Regional climate modeling to understand Tibetan heating remote impacts on East China precipitation

The Tibetan Plateau, as a major elevated heat source, plays a critical role in the Asian monsoon and global climate. Observational data revealed significant correlations between spring surface air temperature in the Tibetan Plateau and downstream summer precipitation interannual variations. Sensitivity experiments using the regional Climate-Weather Research and Forecasting model (CWRF) were conducted to understand the physical processes and mechanisms underlying such delayed teleconnections. A positive temperature forcing was imposed over the plateau on the surface and subsurface soil layers only at the initial conditions around May 1st, 2003. This regional forcing quickly induces positive perturbations in local air temperature and, more importantly, maintains its signal in local soil, especially deep layers, for several months. Consequently, the soil temperature serves as a charged capacitor to modulate the planetary atmospheric circulation and through Rossby wave chains to cause significant summer precipitation anomalies over broad regions. This relayed teleconnection pattern is consistent with that identified from observational data records and CWRF climate simulations during 1980-2015. Diagnostic analyses of observations and simulations suggest that the Tibetan Plateau heating significantly impacts summer East Asian monsoon climate through influencing the South Asian High and shifting the East Asian jet.

Automated summary

The Tibetan Plateau plays a critical role in the Asian monsoon and global climate by serving as a major heated source. Observational data has shown significant correlations between the plateau's spring surface air temperature and downstream summer precipitation interannual variations. The Tibetan Plateau's heating impacts summer East Asian monsoon climate through influencing the South Asian High and shifting the East Asian jet.