Changes in Moisture Flux over the Tibetan Plateau during 1979–2011: Insights from a High-Resolution Simulation

Abstract

et precipitation [precipitation minus evapotranspiration (P ? E)] changes between 1979 and 2011 from a high-resolution regional climate simulation and its reanalysis forcing are analyzed over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and compared to the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) product. The high-resolution simulation better resolves precipitation changes than its coarse-resolution forcing, which contributes dominantly to the improved P ? E change in the regional simulation compared to the global reanalysis. Hence, the former may provide better insights about the drivers of P ? E changes. The mechanism behind the P ? E changes is explored by decomposing the column integrated moisture flux convergence into thermodynamic, dynamic, and transient eddy components. High-resolution climate simulation improves the spatial pattern of P ? E changes over the best available global reanalysis. High-resolution climate simulation also facilitates new and substantial findings regarding the role of thermodynamics and transient eddies in P ? E changes reflected in observed changes in major river basins fed by runoff from the TP. The analysis reveals the contrasting convergence/divergence changes between the northwestern and southeastern TP and feedback through latent heat release as an important mechanism leading to the mean P ? E changes in the TP.