Changes in moisture flux over the Tibetan Plateau during 1979-2011: Insights from a high-resolution simulation

Net precipitation [precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P -- E)] changes between 1979 and 2011 from a high-resolution regional climate simulation and its reanalysis forcing are analyzed over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and compared to the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) product. The high-resolution simulation better resolves precipitation changes than its coarse-resolution forcing, which contributes dominantly to the improved P--E change in the regional simulation compared to the global reanalysis. Hence, the former may provide better insights about the drivers of P -- E changes. The mechanism behind the P -- E changes is explored by decomposing the column integrated moisture flux convergence into thermodynamic, dynamic, and transient eddy components. High-resolution climate simulation improves the spatial pattern of P -- E changes over the best available global reanalysis. High-resolution climate simulation also facilitates new and substantial findings regarding the role of thermodynamics and transient eddies in P -- E changes reflected in observed changes in major river basins fed by runoff from the TP. The analysis reveals the contrasting convergence/divergence changes between the northwestern and southeastern TP and feedback through latent heat release as an important mechanism leading to the mean P -- E changes in the TP.

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Author Gao, Yanhong
Leung, L.
Zhang, Yongxin
Cuo, Lan
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2015-05-15T00:00:00
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T19:06:14.710610
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:16689
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Gao, Yanhong, Leung, L., Zhang, Yongxin, Cuo, Lan. (2015). Changes in moisture flux over the Tibetan Plateau during 1979-2011: Insights from a high-resolution simulation. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d76111hv. Accessed 11 February 2025.

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