Editorial Type:
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Article Type:
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Changes in Moisture Flux over the Tibetan Plateau during 1979–2011 and Possible Mechanisms

Yanhong Gao Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China

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Lan Cuo Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environmental Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

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Yongxin Zhang Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

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Print Publication:
01 Mar 2014
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00321.1
Page(s):
1876–1893
Restricted access

Abstract

Changes in moisture as represented by P − E (precipitation − evapotranspiration) and the possible causes over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during 1979–2011 are examined based on the Global Land Data Assimilation Systems (GLDAS) ensemble mean runoff and reanalyses. It is found that the TP is getting wetter as a whole but with large spatial variations. The climatologically humid southeastern TP is getting drier while the vast arid and semiarid northwestern TP is getting wetter. The Clausius–Clapeyron relation cannot be used to explain the changes in P − E over the TP.

Through decomposing the changes in P − E into three major components—dynamic, thermodynamic, and transient eddy components—it is noted that the dynamic component plays a key role in the changes of P − E over the TP. The thermodynamic component contributes positively over the southern and central TP whereas the transient eddy component tends to reinforce (offset) the dynamic component over the southern and parts of the northern TP (central TP).

Seasonally, the dynamic component contributes substantially to changes in P − E during the wet season, with small contributions from the thermodynamic and transient eddy components. Further analyses reveal the poleward shift of the East Asian westerly jet stream by 0.7° and poleward moisture transport as well as the intensification of the summer monsoon circulation due to global warming, which are shown to be responsible for the general wetting trend over the TP. It is further demonstrated that changes in local circulations that occur due to the differential heating of the TP and its surroundings are responsible for the spatially varying changes in moisture over the TP.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Yanhong Gao, 320 Donggang West Rd., Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China. E-mail: gaoyh@lzb.ac.cn

Abstract

Changes in moisture as represented by P − E (precipitation − evapotranspiration) and the possible causes over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during 1979–2011 are examined based on the Global Land Data Assimilation Systems (GLDAS) ensemble mean runoff and reanalyses. It is found that the TP is getting wetter as a whole but with large spatial variations. The climatologically humid southeastern TP is getting drier while the vast arid and semiarid northwestern TP is getting wetter. The Clausius–Clapeyron relation cannot be used to explain the changes in P − E over the TP.

Through decomposing the changes in P − E into three major components—dynamic, thermodynamic, and transient eddy components—it is noted that the dynamic component plays a key role in the changes of P − E over the TP. The thermodynamic component contributes positively over the southern and central TP whereas the transient eddy component tends to reinforce (offset) the dynamic component over the southern and parts of the northern TP (central TP).

Seasonally, the dynamic component contributes substantially to changes in P − E during the wet season, with small contributions from the thermodynamic and transient eddy components. Further analyses reveal the poleward shift of the East Asian westerly jet stream by 0.7° and poleward moisture transport as well as the intensification of the summer monsoon circulation due to global warming, which are shown to be responsible for the general wetting trend over the TP. It is further demonstrated that changes in local circulations that occur due to the differential heating of the TP and its surroundings are responsible for the spatially varying changes in moisture over the TP.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Yanhong Gao, 320 Donggang West Rd., Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China. E-mail: gaoyh@lzb.ac.cn
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