World water tower: An atmospheric perspective

Xu, Xiangde; Lu, Chungu; Shi, Xiaohui; Gao, Shouting

doi:10.1029/2008gl035867

Cited by 455 publications

(362 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

330

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, the melting water from snow and glaciers in TP is the source of many rivers in southern and eastern Asia such as Yangtze and Ganges-Brahmaputra. Therefore, the TP is also known as "the Asian water tower", supporting approximately 25 % of the world's population (Immerzeel et al, 2010;Xu et al, 2008). Quantitative estimation of the water and energy cycles over the TP is of great significance for the study of land-atmosphere-biosphere interactions, and understanding its response to climate change (Sellers et al, 1997;Yang et al, 2014).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of satellite-based evapotranspiration estimates over the Tibetan Plateau

Peng

Loew

Chen

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a major role in regional and global climate. The understanding of latent heat (LE) flux can help to better describe the complex mechanisms and interactions between land and atmosphere. Despite its importance, accurate estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) over the TP remains challenging. Satellite observations allow for ET estimation at high temporal and spatial scales. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed cross-comparison of existing ET products over the TP. Six available ET products based on different approaches are included for comparison. Results show that all products capture the seasonal variability well with minimum ET in the winter and maximum ET in the summer. Regarding the spatial pattern, the High resOlution Land Atmosphere surface Parameters from Space (HOLAPS) ET demonstrator dataset is very similar to the LandFlux-EVAL dataset (a benchmark ET product from the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment), with decreasing ET from the south-east to northwest over the TP. Further comparison against the LandFlux-EVAL over different sub-regions that are decided by different intervals of normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), precipitation, and elevation reveals that HOLAPS agrees best with LandFlux-EVAL having the highest correlation coefficient (R) and the lowest root mean square difference (RMSD). These results indicate the potential for the application of the HOLAPS demonstrator dataset in understanding the land-atmosphere-biosphere interactions over the TP. In order to provide more accurate ET over the TP, model calibration, high accuracy forcing dataset, appropriate in situ measurements as well as other hydrological data such as runoff measurements are still needed.

show abstract

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of satellite-based evapotranspiration estimates over the Tibetan Plateau

Peng

Loew

Chen

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The role of the elevated high land of the Tibetan Plateau in the global water cycle was investigated by Xu et al (2008b). As seen from Fig.…”

Section: Linkage Of the Tibetan Plateau With Eastmentioning

confidence: 99%

A China-Japan Cooperative JICA Atmospheric Observing Network over the Tibetan Plateau (JICA/Tibet Project): An Overviews

Zhang

Koike

et al. 2012

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Because of the importance of the impact of the Tibetan Plateau on atmospheric general circulations and climate across China, Asia, and even the world, Chinese and Japanese scientists jointly constructed an integrated atmospheric observing system, especially for the water vapor observation, across the Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent areas during the period of 2005-2009 under the JICA (Japan International Co-operation Agency) project (JICA/Tibet Project). The JICA/Tibet Project aims at understanding processes of the land-atmosphere interaction over the Tibetan Plateau and their impacts on the severe weather and climate over the Tibetan Plateau and the area to its east in the East Asian region. The project is designed in an attempt to alleviate impacts of meteorological disasters in these areas through improving the prediction skill.The implementation of the project has enhanced the capability of monitoring the Plateau atmosphere. The numerical forecast techniques are developed through assimilating observed data into the numerical model. Based on the investigation of observed surface energy balance, the land surface model is improved. It is found that the diurnal variation of precipitation over the Plateau is closely related with water vapor, and the latent heat release is a main factor a¤ecting the Plateau vortex. By analyzing observed seasonal features of the tropopause, the evidence of strong stratosphere and troposphere exchange over the Tibetan Plateau is provided. It reveals that the interannual variability of summer rainfall in East China corresponds to that of vegetation index over the Plateau. The crossing hemispheric circulations driven by the thermal and mechanical forcings of the Plateau play an important role in water vapor transports not only over East Asia, but also in the global scale.

show abstract

“…1). Because of its topographic character, the plateau surface absorbs large quantities of solar radiation energy and undergoes dramatic seasonal changes in its surface heat and water fluxes (e.g., Ye and Gao 1979;Ye 1981;Yanai et al 1992;Ye and Wu 1998;Ma and Tsukamoto 2002;Hsu and Liu 2003;Yang et al 2004;Ma et al 2005;Sato and Kimura 2007;Ma et al 2008;Xu et al 2008;Cui and Graf 2009;Zhong et al 2010). Many studies have found that the east Asian monsoonal climate and the middle Asian dry climate in summer are intensified by TP mechanical and thermal forcing (e.g., Liu et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using MODIS and AVHRR data to determine regional surface heating field and heat flux distributions over the heterogeneous landscape of the Tibetan Plateau

Han

Zhong

et al. 2013

Theor Appl Climatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, a parameterization methodology based on Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and in situ data is proposed and tested for deriving the regional surface heating field, sensible heat flux, and latent heat flux over a heterogeneous landscape. In this case study, this method is applied to the whole Tibetan Plateau (TP) area. Four sets of AVHRR data and four sets of MODIS data (collected on 17 January 2003, 14 April 2003, 23 July 2003, and 16 October 2003 were used in this study to make comparisons between winter, spring, summer, and autumn values. The satellite-derived results were also validated using the "ground truth" as measured in the stations of CAMP/Tibet (Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP) and AsiaAustralia Monsoon Project on the Tibetan Plateau). The results show that the surface heating field, sensible heat flux, and latent heat flux in the four seasons across the TP are in close accordance with its land surface status. These parameters range widely due to the strongly contrasting surface features found within the TP region. Also, the estimated surface heating field, sensible heat flux, and latent heat flux all agree with the ground truth data, and usually, the absolute percentage difference between the two sets of data is less than 10 % at the validation stations. The AVHRR results were also in agreement with the MODIS data, with the latter usually displaying a higher level of accuracy. We have thus concluded that the proposed method was successful in retrieving surface heating field, sensible heat flux, and latent heat flux values using AVHRR, MODIS, and in situ data over the heterogeneous land surface of the TP. Shortcomings and possible further improvements in the method are also discussed.

show abstract

World water tower: An atmospheric perspective

Cited by 455 publications

References 11 publications

Comparison of satellite-based evapotranspiration estimates over the Tibetan Plateau

Comparison of satellite-based evapotranspiration estimates over the Tibetan Plateau

A China-Japan Cooperative JICA Atmospheric Observing Network over the Tibetan Plateau (JICA/Tibet Project): An Overviews

Using MODIS and AVHRR data to determine regional surface heating field and heat flux distributions over the heterogeneous landscape of the Tibetan Plateau

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About