Journal
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
Volume 125, Issue 9, Pages -Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2019JD032133
Keywords
western Tibetan Plateau; precipitation variability; moisture sources; precipitating clouds; ENSO; midlatitude teleconnection
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Funding
- Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDB 40030205]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [91637312, 41730963]
- Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences [QYZDY-SSW-DQC018]
- SOA Program on Global Change and Air-Sea Interactions [GASI-IPOVAI-03]
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One of the heaviest precipitations over the Asian continent in winter is located in the western Tibetan Plateau (TP). In this study, the dynamics of the precipitation over the western TP (PWTP) in boreal winter and its interannual variability are explored. The moisture origins and paths are detected using a Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model. In climatology, the PWTP is generated as results of upward air motions on the windward side of the TP and ranges from 0.5 to 2.5 mm center dot day(-1). Under the influence of midlatitude westerlies and the subtropical high over the Arabian Peninsula, three key moisture sources (by percentage contribution) are identified: South Asia-North Indian Ocean (56.6%), Central Eurasia-North Africa (37.7%), and Central-North Atlantic (5.6%). The dominant precipitating cloud types are nimbostratus and stratus/stratocumulus derived from satellite data. On the interannual timescale, PWTP variation is closely associated with El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and midlatitude cyclones. ENSO warm events lead to an anomalous anticyclone over the tropical northwest Indian Ocean and intensify moisture transport northward in the lower troposphere, as well as abnormal divergence in upper troposphere. However, ENSO explains only about 38.1% of the PWTP variance. Midlatitude teleconnection also contributes to the PWTP variability, which is comparable to the effect of ENSO. The cyclones imbedded in the subtropical jet are part of the teleconnection, with an anticyclone upstream over the North Atlantic and an cyclone over the western TP. Further evidence suggests that the transient eddies in the North Atlantic help to maintain the teleconnection.
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