Distribution of winter-spring snow over the Tibetan Plateau and its relationship with summer precipitation in Yangtze River

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1226.2017.00020

Abstract

Abstract: The distribution of winter-spring snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its relationship with summer precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River Valley (MLYRV) during 2003-2013 have been investigated with the moderate-resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) Terra data (MOD10A2) and precipitation observations. Results show that snow cover percentage (SCP) remains approximately 20% in winter and spring then tails off to below 5% with warmer temperature and snow melt in summer. The lower and highest percentages present a declining tendency while the middle SCP exhibits an opposite variation. The maximum value appears from the middle of October to March and the minimum emerges from July to August. The annual and winter-spring SCPs present a decreasing tendency. Snow cover is mainly situated in the periphery of the plateau and mountainous regions, and less snow in the interior of the plateau, basin and valley areas in view of snow cover frequency (SCF) over the TP. Whatever annual or winter-spring snow cover, they all have remarkable declining tendency during 2003-2013, and annual snow cover presents a decreasing trend in the interior of the TP and increasing trend in the periphery of the TP. The multi-year averaged eight-day SCP is negatively related to mean precipitation in the MLYRV. Spring SCP is negatively related to summer precipitation while winter SCP is positively related to summer precipitation in most parts of the MLYRV. Hence, the influence of winter snow cover on precipitation is much more significant than that in spring on the basis of correlation analysis. The oscillation of SCF from southeast to northwest over the TP corresponds well to the beginning, development and cessation of the rain belt in eastern China.

Key words: winter-spring snow cover, Tibetan Plateau, relationship, summer precipitation, Yangtze River Valley, MODIS Reprojection Tool

Zhuo Ga, Tao Chen, La Ba, PuBuCiRen, Ba Sang. Distribution of winter-spring snow over the Tibetan Plateau and its relationship with summer precipitation in Yangtze River[J].Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2017, 9(1): 20-28.

References

Bai SY, Shi JQ, Gao JX, et al., 2014. Analysis of spatial-temporal variations of snow depth over the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during 1979-2010. Journal of Geo-information Science, 16(4):628-637. DOI:10.3724/SP.J.1047.2014.00628. (in Chinese)
Bo Y, Li XL, Wang CH, 2014. Seasonal characteristics of the interannual variations centre of the Tibetan Plateau snow cover. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 36(6):1353-1362. DOI:10.7552/j.issn.1000-0240.2014.0162. (in Chinese)
Chen LT, 2001. The role of the anomalous snow cover over the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and ENSO in the great floods of 1998 in the Changjiang River Valley. Chinese Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 25(2):184-192. (in Chinese)
Chu D, Xie HJ, Wang PX, et al., 2014. Snow cover variation over the Tibetan Plateau from MODIS and comparison with ground observations. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 8:084690-1-8. DOI:10.1117/1.JRS.8.084690.
Dickson RR, 1984. Eurasian snow cover versus Indian monsoon rainfall-An extension of the Hahn-Shukla results. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 23:171-173. DOI:10.1175/1520-0450 (1984)023-0171.
Du Y, Xie ZQ, Xiao H, 2014. Relation between summer precipita-tion anomaly in eastern China and winter snow in Tibetan Plateau. Journal of the Meteorological Sciences, 34(6):647-655. DOI:10.3969/2013jms.0083. (in Chinese)
Gao R, Zhong HL, Dong WJ, et al., 2010. The abrupt changing characteristics of snow cover and seasonal freezing-thawing layer in the Tibetan Plateau and their impact on summer precipitation in China. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 32(3):469-474. DOI:1000-0240(2010)03-0469-06. (in Chi-nese)
Gao R, Zhong HL, Dong WJ, et al., 2011. Impact of snow cover and frozen soil in the Tibetan Plateau on summer precipitation in China. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 33(2):254-260. DOI:1000-0240(2011)02-0254-07. (in Chinese)
Huo F, Jiang ZH, Liu ZY, 2014. Impacts of late spring Tibetan Plateau snow cover on early autumn precipitation. Chinese Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 38(3):352-362. DOI:10.3878/j.issn.1006-9895.2013.13139. (in Chinese)
Li DL, Wang CX, 2011. Research progress of snow cover and its influence on China climate. Transactions of Atmospheric Sci-ences, 34(5):627-636. DOI:1674-7097(2011)05-0627-10. (in Chinese)
Li XL, 2013. Study on the relationships between the temporal & spatial of snow cover in winter and spring over Tibetan Plateau and the summer precipitation in eastern China. M.S. Thesis, Lanzhou University. (in Chinese)
Lin H, Wu ZW, 2011. Contribution of the autumn Tibetan Plateau snow cover to seasonal prediction of north American winter temperature. Journal of Climate, 24:2801-2813. DOI:10.1175/2010JCLI3889.1.
Liu JF, Chen RS, Song YX, 2012. Distribution and variation of snow cover in China. Progressus Inquisitiones de Mutatione Climatis, 8(5):364-371. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1673-1719.2012.05.008. (in Chinese)
Lv JN, Xu JF, 1990. Climatic analysis of the 1954-1983 Meiyu rainfall over the middle and lower basin of the Changjiang River. Journal of Nanjing Institute of Meteorology, 13(2):228-237. (in Chinese)
Pu ZX, Xu L, Salomonson VV, 2007. MODIS/Terra observed seasonal variations of snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau. Geophysical Research Letters, 34:L06706. DOI:10.1029/2007GL029262.
Shen CM, Wang WC, Zeng G, 2011. Decadal variability in snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau during the last two centuries. Geophysical Research Letters, 38:L10703. DOI:10.1029/2011GL047288.
Si D, Ding YH, 2013. Decadal change in the correlation pattern between the Tibetan Plateau winter snow and the East Asian summer precipitation during 1979-2011. Journal of Climate, 26:7622-7634. DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00587.1.
Song Y, Zhang J, Li ZC, et al., 2011. Interdecadal change of winter snow depth on Tibetan Plateau and its effect on summer pre-cipitation in China. Plateau Meteorology, 30(4):843-851. DOI:1000-0534(2011)04-0843-09. (in Chinese)
Sun YH, Huang XD, Wang W, et al., 2014. Spatio-temporal changes of snow cover and snow water equivalent in the Tibetan Plateau during 2003-2010. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 36(6):1337-1344. DOI:10.7522/j.issn.1000-0240.2014.0160. (in Chinese)
Tang XP, Yan XL, Ni MJ, et al., 2012. Changes of the snow cover days on Tibetan Plateau in last 40 years. Acta Geographica Sinica, 67(7):951-959. (in Chinese)
Tao SY, Ding YH, 1981. Observational evidence of the influence of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau on the occurrence of heavy rain and severe convective storms in China. Bulletin American Meteorological Society, 62(1):23-30.
Tao YW, Sun ZB, Li WJ, et al., 2011. Relationships between ENSO and Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau snow depth and their influences on summer rainfall anomalies in China. Meteorological Monthly, 37(8):919-928. (in Chinese)
Tian LX, Li WZ, Zhang Y, et al., 2014. The analysis of snow information from 1979 to 2007 in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 34(20):5974-5983. DOI:10.5846/stxb201303070365. (in Chinese)
Wan X, Kang SC, Li YF, et al., 2013. Temporal and spatial varia-tions of snow cover and its effect factors in the NamCo Basin, Tibetan Plateau, 2007-2011. Journal of Glaciology and Geo-cryology, 35(6):1400-1409. DOI:10.7522/j.issn.1000-0240.2013.0155. (in Chinese)
Wang CX, 2012. The effect of winter snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau to the summer precipitation at the Yellow River Basin. Master Dissertation, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology. (in Chinese)
Wang CX, Li DL, 2012. Spatial-temporal variations of snow cover days and the maximum depth of snow cover in China during recent 50 years. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 34(2):247-256. DOI:1000-0240(2012)02-0247-10. (in Chinese)
Wang ZL, Wang XP, Li YH, 2013. Analyses of snow cover based on passive microwave remote sensing data and observed data over the Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 35(4):783-792. DOI:10.7522/j.issn.1000-0240. 2013.0089. (in Chinese)
Wei ZG, Chen W, Huang RH, 2008. Numerical simulation of the influence of the Tibetan Plateau winter-spring snow anomalies on the summer precipitation in China. Plateau and Mountain Meteorology Research, 28(1):1-7. (in Chinese)
Wen J, Dai M, Paul DJ, et al., 2006. Extent and depth of snow cover over the Nyainqntanghla range derived from ASAR and MODIS data. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 28(1):54-61. DOI:1000-0240(2006)01-0054-08. (in Chinese)
Wu GX, Liu YM, Wang TM, et al., 2007. The influence of me-chanical and thermal forcing by the Tibetan Plateau on Asian climate. Journal of Hydrometeorology-Special Section, 8:770-789. DOI:10.1175/JHM609.1.
Wu ZW, Li JP, He JH, et al., 2006. Large-scale atmospheric singu-larities and summer long-cycle droughts-floods abrupt alternation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Chinese Science Bulletin, 51(16):2027-2034. DOI:10.1007/s11434-006-2060-x.
Wu ZW, Li JP, Jiang ZH, et al., 2012. Modulation of the Tibetan Plateau snow cover on the ENSO teleconnections:from the East Asian summer monsoon perspective. Journal of Climate, 25:2481-2489. DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00135.1.
Xi S, Zhang ZF, 2013. Spatial and temporal analysis of snow cover in China in recent 50 years. Journal of Arid Meteorology, 31(3):451-456. DOI:10.11755/j.issn.1006-7639(2013)-03-045. (in Chinese)
Yang S, 1996. ENSO-snow-monsoon associations and season-al-interannual prediction. Climate Dynamics, 16:2038-2051.
Zhang SL, Tao SY, 2001. Influence of snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau on the Asian summer monsoon. Chinese Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 25(3):372-390. (in Chinese)
Zhang YL, Li BY, Zhen D, 2002. A discussion on the boundary and area of the Tibetan Plateau in China. Geographical Research, 21(1):1-8. DOI:1000-0585(2002)01-0001-10. (in Chinese)
Zheng P, Deng ZD, Guan HJ, et al., 2014. Spatial and temporal variation characteristics of snow based on TM and ETM+ data in Manas River Basin. Journal of the Meteorological Sciences, 34(1):39-46. (in Chinese)
Zhou H, Tang HY, Cheng BY, 2010. Relation between the abnormal snow cover in winter and spring over the Tibetan Plateau and summer precipitation over the southwest China. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 32(6):1144-1151. DOI:1000-0240(2010)06-1144-08. (in Chinese)
Zhu X, Wu Z, He JH, 2008. Anomalous Meiyu onset averaged over the Yangtze River valley. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 94:81-95. DOI:10.1007/s00704-007-0347-8.
Zhu YX, Ding YH, Liu HW, 2009. Simulation of the influence of winter snow depth over the Tibetan Plateau on summer rainfall in China. Chinese Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 33(5):903-915. DOI:1006-9895(2009)05-0903-13. (in Chinese)

Metrics

Viewed

Full text

Abstract

Cited

Shared

Discussed

Comments

Recommended 0

No Suggested Reading articles found!

[1]	YinHuan Ao,ShiHua Lyu,ZhaoGuo Li,LiJuan Wen,Lin Zhao. Numerical simulation of the climate effect of high-altitude lakes on the Tibetan Plateau [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2018, 10(5): 379-391.
[2]	HeWen Niu, XiaoFei Shi, Gang Li, JunHua Yang, ShiJin Wang. Characteristics of total suspended particulates in the atmosphere of Yulong Snow Mountain, southwestern China [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2018, 10(3): 207-218.
[3]	ZhenMing Wu, Lin Zhao, Lin Liu, Rui Zhu, ZeShen Gao, YongPing Qiao, LiMing Tian, HuaYun Zhou, MeiZhen Xie. Surface-deformation monitoring in the permafrost regions over the Tibetan Plateau, using Sentinel-1 data [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2018, 10(2): 114-125.
[4]	BenLi Liu, JianJun Qu, ShiChang Kang, Bing Liu. Climate change inferred from aeolian sediments in a lake shore environment in the central Tibetan Plateau during recent centuries [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2018, 10(2): 134-144.
[5]	QianTao Zhu, WenZhi Zhao, Jian Guo, Hu Liu. Cash gifts, perception of social sphere and distribution of water resources for rural farmers in a typical oasis area in Northwest China [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2018, 10(2): 180-186.
[6]	SiQiong Luo, BoLi Chen, ShiHua Lyu, XueWei Fang, JingYuan Wang, XianHong Meng, LunYu Shang, ShaoYing Wang, Di Ma. An improvement of soil temperature simulations on the Tibetan Plateau [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2018, 10(1): 80-94.
[7]	YueFang Li, Zhen Li, Ju Huang, Giulio Cozzi, Clara Turetta, Carlo Barbante, LongFei Xiong. Variations of trace elements and rare earth elements (REEs) treated by two different methods for snow-pit samples on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and their implications [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2017, 9(6): 568-579.
[8]	JianWei Wang, HaiPeng Li, Lei Song, Shuai Dou, XinLei Na. Effect of cryostructures on the uniaxial compressive strength of frozen clay [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2017, 9(3): 267-272.
[9]	QiuBo Yan, Feng Zhang, KangWei Tang, ShuJuan Wang, Yan Liu. Experimental investigation on static and dynamic resilient moduli of compacted fine soil [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2017, 9(3): 297-306.
[10]	ShaoYing Wang, Yu Zhang, ShiHua Lyu, LunYu Shang, YouQi Su, HanHui Zhu. Radiation balance and the response of albedo to environmental factors above two alpine ecosystems in the eastern Tibetan Plateau [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2017, 9(2): 142-157.
[11]	LunYu Shang, Yu Zhang, ShiHua Lyu, ShaoYing Wang, YinHuan Ao, SiQiong Luo, ShiQiang Chen. Winter estimation of surface roughness length over eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau [J]. Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions, 2017, 9(2): 151-157.