Decadal Change in the Correlation Pattern between the Tibetan Plateau Winter Snow and the East Asian Summer Precipitation during 1979–2011

AbstractObservational evidence indicates that the correlation between Tibetan Plateau (TP) winter snow and East Asian (EA) summer precipitation changed in the late 1990s. During the period 1979–99, the positive correlation between the TP winter snow and the summer precipitation along the Yangtze River valley (YRV) and southern Japan was disrupted by the decadal climate shift. In contrast, the summer precipitation over the Huaihe River valley (HRV) and the Korean Peninsula showed a strong positive correlation with the preceding winter snow over the TP during the period 2000–11.The radiosonde temperature measurements over the TP show a pronounced warming since the late 1990s. This warming is associated with the significant increase in surface sensible heat flux and longwave radiation into atmosphere. The latter is closely related to the decrease of surface albedo and the soil hydrological effect of melting snow due to the decadal decrease in the preceding winter and spring snow over the TP. The TP warming i...

[1]  Tianjun Zhou,et al.  Detecting and understanding the multi-decadal variability of the East Asian Summer Monsoon: Recent progress and state of affairs , 2009 .

[2]  Chengfeng Li,et al.  Seasonal Heating of the Tibetan Plateau and Its Effects on the Evolution of the Asian Summer Monsoon , 1992 .

[3]  J. Shukla,et al.  Empirical Prediction of the Summer Monsoon Rainfall over India , 1987 .

[4]  J. Chan,et al.  The East Asian summer monsoon: an overview , 2005 .

[5]  R. Reynolds,et al.  The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project , 1996, Renewable Energy.

[6]  Stephen J. Cox,et al.  The NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget project: overview and analysis , 2006 .

[7]  Bin Wang,et al.  Pacific–East Asian Teleconnection. Part II: How the Philippine Sea Anomalous Anticyclone is Established during El Niño Development* , 2002 .

[8]  D. Yihui.  Effects of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) plateau on the circulation features over the plateau and its surrounding areas , 1992 .

[9]  Chang‐Hoi Ho,et al.  Shift in the summer rainfall over the Yangtze River valley in the late 1970s , 2002 .

[10]  Yihui Ding,et al.  Wind and Temperature Changes over Eurasia during the Early Summer of 1979 , 1982 .

[11]  Wang Huijun,et al.  The weakening of the Asian monsoon circulation after the end of 1970's , 2001 .

[12]  H. Flohn,et al.  Large-scale aspects of the "summer monsoon" in South and East Asia , 1957 .

[13]  M. Yanai,et al.  The onset and interannual variability of the Asian summer monsoon in relation to land-sea thermal contrast , 1996 .

[14]  H. Hsu,et al.  Relationship between the Tibetan Plateau heating and East Asian summer monsoon rainfall , 2003 .

[15]  Tim Li,et al.  Interannual and Interdecadal Variations of the East Asian Summer Monsoon and Tropical Pacific SSTs. Part I: Roles of the Subtropical Ridge , 2000 .

[16]  Qiang Fu,et al.  Enhanced Mid-Latitude Tropospheric Warming in Satellite Measurements , 2006, Science.

[17]  Yihui Ding,et al.  Observational Evidence of the Influence of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau on the Occurrence of Heavy Rain and Severe Convective Storms in China , 1981 .

[18]  Thomas M. Smith,et al.  Improved Global Sea Surface Temperature Analyses Using Optimum Interpolation , 1994 .

[19]  Ping Zhao,et al.  Variability of Tibetan Spring Snow and Its Associations with the Hemispheric Extratropical Circulation and East Asian Summer Monsoon Rainfall: An Observational Investigation , 2007 .

[20]  Yihui Ding,et al.  Inter‐decadal variation of the summer precipitation in China and its association with decreasing Asian summer monsoon Part II: Possible causes , 2009 .

[21]  J. Shukla.  Predictability of Time Averages: Part II: The Influence of the Boundary Forcings , 1984 .

[22]  T. Nitta.  Observational Study of Heat Sources Over the Eastern Tibetan Plateau during the Summer Monsoon , 1983 .

[23]  Zeng‐Zhen Hu.  Interdecadal variability of summer climate over East Asia and its association with 500 hPa height and global sea surface temperature , 1997 .

[24]  Xiao-dong Liu,et al.  Influence of Eurasian spring snow cover on Asian summer rainfall , 2002 .

[25]  M. Yanai,et al.  The Large-Scale Circulation and Heat Sources over the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Areas during the Early Summer of 1979. Part II: Heat and Moisture Budgets , 1984 .

[26]  Bin Wang,et al.  Decadal Change of the Spring Snow Depth over the Tibetan Plateau: The Associated Circulation and Influence on the East Asian Summer Monsoon* , 2004 .

[27]  Yihui Ding,et al.  Long-Term Free-Atmosphere Temperature Trends in China Derived from Homogenized In Situ Radiosonde Temperature Series , 2009 .

[28]  V. Angelopoulos,et al.  THEMIS observations of penetration of the plasma sheet into the ring current region during a magnetic storm , 2008 .

[29]  Yihui Ding,et al.  Decadal northward shift of the Meiyu belt and the possible cause , 2009 .

[30]  K. Ninomiya,et al.  Multi-scale Features of Baiu, the Summer Monsoon over Japan and the East Asia , 1992 .

[31]  Tong Wu,et al.  The Relation between the Tibetan Winter Snow and the Asian Summer Monsoon and Rainfall: An Observational Investigation. , 2003 .

[32]  Bin Wang,et al.  Tropospheric cooling and summer monsoon weakening trend over East Asia , 2004 .

[33]  Tianjun Zhou,et al.  Atmospheric water vapor transport associated with typical anomalous summer rainfall patterns in China , 2005 .

[34]  Guoxiong Wu,et al.  Tibetan Plateau Forcing and the Timing of the Monsoon Onset over South Asia and the South China Sea , 1998 .

[35]  Bin Wang,et al.  Pacific–East Asian Teleconnection: How Does ENSO Affect East Asian Climate? , 2000 .

[36]  Bin Wang,et al.  Tibetan Plateau warming and precipitation changes in East Asia , 2008 .

[37]  Q. Fu,et al.  Observed poleward expansion of the Hadley circulation since 1979 , 2007 .

[38]  J. Shukla,et al.  The Effect of Eurasian Snow Cover on the Indian Monsoon , 1995 .