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Attribution of the Tibetan Plateau to Northern Drought
National Science Review ( IF 20.6 ) Pub Date : 2019-11-21 , DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwz191 Yuzhi Liu 1 , Yaohui Li 2 , Jianping Huang 1 , Qingzhe Zhu 1 , Shanshan Wang 2
National Science Review ( IF 20.6 ) Pub Date : 2019-11-21 , DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwz191 Yuzhi Liu 1 , Yaohui Li 2 , Jianping Huang 1 , Qingzhe Zhu 1 , Shanshan Wang 2
Affiliation
The Tibetan Plateau (TP), which is located in Asia and has an average elevation of over 4000 m, acts as a raised source of heat and an isolated region of humidity in the atmosphere. Previous studies have found that the eastward outflow of water vapor and clouds away from the TP contributes significantly to precipitation over downstream regions. However, the dynamic mechanism behind these observations is still unclear. Here, we propose a dynamic mechanism of the northern drought attributable to the TP in summer. The TP, similar to a very large engine, drives the nearby movement of water vapor, clouds, and aerosols. This “strengthening effect” controls precipitation near the TP and can trigger flooding or droughts in downstream regions. The northern drought is driven by the collocation of the subtropical westerly jet (SWJ) position and the TP strengthening effect. The meridional shift in the SWJ is the determining factor of the northern drought in summer. When the SWJ shifts northward, the upper-level westerly wind is weakened; thus, the water vapor, clouds or dusty clouds over the TP are transported to north less often, reducing precipitation and causing more frequent droughts. In contrast, when the SWJ shifts southward, the northern area of China experiences increased precipitation in summer. A new index established according to above dynamic mechanism can be used to improve the predictability of precipitation over the northern area and decadal climate prediction over the same area under a warming climate background.
更新日期：2019-11-22
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