Mechanisms of Water Vapor Transport to the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere over the Tibetan Plateau and the nearby Regions

The seasonal variations of water vapor and high clouds over the Tibetan Plateau and the nearby Asian monsoon regions are investigated using the recently available water vapor and cloud data from Aura MLS, in conjunction with the observations of EOS Aqua and Terra MODIS and TRMM PR. Different mechanisms of water vapor transport such as, ice particles advected from convection over India and subsequent sublimation; mesoscale convective systems that occur frequently over southern Tibetan plateau; local water vapor evaporation during the snow-melting season; the roles of local Hadley circulation and Tibetan high; frontal activities and topographic lifting, etc., are examined for different seasons. It is expected that the measurements of MLS water vapor and cloud products, along with other satellite measurements from “A-Train” series, will provide an accurate assessment of water budgets over this particular region that is crucial for understanding cloud-climate feedbacks and their impacts on the monsoon-climate dynamics and climate change.