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The relationship between Indian monsoon precipitation along the Qinghai–Tibet Highway and differences in sensible heat flux
Author(s) -
Wen L.,
Yao T.,
Li D.,
Tian L.,
Ma W.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.6241
Subject(s) - sensible heat , precipitation , snow , climatology , snowpack , environmental science , monsoon , east asian monsoon , latent heat , flux (metallurgy) , atmospheric sciences , plateau (mathematics) , heat flux , geology , meteorology , geography , heat transfer , mathematics , chemistry , mathematical analysis , physics , organic chemistry , thermodynamics
Sensible heat flux greatly influences the Indian monsoon. In this study, we calculated sensible heat flux time‐series for 12 sites over the western Tibetan Plateau using Price and Dunne's formula and adjusting the stability function. The time‐series were derived from the field observations from the GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment (GAME)/Tibet programme under the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX). This paper demonstrates that monthly sensible heat fluxes show strong correlations with corresponding precipitation, and that the correlation coefficients increase with precipitation amount. The preceding winter and spring solid precipitation (snowfall and resulting snowpack) can also influence sensible heat flux in May, but the situation is complex. The correlations between heat flux and snowfall at Amdo, Naqu, and Lhasa are negative, but they are positive at Gaize (also known as Gerze) and Dingri. There is a significant relationship between how the variations from the mean calculated heat fluxes at Amdo differ from those at Rikaze, or Dingri, Cuona and Longzi, and their respective June–September precipitation amounts. This phenomenon may result from changes in circulation. When the sensible heat fluxes are above average north of the influence of the Indian monsoon and below average to the south, the summer monsoon circulation develops early and with greater intensity and precipitation, and vice versa. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.