Carbonaceous matter in the atmosphere and glaciers of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau: An investigative review

Carbonaceous matter, including organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC), is an important climate forcing agent and contributes to glacier retreat in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau (HTP). The HTP - the so-called "Third Pole" - contains the most extensive glacial area outside of the polar regions. Considerable research on carbonaceous matter in the HTP has been conducted, although this research has been challenging due to the complex terrain and strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity of carbonaceous matter in the HTP. A comprehensive investigation of published atmospheric and snow data for HTP carbonaceous matter concentration, deposition and light absorption is presented, including how these factors vary with time and other parameters. Carbonaceous matter concentrations in the atmosphere and glaciers of the HTP are found to be low. Analysis of water-insoluable organic carbon and BC from snowpits reveals that concentrations of OC and BC in the atmosphere and glacier samples in arid regions of the HTP may be overestimated due to contributions from inorganic carbon in mineral dust. Due to the remote nature of the HTP, carbonaceous matter found in the HTP has generally been transported from outside the HTP (e.g., South Asia), although local HTP emissions may also be important at some sites. This review provides essential data and a synthesis of current thinking for studies on atmospheric transport modeling and radiative forcing of carbonaceous matter in the HTP.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links N/A
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author Li, Chaoliu
Yan, Fangping
Kang, Shichang
Yan, Caiqing
Hu, Zhaofu
Chen, Pengfei
Gao, Shaopeng
Zhang, Chao
He, Cenlin
Kaspari, Susan
Stubbins, Aron
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2021-01-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:07:38.324356
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:23974
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Li, Chaoliu, Yan, Fangping, Kang, Shichang, Yan, Caiqing, Hu, Zhaofu, Chen, Pengfei, Gao, Shaopeng, Zhang, Chao, He, Cenlin, Kaspari, Susan, Stubbins, Aron. (2021). Carbonaceous matter in the atmosphere and glaciers of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau: An investigative review. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7pk0kgh. Accessed 11 February 2025.

Harvest Source