Characteristics and Formation Mechanism of the Cloud Vertical Structure Over the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau in Summer

Abstract

Cloud significantly impacts the Earth's radiation budget and is also a major source of uncertainty in global climate modeling (Bony et al., 2015;Ramanathan et al., 1989;Zhang et al., 2022). Cloud vertical structure (CVS), characterized by cloud top height (CTH), cloud base height (CBH), cloud thickness and the vertical distribution of multi-layer clouds, significantly impacts the atmospheric circulation by changing the net radiation budget and the energy redistribution at the top of the atmosphere (AT) (Chen et al., 2000;Slingo & Slingo, 1988;Xu et al., 2021). Studying CVS is the important prerequisite to better modeling the cloud feedback process and improving the performance of the general circulation models (Ovchinnikov et al.,

Warming Climate‐Induced Changes in Cloud Vertical Distribution Possibly Exacerbate Intra‐Atmospheric Heating Over the Tibetan Plateau

“…Ma et al. (2023) indicated that single‐layer cloud formation over the TP is closely tied to water vapor enhancement and significantly increases at 400 hPa, while two‐ and three‐layer clouds are associated with stronger South Asian High and vertical wind shear at 200 hPa, respectively.…”

“…Unsurprisingly, because of high topography of the TP, clouds with base heights above 6.5 km or cloud bases below 6.5 km but half (or more) of the cloud body above 6.5 km were prevalent (e.g., h, Hxh and hxM). Ma et al (2023) indicated that single-layer cloud formation over the TP is closely tied to water vapor enhancement and significantly increases at 400 hPa, while two-and three-layer clouds are associated with stronger South Asian High and vertical wind shear at 200 hPa, respectively. Regardless of the cloud fraction weights of different CVDs, almost all CVD categories generate strong negative shortwave CRE (exceeding 150 Wm 2 ), except H-type (only 26.14 Wm 2 ), and those with lower cloud base tend to exert stronger cooling effect (exceeding 200 Wm 2 ), especially for HxhxM (deep convective clouds, up to 458.94 Wm 2 ).…”