Water Vapor Transport Processes on Asian Water Tower

Authors

ZHOU Tianjun, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
GAO Jing, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
ZHAO Yin, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
ZHANG Lixia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
ZHANG Wenxia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

Keywords

Asian Water Tower; water vapor transportation; monsoon; westerly; observation; numerical simulation

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The Tibetan Plateau is known as the "Asian Water Tower". In the past 50 years, global warming has accelerated the water cycle over the Asian Water Tower. The current understanding on the key processes of water vapor transport over the Asian Water Tower and the behind mechanisms are reviewed in this paper, via the climatology, long-term trend, and interannual variability, respectively. This review further suggests that it is urgent to understand the tempo-spatial changes, mechanisms, and impact of water vapor transport processes over the Asian Water Tower. Therefore, future research should improve capabilities on observation, diagnosis, dynamical mechanism, detection and attribution, as well as numerical simulation.

First page

1210

Last Page

1219

Language

Chinese

Publisher

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences

References

Yao T, Thompson L G, Yang W, et al. Different glacier status with atmospheric circulations in Tibetan Plateau and surroundings. Nature Climate Change, 2012, 2(9):663-667.

Immerzeel W W, Beek L P H V, Bierkens M F P. Climate change will affect the Asian Water Towers. Science, 2010, 328:1382-1385.

Xu X, Lu C, Shi X, et al. World water tower:an atmospheric perspective. Geophysical Research Letters, 2008, 35(20):525-530.

徐祥德, 赵天良, Lu C, 等.青藏高原大气水分循环特征.气象学报, 2014, 72(6):1079-1095.

陈德亮, 徐柏青, 姚檀栋, 等.青藏高原环境变化科学评估:过去、现在与未来.科学通报, 2015, 60:3025-3035.

Kuang X, Jiao J J. Review on climate change on the Tibetan Plateau during the last half century. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2016, 121:3979-4007.

Gao J, Yao T D, Masson-Delmotte V, et al. Collapsing glaciers threaten Asia's water supplies. Nature, 2019, 565:19-21.

Feng L, Zhou T J. Water vapor transport for summer precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau:Multidata set analysis. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2012, 117:D20114.

Zhang C, Tang Q H, Chen D L, et al. Moisture source changes contributed to different precipitation changes over the northern and southern Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 2019, 20:217-229.

Chen B, Xu X D, Yang S, et al. On the origin and destination of atmospheric moisture and air mass over the Tibetan Plateau. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2012, 110:423-435.

Pan C, Zhu B, Gao J H, et al. Quantitative identification of moisture sources over the Tibetan Plateau and the relationship between thermal forcing and moisture transport. Climate Dynamics, 2019, 52:181-196.

张文霞, 张丽霞, 周天军.雅鲁藏布江流域夏季降水的年际变化及其原因.大气科学, 2016, 40(5):965-980.

Xu X, Zhao T L, Lu C, et al. An important mechanism sustaining the atmospheric "water tower" over the Tibetan Plateau. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2014, 14(20):11287-11295.

Dong W H, Lin Y L, Wright J S, et al. Summer rainfall over the southwestern Tibetan Plateau controlled by deep convection over the Indian subcontinent. Nature Communications, 2016, 7(1):10925.

Dong W, Lin Y, Wright J S, et al. Connections Between a Late Summer Snowstorm Over the Southwestern Tibetan Plateau and a Concurrent Indian Monsoon Low-Pressure System. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2018, 123(24):11-18.

Lin C, Chen D, Yang K, et al. Impact of model resolution on simulating the water vapor transport through the central Himalayas:implication for models' wet bias over the Tibetan Plateau. Climate Dynamics, 2018, 20:3195-3207.

Zhou X, Yang K, Beljaars A, et al. Dynamical impact of parameterized turbulent orographic form drag on the simulation of winter precipitation over the western Tibetan Plateau. Climate Dynamics, 2019, 19:707-720.

Wang Y, Yang K, Zhou X, et al. The Formation of a Dry-Belt in the North Side of Central Himalaya Mountains. Geophysical Research Letters, 2019, 46(5):2993-3000.

Yao T, Xue Y, Chen D, et al. Recent third pole's rapid warming accompanies cryospheric melt and water cycle intensification and interactions between monsoon and environment:multidisciplinary approach with observations, modeling, and analysis. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2019, 100(3):423-444.

Zhang C, Tang Q H, Chen D L. Recent changes in the moisture source of precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Climate, 2017, 30:1807-1819.

Gao Y H, Cuo L, Zhang Y. Changes in moisture flux over the Tibetan Plateau during 1979-2011 and possible mechanisms. Journal of Climate, 2014, 27(5):1876-1893.

Zhang W X, Zhou T J, Zhang L X. Wetting and greening Tibetan Plateau in early summer in recent decades. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2017:122.

Wang Z, Duan A, Yang S, et al. Atmospheric moisture budget and its regulation on the variability of summer precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2017, 122:614-630.

Jiang X, Ting M. A Dipole Pattern of Summertime Rainfall across the Indian Subcontinent and the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Climate, 2017, 30(23):9607-9620.

Zhou C, Zhao P, Chen J, et al. The Interdecadal Change of Summer Water Vapor over the Tibetan Plateau and Associated Mechanisms. Journal of Climate, 2019, 32(13):4103-4119.

姚檀栋, 丁良福, 蒲健辰, 等.青藏高原唐古拉地区降雪中δ ¹⁸O特征及其与水汽来源的关系.科学通报, 1991, 36(20):1570-1573.

康世昌, 秦大河, 任贾文, 等.青藏高原南部冰芯记录与大气环流的关系.第四纪研究, 2006, 26(2):153-164.

Tan M. Circulation effect:response of precipitation δ ¹⁸O to the ENSO cycle in monsoon regions of China. Climate Dynamics, 2014, 42(3-4):1067-1077.

Yao T D, Masson-Delmottev V, Gao J, et al. A review of climatic controls on δ ¹⁸O in precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau:Observations and simulations. Reviews of Geophysics, 2013, 51(4):111-119.

Gao J, Masson-Delmotte V, Risi C, et al. What controls precipitation delta O-18 in the southern Tibetan Plateau at seasonal and intra-seasonal scales? A case study at Lhasa and Nyalam. Tellus Series B-Chemical and Physical Meteorology, 2013, 65:14.

He Y, Gao J, Yao T, et al. Spatial distribution of stable isotope in precipitation upon the Tibetan Plateau analyzed with various interpolation methods. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 2015, 37(2):351-359.

Zhao H B, Xu B Q, Li Z, et al. Abundant climatic information in water stable isotope record from a maritime glacier on southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Climate Dynamics, 2017, 48:1161-1171.

Yang X X, Yao T D, Zhao D J, et al. Possible ENSO influences on the northwestern Tibetan Plateau revealed from annually resolved ice core records. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2018, 123:3857-3870.

Yu W, Yao T, Tian L, et al., Short-term variability in the dates of the Indian monsoon onset and retreat on the southern and northern slopes of the central Himalayas as determined by precipitation stable isotopes. Climate Dynamics, 2016, 7(1-2):159-172.

Recommended Citation

Tianjun, ZHOU; Jing, GAO; Yin, ZHAO; Lixia, ZHANG; and Wenxia, ZHANG (2019) "Water Vapor Transport Processes on Asian Water Tower," Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version): Vol. 34 : Iss. 11 , Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.16418/j.issn.1000-3045.2019.11.004
Available at: https://bulletinofcas.researchcommons.org/journal/vol34/iss11/2