Impacts of regional uplift of the Tibetan Plateau on local summer precipitation and downstream moisture budget: A simulation study

• Published in: International journal of climatology 2022-12, Vol.42 (16), p.8882-8903
• Main Authors: Yang, Kai, Chen, Jinghua, Lu, Chunsong, Li, Junjun, Liu, Tianyu, Deng, Liping, Li, Yanwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anticyclones; Climate variability; Cloud formation; Clouds; Convective clouds; Downstream; East Asian monsoon; Latitude; Local precipitation; Moisture; Moisture budget; Moisture effects; moisture transport; Monsoons; Plateaus; Precipitation; Rainfall; Regional climates; Slopes; South Asian High; Summer; Summer monsoon; Summer precipitation; terrain uplift; Tibetan Plateau; Topographic effects; Topography; Troposphere; Uplift; Water supply; Water vapor; Water vapor transport; Water vapour; Weather forecasting; Wind; Yangtze River Delta
• ISSN: 0899-8418; 1097-0088
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.7781

Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, a series of sensitivity experiments were conducted to study the individual and overall effects of the various topographic uplifts of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) on regional climate variability. The presence of the southern slope of the TP facilitates the maintenance and development of the South Asia High (SAH), which produces a positive cyclic response between local precipitation and SAH, so that the northern branch of the South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) maintains the water vapor supply. At the same time, the southern slope of the TP has a positive effect on the mid‐latitude tropospheric anomalous cyclone and anticyclone systems which promotes the downstream advancement of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and is favourable for the transfer of water vapor and convective clouds downstream. The role of the TP platform is mainly due to the lifting of moisture generated by its local heating, which favours the formation of local convective clouds and precipitation while causing nonadiabatic warming of the troposphere. Water vapor transported from the TP could affect precipitation in central‐eastern China (CEC). However, the supply of water vapor in Southern East China (SEC) mainly comes from the southeast coast of China. The Tibetan Plateau sensitive areas (TPSA) have impacts on the water vapor transport path. Removing the TPSA favours an increase in precipitation and convective clouds in SEC. The removal of topographic disturbances favours the convergence and dispersion of water vapor at mid‐latitudes. The mid‐latitude dynamical anomaly may form a standoff with the low‐latitude dynamical system. This leads to inefficient precipitation and convective generation processes, a weakened monsoon advance over land, and a southward shift in the rainfall belt. Topography (m) of the WRF domain and the selected regions: SEC, CEC and ETP (marked with boxes).