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Simulating precipitation stable isotopes and tracking moisture sources in Qaidam Basin combining GCMs and HYSPLIT

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Abstract

In the Qaidam Basin, a harsh environment limits precipitation observations, which hinders the understanding of the hydrological cycle. This study compared and discerned the applicability of 11 general circulation models (GCMs) simulating δ18O and δ2H in precipitation in the Qaidam basin and tracked the water vapor backward trajectory by the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT). The LDMZ (nudged) model is most applicable in the study area. The moisture sources are the Westerlies and inland recycled moisture. This study can improve the understanding of the adaptability of GCMs in the arid alpine zone and the hydrological cycle in the Tibetan Plateau.

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Data availability

All meteorological data used during this study are available from the China Meteorological Data Service Center at http://data.cma.cn/. Simulations of hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes in precipitation used during this study can be downloaded from https://data.giss.nasa.gov/swing2/. Observations of hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes in precipitation used during this study are available from Tibetan Network for Isotopes in Precipitation dataset as cited by Yao et al. (2013). GDAS1 data from NCEP/NCAR are available from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at https://www.noaa.gov/.

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Funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant/Award Number: 517037511 and 42101021).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

    Xi Zhang & Liwen Han

  2. College of Computer and Information, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

    Jiaqi Chen

  3. College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

    Jiansheng Chen & Fenyan Ma

  4. College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

    Tao Wang

  5. Water Affairs Integrated Service Centre of Alxa League, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

    Xiaohui Ma

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  1. Xi Zhang
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Contributions

Conceptualization, XZ and TW; methodology and analysis, XZ, TW, FM, and LH; writing-original draft preparation, XZ; writing-review and editing, JC, JC, and TW; supervision, JC. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jiaqi Chen.

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Zhang, X., Chen, J., Chen, J. et al. Simulating precipitation stable isotopes and tracking moisture sources in Qaidam Basin combining GCMs and HYSPLIT. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 4877–4888 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-023-09180-0

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