Because of its unique dynamic and thermodynamic forcing, the Tibetan Plateau is an active region for convective systems, with ‘popcorn-like’ cloud systems frequently occurring and developing over its central and eastern parts.
Because of its unique dynamic and thermodynamic forcing, the Tibetan Plateau is an active region for convective systems, with ‘popcorn-like’ cloud systems frequently occurring and developing over its central and eastern parts. When these cloud systems move eastward out of the Plateau region they play a particularly important role in the occurrence of disastrous weather events in China.
However, because of the harsh climate and unique geographic features of the Tibetan Plateau, only a few standard meteorological stations have been built there. The resultant observational deficiencies limit our understanding of Tibet’s clouds.
Recently, the development of new sets of meteorological satellite and remote sensing data, as well as some advanced detection methods—especially the satellite-retrieved products from CloudSat and CALIPSO—have contributed immensely to the knowledge base regarding Tibet’s clouds, as well as provided useful information on cloud microphysical properties and their vertical distributions over the region.
Read more at Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Image: Clouds over the Tibetan Plateau. Photo taken in June 2014. (Credit: Zhiqun Hu)
