Why was the arid and semiarid northwest China getting wetter in the recent decades?

Dongdong Peng; Tianjun Zhou

doi:10.1002/2016jd026424

journal article Sep 06, 2017

Why was the arid and semiarid northwest China getting wetter in the recent decades?

Dongdong Peng

Tianjun Zhou

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Vol. 122 No. 17 pp. 9060-9075 · American Geophysical Union (AGU)

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/2016jd026424

Abstract

AbstractThe arid and semiarid northwest China has experienced a significant wetting trend in summer during 1961–2010, but the reasons remain ambiguous. In this study, moisture budget analysis is employed to quantify the contributions of different factors to the wetting trend. The results show that more than 50% of the increasing precipitation is balanced by the increased evaporation. The convergence of moisture flux (the sum of horizontal moisture advection and wind convergence terms) has a significant positive contribution to the wetting trend. The increased net surface radiation, which is contributed by the increased downward longwave radiation, supplies more energy to favor the evaporation process of vaporization. The moisture flux convergence is further separated into thermodynamic component in association with changes in specific humidity and dynamic component due to changes in atmospheric circulation. The thermodynamic contribution to the wetting trend is induced by the increased specific humidity which is associated with enhanced evaporation. The dynamic contribution is dominated by an anomalous cyclone over central Asia. The anomalous cyclone is related with intensified horizontal vorticity advection which is associated with a significant southward displacement of Asian subtropical westerly jet. The results indicate that the changes of evaporation against the background of global warming deserve more attention in projecting the climate change in arid and semiarid regions.

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References

Details

Published: Sep 06, 2017
Vol/Issue: 122(17)
Pages: 9060-9075
License: View

Authors

D

Dongdong Peng

LASG Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China; College of Earth Science University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China

T

Tianjun Zhou

LASG Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China; College of Earth Science University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Climate Change Nanjing China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China Award: 41330423

Cite This Article

Dongdong Peng, Tianjun Zhou (2017). Why was the arid and semiarid northwest China getting wetter in the recent decades?. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 122(17), 9060-9075. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016jd026424

Why was the arid and semiarid northwest China getting wetter in the recent decades?

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