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Arid Land Geography ›› 2020, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (4): 909-919.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2020.04.06

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Interannual variability of midsummer precipitation over Tibet Plateau associated with the western pole of Indian Ocean Dipole

LUO Bu1,2, ZHI Hai1, SUO LangTaJie1,3, HU Zhuang4   

  1. 1 Academy of Atmospheric Sciences of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology,Nanjing 210044,Jiangsu,China;
    2 Tibet Institute of Plateau Atmospheric and Environmental Science,Lhasa 850000,Tibet,China;
    3 Naqu Meteorological Bureau,Naqu 858200,Tibet,China;
    4 Civil Aviation Southwest Air Traffic Control Bureau Meteorological Center,Chengdou 610202,Sichuan,China
  • Received:2018-10-09 Revised:2019-09-29 Online:2020-07-25 Published:2020-11-18

Abstract: This paper mainly focuses on the relationship between the interannual variation of the seasonal precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau. Based on the observed precipitation between 1987 and 2016,it was found that the western pole of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD_w) was significantly related with the summer precipitation over the Tibet Autonomous Region,China. In the positive (negative) IOD_w anomaly year,the midsummer precipitation was generally higher (lower) by 10%–30%,being even 40% higher (lower) in the central part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. By analyzing the characteristics of the synthesized circulation and water vapor transmission fields,we found that in the positive (negative) IOD_w years the western Pacific subtropical high was shifted westward (eastward) and southward (northward),while the Indian cyclone was weaker (stronger) than usual,and reached the Tibetan Plateau. Meanwhile,the amount of water vapor coming from the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea was abnormally high (low),there was an anomalous increase (decrease) of the eastern high of the SAH,and an anomalous convergence of the 500 hPa was noted at low altitudes. This resulted in an overall higher (lower) precipitation over the plateau. Moreover,an analysis of the latitudinal circulation over the plateau demonstrated the occurrence of an anomalous convergence and upsurge above 400 hPa over the central part of the plateau (near 90°E). In this context,warm-wet shear lines,plateau vortexes,and other local convective weather (do not) easily develop over the central part of the plateau,leading to more (less) precipitation. The OLR field confirmed the above conclusions.

Key words: Tibet Plateau, midsummer precipitation, Indian Ocean Dipole, western pole, OLR