows leads to a climate‐fragile and environment‐fragile belt in China, which can experience drying or wetting trends depending on the increase or decrease in EASM variability [ Xu et al ., ]. The climate changes of China have been documented in many publications that are too numerous to list, but good summaries can be found in the IPCC reports [ IPCC , , , ], Ding et al .…”

Section: Aerosols and Climate Change In Asia: An Observational Perspementioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosol and monsoon climate interactions over Asia

Lau

Ramanathan

et al. 2016

Reviews of Geophysics

659

420

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The increasing severity of droughts/floods and worsening air quality from increasing aerosols in Asia monsoon regions are the two gravest threats facing over 60% of the world population living in Asian monsoon regions. These dual threats have fueled a large body of research in the last decade on the roles of aerosols in impacting Asian monsoon weather and climate. This paper provides a comprehensive review of studies on Asian aerosols, monsoons, and their interactions. The Asian monsoon region is a primary source of emissions of diverse species of aerosols from both anthropogenic and natural origins. The distributions of aerosol loading are strongly influenced by distinct weather and climatic regimes, which are, in turn, modulated by aerosol effects. On a continental scale, aerosols reduce surface insolation and weaken the land-ocean thermal contrast, thus inhibiting the development of monsoons. Locally, aerosol radiative effects alter the thermodynamic stability and convective potential of the lower atmosphere leading to reduced temperatures, increased atmospheric stability, and weakened wind and atmospheric circulations. The atmospheric thermodynamic state, which determines the formation of clouds, convection, and precipitation, may also be altered by aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nuclei. Absorbing aerosols such as black carbon and desert dust in Asian monsoon regions may also induce dynamical feedback processes, leading to a strengthening of the early monsoon and affecting the subsequent evolution of the monsoon. Many mechanisms have been put forth regarding how aerosols modulate the amplitude, frequency, intensity, and phase of different monsoon climate variables. A wide range of theoretical, observational, and modeling findings on the Asian monsoon, aerosols, and their interactions are synthesized. A new paradigm is proposed on investigating aerosol-monsoon interactions, in which natural aerosols such as desert dust, black carbon from biomass burning, and biogenic aerosols from vegetation are considered integral components of an intrinsic aerosol-monsoon climate system, subject to external forcing of global warming, anthropogenic aerosols, and land use and change. Future research on aerosol-monsoon interactions calls for an integrated approach and international collaborations based on long-term sustained observations, process measurements, and improved models, as well as using observations to constrain model simulations and projections.

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Section: Aerosols and Climate Change In Asia: An Observational Perspementioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosol and monsoon climate interactions over Asia

Lau

Ramanathan

et al. 2016

Reviews of Geophysics

659

420

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Tibetan Plateau, known as the Third Pole, is the highest plateau in the world with an average elevation above 4 km (Qiu, ). The latent and sensible heat over the Tibetan Plateau play a significant role on the weather and climate in the Asian monsoon region, even globally (Wu and Zhang, ; Liu and Chen, ; Wu et al , ; Xu et al , , ; Zhong et al , ; Zhu et al , ). As a strong heat source in the summer, it is thought that the Tibetan Plateau controls the Asian summer monsoon systems through thermal forcing (Liu et al , ; Wu et al , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of cloud cluster over the steep southern slopes of the Himalayas observed by CloudSat

Chen

Xian

et al. 2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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ABSRACT A cloud cluster (CC) dataset is presented using CloudSat Cloud Profile Radar (CPR) observations from June to August, between 2006 and 2010. The CCs were defined by grouping contiguous cloud pixels using a defined criteria, including reflectivity, ‘cloud mask’, and topographic information. The characteristics of identified CCs were then analysed. Based on the complex topography of the southern Himalayas, four adjacent regions were selected, including the flat Gangetic Plains (FGP), the foothills of the Himalayas (FHH), the steep slope of the southern Himalayas (SSSH), and the Himalayan‐Tibetan Plateau (HTPT). The characteristics of the CCs in the four regions were different, and the distribution of the cloud‐top height gradually changed from bimodal (3 and 15 km) over the FGP and FHH, to unimodal (7–9 km) over the HTPT. From the plain to the Plateau, the average cloud‐top height and cloud‐base height increased after an initial decrease. The maximum reflectivity increased from −6 (plain) to 2 dBZ (slope areas), and then decreased to −2 dBZ (Plateau), which suggests that the CCs may produce precipitation on the slope. Maximum CCs occurred over the FHH. The characteristics of the CCs also showed semidiurnal variation, which may have been affected by the variation of the monsoon and the circulation over the mountain valley. According to the physical principles of the cloud‐type definitions from ISCCP, high‐level cirrus, deep convective CCs, and mid‐ to low‐level CCs were categorized. As the elevation increased, the cloud‐top height of the mid‐ to low‐level CCs also significantly increased to 8 km, whereas the cloud‐top height of the high‐level cirrus clouds decreased. Our results suggest that the different characteristics of CCs may be caused by a strong upward motion interacting with the terrain of the Himalayas.

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“…And the diminished heat island effect on the TP serves to reduce the land-sea thermal contrast, resulting in a weakened monsoon and a "south floods north drought" pattern. Previous studies have shown that strong heating of the TP changes the structure of water vapor transport to East Asia, as well as the spatial and temporal variation of summer monsoon precipitation (Xu et al 2013).…”

Section: Connections To Rainstorm Activity In Eastern Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate modulation of summer rainstorm activity in eastern China based on the Tibetan Plateau spring heating

et al. 2020

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Rainstorm intensity and frequency in eastern China are closely associated with the Asian summer monsoon, one of the largest and most pronounced circulation systems on Earth. Changes in monsoon strength are linked to mechanical and thermal forcing by the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which, as an extensive elevated landmass, forms a vast heat source that protrudes into the free atmosphere. However, the impact of TP heating variability on rainstorm behavior in eastern China remains unclear. By analyzing 50 years of climate data, significant interannual variability was identified in the occurrence of rainstorms (precipitation amounts of > 50 mm), with decreased trend in northern China and increased variability in southern China. Results show that these changes are closely related with the springtime TP heating, indicating that recent changes in rainstorm distributions in eastern China are consistent with interdecadal variability in TP thermal forcing.

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What is the relationship between China summer precipitation and the change of apparent heat source over the Tibetan Plateau?

Cited by 54 publications

References 25 publications

Aerosol and monsoon climate interactions over Asia

Aerosol and monsoon climate interactions over Asia

Characteristics of cloud cluster over the steep southern slopes of the Himalayas observed by CloudSat

Climate modulation of summer rainstorm activity in eastern China based on the Tibetan Plateau spring heating

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