The Influence of Mechanical and Thermal Forcing by the Tibetan Plateau on Asian Climate

Abstract This paper attempts to provide some new understanding of the mechanical as well as thermal effects of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) on the circulation and climate in Asia through diagnosis and numerical experiments. The air column over the TP descends in winter and ascends in summer and regulates the surface Asian monsoon flow. Sensible heating on the sloping lateral surfaces appears from the authors’ experiments to be the major driving source. The retarding and deflecting effects of the TP in winter generate an asymmetric dipole zonal-deviation circulation, with a large anticyclone gyre to the north and a cyclonic gyre to the south. Such a dipole deviation circulation enhances the cold outbreaks from the…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 2004CB418300, 40221503
• NK
  National Key Research and Development Program of China

  Award: 2004CB418300