Research progress on the water vapor channel within the Yarlung Zsangbo Grand Canyon, China

The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program tasked a research team with the“Investigation of the water vapor channel of the Yarlung Zsangbo Grand Canyon(INVC)”in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau(TP).This paper summarizes the scientific achievements obtained from the data collected by the INVC observation network and highlights the progress in investigating the development of heavy rainfall events associated with water vapor changes.The rain gauge network of the INVC can represent the impacts of the Yarlung Zsangbo Grand Canyon(YGC)topography on precipitation at the hourly scale.The microphysical characteristics of the precipitation in the YGC are different than those in the lowland area.The GPM-IMERG(Integrated MultisatellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement)satellite precipitation data for the YGC region should be calibrated before they are used.The meridional water vapor flux through the YGC is more important than the zonal flux for the precipitation over the southeastern TP.The decreased precipitation around the YGC region is partly due to the decreased meridional water vapor flux passing through the YGC.High-resolution numerical models can benefit precipitation forecasting in this region by using a combination of specific schemes that capture the valley wind and water vapor flux along the valley floor.

TP-PROFILE: Monitoring the Thermodynamic Structure of the Troposphere over the Third Pole

Ground-based microwave radiometers(MWRs)operating in the K-and V-bands(20–60 GHz)can help us obtain temperature and humidity profiles in the troposphere.Aside from some soundings from local meteorological observatories,the tropospheric atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau(TP)has never been continuously observed.As part of the Chinese Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program(STEP),the Tibetan Plateau Atmospheric Profile(TPPROFILE)project aims to construct a comprehensive MWR troposphere observation network to study the synoptic processes and environmental changes on the TP.This initiative has collected three years of data from the MWR network.This paper introduces the data information,the data quality,and data downloading.Some applications of the data obtained from these MWRs were also demonstrated.Our comparisons of MWR against the nearest radiosonde observation demonstrate that the TP-PROFILE MWR system is adequate for monitoring the thermal and moisture variability of the troposphere over the TP.The continuous temperature and moisture profiles derived from the MWR data provide a unique perspective on the evolution of the thermodynamic structure associated with the heating of the TP.The TP-PROFILE project reveals that the low-temporal resolution instruments are prone to large uncertainties in their vapor estimation in the mountain valleys on the TP.

青藏高原六套陆面蒸散发产品的评估

鉴于基于卫星遥感和地面观测开发出的不同时空分辨率蒸散发(ET)产品在青藏高原(TP)仍存在不确定性,从而限制了这些产品在水文气象和气候评估方面的应用。本文基于涡动观测的ET对六种ET产品(PML、EB-ET_V2、GLEAM、GLDAS、ERA5_Land和MOD16)进行评估并比较各产品之间的差异,对TP区域ET产品不确定性做了分析。结果表明:(1)观测值与对应像元ET值之间的年平均态和季节循环存在较好的相关性、一致性。GLEAM产品与观测值吻合度较高并拥有适用性;MOD16产品在大部分站点性能较差。(2)在季节性变化方面,春季ERA5_Land产品与观测的变化较为一致;夏季和冬季GLEAM产品与观测的变化更为接近,而EB-ET_V2产品在秋季表现更有优势。(3)在空间上,GLEAM、EB-ET_V2产品和GLDAS产品存在更高的相关性(相关系数R>0.88)和一致性(一致性指数IOA>0.89);各产品季节时空分布有较大的差异,尤其是春季;相对其他产品,MOD16产品在大部分区域夏季低估且冬季高估。(4)除MOD16外的各产品年平均ET大小相差较大,多年平均的高原ET大小排序为ERA5_Land(401.46 mm a^(-1))>PML(334.37 mm a^(-1))>GLEAM(298.46 mm a^(-1))>EB-ET_V2(271.39 mm a^(-1))>GLDAS(249.67 mm a^(-1)),六套产品估算的青藏高原的总体年蒸发量为330.59 mm a^(-1)。青藏高原不同蒸发产品的比较有助于对高原蒸发的动态变化有更深入的了解,可以为青藏高原水资源评估和区域水管理提供参考。

Characteristics of land-atmosphere energy and turbulentfluxes over the plateau steppe in central Tibetan Plateau

The land-atmosphere energy and turbulence exchange is key to understanding land surface processes on the Tibetan Plateau(TP). Using observed data for Aug. 4 to Dec. 3, 2012 from the Bujiao observation point(BJ) of the Nagqu Plateau Climate and Environment Station(NPCE-BJ), different characteristics of the energy flux during the Asian summer monsoon(ASM) season and post-monsoon period were analyzed. This study outlines the impact of the ASM on energy fluxes in the central TP. It also demonstrates that the surface energy closure rate during the ASM season is higher than that of the post-monsoon period. Footprint modeling shows the distribution of data quality assessments(QA) and quality controls(QC) surrounding the observation point. The measured turbulent flux data at the NPCE-BJ site were highly representative of the target land-use type. The target surface contributed more to the fluxes under unstable conditions than under stable conditions. The main wind directions(180° and 210°) with the highest data density showed flux contributions reaching 100%, even under stable conditions. The lowest flux contributions were found in sectors with low data density, e.g., 90.4% in the 360° sector under stable conditions during the ASM season. Lastly, a surface energy water balance(SEWAB) model was used to gap-fill any absent or corrected turbulence data. The potential simulation error was also explored in this study. The Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficients(NSEs) of the observed fluxes with the SEWAB model runs were 0.78 for sensible heat flux and 0.63 for latent heat flux during the ASM season, but unrealistic values of-0.9 for latent heat flux during the post-monsoon period.

Strengthening the three-dimensional comprehensive observation system of multi-layer interaction on the Tibetan Plateau to cope with the warming and wetting trend

Changes in the water cycle on the Tibetan Plateau(TP)have a significant impact on local agricultural production and livelihoods and its downstream regions.Against the background of widely reported warming and wetting,the hydrological cycle has accelerated and the likelihood of extreme weather events and natural disasters occurring(i.e.,snowstorms,floods,landslides,mudslides,and ice avalanches)has also intensified,especially in the highelevation mountainous regions.Thus,an accurate estimation of the intensity and variation of each component of the water cycle is an urgent scientific question for the assessment of plateau environmental changes.Following the transformation and movement of water between the atmosphere,biosphere and hydrosphere,the authors highlight the urgent need to strengthen the three-dimensional comprehensive observation system(including the eddy covariance system;planetary boundary layer tower;profile measurements of temperature,humidity,and wind by microwave radiometers,wind profiler,and radiosonde system;and cloud and precipitation radars)in the TP region and propose a practical implementation plan.The construction of such a three-dimensional observation system is expected to promote the study of environmental changes and natural hazards prevention.

两倍的青藏高原蒸散发增长速率

Estimation of evapotranspiration(ET_(a))change on the Tibetan Plateau(TP)is essential to address the water requirement of billions of people surrounding the TP.Existing studies have shown that ET_(a)estimations on the TP have a very large uncertainty.In this article,we discuss how to more accurately quantify ET_(a)amount and explain its change on the TP.ET_(a)change on the TP can be quantified and explained based on an ensemble mean product from climate model simulations,reanalysis,as well as ground-based and satellite observations.ET_(a)on the TP experienced a significant increasing trend of around 8.4±2.2 mm(10 a)^(-1)(mean±one standard deviation)during 1982–2018,approximately twice the rate of the global land ET_(a)(4.3±2.1 mm(10 a)^(-1)).Numerical attribution analysis revealed that a 53.8%TP area with the increased ET_(a)was caused by increased temperature and 23.1%part was due to soil moisture rising,because of the warming,melting cryosphere,and increased precipitation.The projected future increase in ET_(a)is expected to cause a continued acceleration of the water cycle until 2100.