Impact of dust-polluted convective clouds over the Tibetan Plateau on downstream precipitation

Liu, Yuzhi; Qi, Zhu; Huang, Jianping; Su, Hua; Jia, Rui

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.04.001

Cited by 60 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…() confirmed the effects of aerosol activation on macroscopic characteristics and precipitation over long time scales. Meanwhile, model simulations (Khain et al ., , , ; Khain and Pokrovsky, ; Wang, ; Seifert and Beheng, ; Fan et al ., , ; Tao et al ., ; Lee et al ., ; Liu et al ., ) have confirmed this aerosol invigoration phenomenon. Thus, both observations and model simulations have shown that aerosol activation effects can affect clouds, precipitation, and even the general circulation.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Inconsistent aerosol indirect effects on water clouds and ice clouds over the Tibetan Plateau

Liu

Luo

et al. 2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Recently, satellites have observed that dust events are occurring more frequently over the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which implies a new issue of aerosols influencing cloud properties and presents a new challenge in research on the role of the TP in climate change. In this study, combining satellite observations with Climate Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) model simulations, the inconsistent aerosol indirect effects on the properties of water clouds and ice clouds over the TP are compared and quantified. Analyses of satellite observations show that, compared with water clouds, ice clouds are observed more frequently and are more significantly correlated with aerosols over the TP. Correspondingly, the aerosol effect on the radiative forcing of ice clouds is more significant than that on the forcing of water clouds, in which the aerosol indirect effect is dominated by the effect on the shortwave radiative forcing of ice clouds. Both observations and CMIP5 model simulation results show that, due to the variation of aerosols, changes in the ice cloud radiative forcing cover most of the TP, while changes in the water cloud radiative forcing mainly appear over the southern edge of the TP. The CMIP5 simulation results suggest that the aerosol indirect effect on the total radiative forcing of water clouds over the TP is −0.34 (±0.03) W⋅m−2, while that on the forcing of ice clouds is −0.73 (±0.03) W⋅m−2. Overall, both the model simulations and satellite results show that the indirect effect of aerosols on ice clouds is more pronounced than that on water clouds.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Inconsistent aerosol indirect effects on water clouds and ice clouds over the Tibetan Plateau

Liu

Luo

et al. 2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…Besides the impact of aerosols over the TP on the radiation budget, temperature and Indian summer monsoon, Liu et al (2019a) reported a potential relationship may exist between the aerosol index and ice cloud properties over the TP, in which the aerosols have a more dominant influence than meteorological conditions on ice cloud properties (except for the nocturnal ice cloud droplet radius and ice water path during the daytime). Furthermore, Liu et al (2019b) found the effect of the dust aerosols over the TP on the development of convective clouds and then movement of the some developed convective clouds could induce significant precipitation over the Yangtze River basin and North China. Attempts have been made to reveal the linkages between climate change (such as changes to glaciers and monsoons) and the air pollutants around the TP (mainly absorbing carbonaceous materials) (Qian et al, 2011;Lee et al, 2013;Jia et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A large amount of attention has been paid to aerosol characteristics over the TP (Wan et al, 2015;Tobo et al, 2007;Zhao et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2008;Du et al, 2015). Although the seasonal variations in aerosol properties over the TP have been analyzed based on ground-based observations or satellite products (Shen et al, 2015;Xia et al, 2008), analysis is needed of the long-term trends in the variation of aerosols over the TP to provide predictions and guidelines for environment policies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal variation of aerosol and potential long-range transport impact over the Tibetan Plateau, China

et al. 2019

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Abstract. The long-term temporal–spatial variations in the aerosol optical properties over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and the potential long-range transport from surrounding areas to the TP were analyzed in this work, by using multiple years of sun photometer measurements (CE318) at five stations in the TP, satellite aerosol products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP), back-trajectory analysis from the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) and model simulations from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS)-Chem chemistry transport model. The results from the ground-based observations showed that the annual aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 440 nm at most TP sites increased in recent decades with trends of 0.001±0.003 yr−1 at Lhasa, 0.013±0.003 yr−1 at Mt_WLG, 0.002±0.002 yr−1 at NAM_CO and 0.000±0.002 yr−1 at QOMS_CAS. The increasing trend was also found for the aerosol extinction Ångström exponent (EAE) at most sites with the exception of the Mt_WLG site. Spatially, the AOD at 550 nm observed from MODIS showed negative trends at the northwest edge close to the Taklimakan Desert and to the east of the Qaidam Basin and slightly positive trends in most of the other areas of the TP. Different aerosol types and sources contributed to a polluted day (with CE318 AOD at 440 nm > 0.4) at the five sites on the TP: dust was the dominant aerosol type in Lhasa, Mt_WLG and Muztagh with sources in the Taklimakan Desert, but fine-aerosol pollution was dominant at NAM_CO and QOMS_CAS with transport from South Asia. A case of aerosol pollution at Lhasa, NAM_CO and QOMS_CAS during 28 April–3 May 2016 revealed that the smoke aerosols from South Asia were lifted up to 10 km and transported to the TP, while the dust from the Taklimakan Desert could climb the north slope of the TP and then be transported to the central TP. The long-range transport of aerosol thereby seriously impacted the aerosol loading over the TP.

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“…For Central Asia, Klein et al (2013) evaluated the cloud water using medium-resolution remote sensing data. Additionally, there are some studies on cloud properties over other regions, such as the Tibetan Plateau (Zhao et al, 2014;Hua et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2019a;2019b) and China (Liu et al, 2004;Shang et al, 2017) in CEA. Under the background of global warming, some researchers have focused heavily on cloud property responses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cloud ability to produce precipitation over arid and semiarid regions of Central and East Asia

Liu

Luo

et al. 2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Distributed across Central and East Asia (CEA) is the largest arid and semiarid (ASA) region where the air water resources are highly significant. In this study, the cloud water resources and ability of clouds to produce precipitation over the ASA region in CEA are analysed in detail. The findings of this study indicate that both the regional liquid water path (LWP) and ice water path (IWP) tend to increase over the ASA region in CEA from 1982 to 2015, where the IWP increases more significantly at a rate of 8.61 g⋅m−2⋅decade−1. Especially, the increases in LWP and IWP indicate much more significant over the semiarid area in CEA. Simultaneously, the precipitation increases slightly, except for a weak decreasing trend over the semiarid region in East Asia from 1982 to 2015. Consequently, the clouds show a decreased precipitation efficiency over most areas of the CEA region. Over the semiarid region, especially in East Asia, the precipitation amount tends to slightly decrease from 1982 to 2015, and a decreased precipitation efficiency is found over there. Overall, the precipitation efficiency of cloud indicates maximum decrease over the semiarid area, and a minimum decrease is found over the arid area of CEA during 1982–2015. A possible mechanism relating to the consequence of aerosols suppressing precipitation may exist. In future studies, more focus should be placed on the cloud precipitation mechanism over the ASA region in CEA.

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Impact of dust-polluted convective clouds over the Tibetan Plateau on downstream precipitation

Cited by 60 publications

References 48 publications

Inconsistent aerosol indirect effects on water clouds and ice clouds over the Tibetan Plateau

Inconsistent aerosol indirect effects on water clouds and ice clouds over the Tibetan Plateau

Spatiotemporal variation of aerosol and potential long-range transport impact over the Tibetan Plateau, China

Cloud ability to produce precipitation over arid and semiarid regions of Central and East Asia

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