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Summer rainfall over the southwestern Tibetan Plateau controlled by deep convection over the Indian subcontinent

Author

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  • Wenhao Dong

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Yanluan Lin

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Jonathon S. Wright

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Yi Ming

    (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton/NOAA)

  • Yuanyu Xie

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Bin Wang

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China
    State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Science and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yong Luo

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Wenyu Huang

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Jianbin Huang

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Lei Wang

    (Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences)

  • Lide Tian

    (Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences)

  • Yiran Peng

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Fanghua Xu

    (Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Center for Earth System Science, and Joint Center for Global Change Studies (JCGCS), Tsinghua University, Room S813, MengMinwei Science Building, Qinghuayuan 1, Beijing 100084, China)

Abstract

Despite the importance of precipitation and moisture transport over the Tibetan Plateau for glacier mass balance, river runoff and local ecology, changes in these quantities remain highly uncertain and poorly understood. Here we use observational data and model simulations to explore the close relationship between summer rainfall variability over the southwestern Tibetan Plateau (SWTP) and that over central-eastern India (CEI), which exists despite the separation of these two regions by the Himalayas. We show that this relationship is maintained primarily by ‘up-and-over’ moisture transport, in which hydrometeors and moisture are lifted by convective storms over CEI and the Himalayan foothills and then swept over the SWTP by the mid-tropospheric circulation, rather than by upslope flow over the Himalayas. Sensitivity simulations confirm the importance of up-and-over transport at event scales, and an objective storm classification indicates that this pathway accounts for approximately half of total summer rainfall over the SWTP.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenhao Dong & Yanluan Lin & Jonathon S. Wright & Yi Ming & Yuanyu Xie & Bin Wang & Yong Luo & Wenyu Huang & Jianbin Huang & Lei Wang & Lide Tian & Yiran Peng & Fanghua Xu, 2016. "Summer rainfall over the southwestern Tibetan Plateau controlled by deep convection over the Indian subcontinent," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10925
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10925
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    Cited by:

    1. Junhua Yang & Shichang Kang & Deliang Chen & Lin Zhao & Zhenming Ji & Keqin Duan & Haijun Deng & Lekhendra Tripathee & Wentao Du & Mukesh Rai & Fangping Yan & Yuan Li & Robert R. Gillies, 2022. "South Asian black carbon is threatening the water sustainability of the Asian Water Tower," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.

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