Association of Diurnal Rainfall in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau with the Retreat of the South Asian High
Lin Zhao,
S.-Y. Simon Wang,
Chi-Hua Wu,
Sebastian Los,
Shihua Lyu,
Xianhong Meng,
Lijuan Wen,
Siqiong Luo,
Yinhuan Ao,
Zhaoguo Li
Affiliations
Lin Zhao
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China
S.-Y. Simon Wang
Department of Plants, Soils, and Climate, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
Chi-Hua Wu
Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
Sebastian Los
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Shihua Lyu
Plateau Atmosphere and Environment Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Atmospheric Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225, China
Xianhong Meng
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China
Lijuan Wen
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China
Siqiong Luo
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yinhuan Ao
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China
Zhaoguo Li
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS, Lanzhou 730000, China
The characteristics of intense diurnal precipitation occurring beneath the South Asian High (SAH) are diagnosed in the summer monsoon season from 2010 to 2015 using observational data. The diagnostics indicate that summer nighttime rainfall events in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau can intensify towards the end of the monsoon period. By defining a transition index to identify the transition day during which the episodes of diurnal convection start to decline, daily thermodynamic properties and precipitation from each year were composited before and after the transition date. The analysis reveals that warmer air, increased moisture, and stronger upward velocity are present in the atmosphere before the transition day, potentially elevating nighttime convective precipitation. Enhanced upward velocity that is present through the two months prior to transition date coincides with the timing of the peak SAH, while weakened upward velocity afterwards coincides with its subsequent retreat. The large-scale lift due to terrain-ambient air interaction underneath the SAH and the increased moisture content can enhance the potential for diurnal convection, which lends support to the nighttime peak of rainfall. This feature persists until the transition date, after which the SAH starts to retreat.
