Climatology of Dust‐Forced Radiative Heating Over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Surroundings. Issue 17 (28th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Tianhe; Han, Ying; Huang, Jianping; Sun, Mengxian; Jian, Bida; Huang, Zhongwei; Yan, Hongru
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 125:Issue 17(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-08-28
• Subjects: dust aerosol -- radiative heating -- Tibetan Plateau -- CALIPSO -- SBDART model; Atmospheric physics -- Periodicals; Geophysics -- Periodicals; 551.5
• DOI: 10.1029/2020JD032942
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-897X

Abstract

Abstract: Dust aerosol can affect the atmospheric thermal structure and exert great melting potential on snow and ice sheets. In this study, the decadal climatology of dust‐forced radiative heating (DRH) in the atmosphere over Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings (TPS) was investigated using the Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model along with the CALIPSO satellite observations from 2007 to 2016. After screening out other aerosols, the vertical distribution of dust aerosol was examined to accurately assess the DRH. The net DRH showed a significant warm effect mainly by dust loading, which covers from the center of dust sources to their adjacent transport regions. The maximum value of the DRH appeared at the near‐surface, while the DRH decreased with an increase in height. The climatic average DRH at the near‐surface reached 16.8 K/month at the Taklimakan Desert (TD) and 10.8 K/month at the Gangetic Plain in spring, 13.7 K/month at the Indus Plain in summer, which is 3–3.6 times warmer than the column‐averaged DRHs. This study also found the most significant influence of dust events on the Qaidam Basin in the TPS, in which the near‐surface DRH was 4.7 K/month during spring. It is also noteworthy that the intermonth and interannual variations of the DRH highlighted the significant warming effect of dust aerosols on the atmospheric thermal structure, especially at the near‐surface. In addition, we need to pay more attention to changes in snow‐related processes influenced by absorbing aerosols and the light‐absorbing impurities deposited in snow over the TPS. Key Points: Dust‐forced radiative heating (DRH) has a significant warming effect with the center from dust sources to adjacent transport regions The near‐surface DRHs over the Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings (TPS) are 3–3.6 times larger than the column‐averaged value Dust aerosols over the TPS may have the potential to exert more snow melting driven by the remarkable near‐surface warming effect