Qian et al. (2026) Contrasting Terrestrial Moisture Controls on Precipitation and Interannual Variability across the Southern and Northern Tibetan Plateau

Identification

• Journal: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-03
• Authors: Peng Qian, Bin Zhu, Chunsong Lu, Tong Zhu, Yufeng Shan, Meng Gao, Hanqing Kang, Yuying Wang, Zifa Wang, Hong Liao
• DOI: 10.1038/s41612-026-01536-z

Research Groups

• Peng Qian Lab (Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology)
• Bin Zhu Group (Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology)
• Tong Zhu Research Team (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Yufeng Shan's Laboratory (University of California, Berkeley)
• Meng Gao's Research Group (National Center for Atmospheric Research)
• Hanqing Kang Lab (Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology)

Short Summary

This study employs the Eulerian water tracer technique to quantify moisture sources of summer and winter precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau. The results show that terrestrial sources dominate both climatological mean and interannual variability of TP precipitation, with stronger terrestrial control over the northern TP.

Objective

• Investigate the dominant moisture sources sustaining precipitation over the Southern and Northern Tibetan Plateau.
• Quantify the contributions of oceanic and terrestrial sources to precipitation over the TP.
• Examine the physical processes governing moisture transport and transformation in TP precipitation.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, with a focus on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) region.
• Temporal Scale: 2003–2021, with a focus on summer and winter seasons.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1), including the Eulerian Atmospheric Water Tracer (AWT) technique.
• Data sources: Satellite-derived δD observations from MUSICA Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP), and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM).

Main Results

• Terrestrial sources dominate both climatological mean and interannual variability of TP precipitation.
• Summer precipitation over the STP is significantly higher than that over the NTP, with terrestrial sources accounting for 59.7 ± 6.4% of total STP precipitation.
• Winter precipitation over the NTP is predominantly sustained by terrestrial moisture sources, with WEU–CA playing a major role in wet summers and NAF providing the largest increase during wet winters.

Contributions

• This study advances our understanding of TP precipitation by highlighting the importance of terrestrial moisture sources and the "moisture relay" mechanism.
• The findings have implications for precipitation prediction in other inland regions, emphasizing the need to represent upstream terrestrial re-evaporation and its seasonal variability.

Funding

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 91737206 and 42075064)
• National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1502204)

Citation

@article{Qian2026Contrasting,
  author = {Qian, Peng and Zhu, Bin and Lu, Chunsong and Zhu, Tong and Shan, Yufeng and Gao, Meng and Kang, Hanqing and Wang, Yuying and Wang, Zifa and Liao, Hong},
  title = {Contrasting Terrestrial Moisture Controls on Precipitation and Interannual Variability across the Southern and Northern Tibetan Plateau},
  journal = {npj Climate and Atmospheric Science},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1038/s41612-026-01536-z},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-026-01536-z}
}