Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Changes in Moisture Flux over the Tibetan Plateau during 1979–2011: Insights from a High-Resolution Simulation

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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L. Ruby Leung Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington

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

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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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Print Publication:
15 May 2015
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00581.1
Page(s):
4185–4197
Restricted access

Abstract

Net precipitation [precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P − E)] changes between 1979 and 2011 from a high-resolution regional climate simulation and its reanalysis forcing are analyzed over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and compared to the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) product. The high-resolution simulation better resolves precipitation changes than its coarse-resolution forcing, which contributes dominantly to the improved P − E change in the regional simulation compared to the global reanalysis. Hence, the former may provide better insights about the drivers of P − E changes. The mechanism behind the P − E changes is explored by decomposing the column integrated moisture flux convergence into thermodynamic, dynamic, and transient eddy components. High-resolution climate simulation improves the spatial pattern of P − E changes over the best available global reanalysis. High-resolution climate simulation also facilitates new and substantial findings regarding the role of thermodynamics and transient eddies in P − E changes reflected in observed changes in major river basins fed by runoff from the TP. The analysis reveals the contrasting convergence/divergence changes between the northwestern and southeastern TP and feedback through latent heat release as an important mechanism leading to the mean P − E changes in the TP.

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

Abstract

Net precipitation [precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P − E)] changes between 1979 and 2011 from a high-resolution regional climate simulation and its reanalysis forcing are analyzed over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and compared to the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) product. The high-resolution simulation better resolves precipitation changes than its coarse-resolution forcing, which contributes dominantly to the improved P − E change in the regional simulation compared to the global reanalysis. Hence, the former may provide better insights about the drivers of P − E changes. The mechanism behind the P − E changes is explored by decomposing the column integrated moisture flux convergence into thermodynamic, dynamic, and transient eddy components. High-resolution climate simulation improves the spatial pattern of P − E changes over the best available global reanalysis. High-resolution climate simulation also facilitates new and substantial findings regarding the role of thermodynamics and transient eddies in P − E changes reflected in observed changes in major river basins fed by runoff from the TP. The analysis reveals the contrasting convergence/divergence changes between the northwestern and southeastern TP and feedback through latent heat release as an important mechanism leading to the mean P − E changes in the TP.

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