Lan et al. (2025) Linkage between the Tibetan Plateau summer rainfall and direct moisture supplies from the key low-latitude seas

Identification

• Journal: Atmospheric Research
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-20
• Authors: J.K. Lan, Bin Chen, Jieru Ma, Hong‐Li Ren
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108636

Research Groups

• State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather Meteorological Science and Technology (LaSW), Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences (CAMS), Beijing 100081, China
• Meteorological Development and Planning Institute of China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China

Short Summary

This study quantifies the contributions of oceanic moisture export (OME) from the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and South China Sea to Tibetan Plateau (TP) summer precipitation over 35 years, revealing distinct regional impacts and contributions to the observed "south drying-north wetting" trend.

Objective

• To quantify the contributions of oceanic moisture export (OME) from the Arabian Sea (AS), Bay of Bengal (BOB), and South China Sea (SCS) to Tibetan Plateau (TP) summer precipitation.
• To examine the relationship between OME and TP summer rainfall from the standpoint of long-term trends.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its moisture sources from the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and South China Sea.
• Temporal Scale: 35-year period, focusing on summer precipitation.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Lagrangian modeling, OME-based precipitation diagnostic.
• Data sources: Atmospheric reanalysis data (implied by Lagrangian modeling), Observational precipitation data (for comparison).

Main Results

• Climatologically, the diagnosed OME-based precipitation is compatible with observed precipitation in terms of spatial pattern and magnitude.
• The Arabian Sea (AS) is the primary moisture source, contributing 62.6 % to TP summer precipitation, influencing almost the entire TP.
• The Bay of Bengal (BOB) contributes 21 %, mainly impacting the southeastern TP.
• The South China Sea (SCS) contributes 16.4 %, primarily affecting the eastern TP.
• Regarding precipitation trends, the AS is the main contributor to the "south drying" over the TP.
• The BOB contributes more significantly to the "north wetting" trend over the TP.

Contributions

• Provides a quantitative assessment of the direct contributions of specific low-latitude oceanic moisture sources (AS, BOB, SCS) to TP summer precipitation over a 35-year period.
• Clarifies the distinct roles of these oceanic sources in driving the observed "south drying-north wetting" dipole pattern of TP precipitation trends, addressing a previous lack of consensus.
• Utilizes a Lagrangian modeling and OME-based precipitation diagnostic approach to link oceanic moisture export directly to TP rainfall variability and trends.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Lan2025Linkage,
  author = {Lan, J.K. and Chen, Bin and Ma, Jieru and Ren, Hong‐Li},
  title = {Linkage between the Tibetan Plateau summer rainfall and direct moisture supplies from the key low-latitude seas},
  journal = {Atmospheric Research},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108636},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108636}
}