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Effect of upper‐level air temperature changes over the Tibetan Plateau on the genesis frequency of Tibetan Plateau vortices at interannual timescales

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Abstract

Tibetan Plateau vortices (TPVs) are important rainfall producers over the Tibetan Plateau in summer and can also influence wide areas east of the Tibetan Plateau when emigrating from the plateau. The Effects of the variations in air temperature over the Tibetan Plateau on the genesis frequency of TPVs at interannual timescales is explored in this work to understand the interannual variations in TPVs and the resultant precipitation. The results indicate that the interannual variations in the genesis frequency of TPVs are significantly related to that in the air temperature at 250 hPa over the Tibetan Plateau. The upper-level air temperature affects the genesis of TPVs by modulating the large-scale circulations at 200 hPa. In warm (cold) years, an anomalous high (low) at 200 hPa is observed over the eastern Tibetan Plateau and central China, and a strong (weak) westerly jet is found north of the Tibetan Plateau. The upper-level westerly jet is considered to have a direct influence on TPVs. Impact of 250-hPa air temperature over the Tibetan Plateau on the westerly jet is further explained from two perspectives. First, the air temperature at 250 hPa regulates the thermal wind between 250 and 200 hPa, thereby affecting the wind at 200 hPa. Second, the air temperature at 250 hPa changes the geopotential height gradient at 200 hPa north of the Tibetan Plateau, which results in variations in the westerly jet there. Consequently, more TPVs are generated over the Tibetan Plateau in warm years, and vice versa for cold years.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the constructive comments from anonymous reviewers. ERA-interim reanalysis can be obtained at https://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/data/interim-full-daily/levtype=pl/. Yearbooks of Tibetan Plateau Vortex and Shear Line are serial books published in public. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41775059), the National Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2016YFA0600602), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) Program (Grant No. 2019QZKK0105).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, China

    Lun Li

  2. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Renhe Zhang

  3. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, China

    Renhe Zhang

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  1. Lun Li
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  2. Renhe Zhang
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Correspondence to Lun Li.

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Li, L., Zhang, R. Effect of upper‐level air temperature changes over the Tibetan Plateau on the genesis frequency of Tibetan Plateau vortices at interannual timescales. Clim Dyn 57, 341–352 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05715-x

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