Cochairs:

Haikun Zhao

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

Philip J. Klotzbach

Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Liguang Wu

 Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Bian He

State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Fengpeng Sun

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri–Kansas City, USA

 

The Tibetan Plateau, known as "The Third Pole" of the world, is the highest plateau on Earth with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters. Numerous studies have focused on the thermal forcing of the Tibetan Plateau since its high elevation can significantly affect the global large-scale circulation and regional weather events on various time scales. For example, snow cover over the Tibetan Plateau, through albedo and hydrologic effects, can modulate diabatic heating and thus, affect local and/or remote climate. Observational and numerical studies have found that Tibetan Plateau snow cover can have significant impacts on the Asian monsoon and is therefore regarded as a potential factor for short-term prediction of weather and climate.

This session invites both observational and numerical studies to better understand the impacts of the Tibetan Plateau on regional and global climate and weather events and aims to share recent advances in Tibetan Plateau climate research and socio-economic impact assessments. We are particularly interested in topics addressing: 1) the physical mechanisms behind the impacts of the Tibetan Plateau on global and regional climate, 2) the hydrological effects of the Tibetan Plateau, such as its potential impacts on snow cover and the Asian monsoon, 3) the remote and local impacts of the Tibetan Plateau on the climate and hydrological cycle induced by land-atmosphere-ocean interactions, 4) advances in modeling on how to properly represent land-atmosphere-ocean interactions, 5) the roles of land-atmosphere-ocean interactions in extreme weather events, and 6) interdisciplinary research for better understanding changes in the Tibetan Plateau and its socio-economic impacts.  

We expect this session will provide a platform to foster communications and build collaborations to discuss the progress of current research on the climate/weather impacts of the Tibetan Plateau, highlight the importance of synergetic impacts of land-air-sea interactions on climate and weather, and explore the possibility to use the Tibetan Plateau as an additional potential predictor for weather events in a changing climate.