Quantifying Moisture Source Contributions to Diverse Precipitation Events over the Tibetan Plateau
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Tibetan Plateau (TP), known as the “Asian Water Tower,” plays a critical role in regional and global climate systems. However, water resource sustainability is increasingly threatened under climate change and growing demand. While moisture transport mechanisms for summer monsoon and extreme precipitation events have been widely studied, the understanding of moisture sources for different precipitation intensities remains limited. This study employs the Lagrangian-based HYSPLIT model to quantify moisture source contributions to three types of precipitation events—extreme precipitation (EP), moderate precipitation (MP), and light precipitation (LP)—over the TP from 1979 to 2020. Using trajectory clustering and moisture source diagnostics, we identify dominant transport pathways and their relative contributions. Results show that EP and MP events are primarily influenced by the Indian monsoon, with the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea as key sources, while LP events are dominated by westerlies. The western pathway contributes 15.55%, 36.28%, and 59.59% to EP, MP, and LP events, respectively, whereas the monsoon pathway accounts for 40.56%, 28.23%, and 31.21%. External moisture sources dominate across all event types (average 87.7%), with local recycling contributions decreasing from LP (12.90%) to EP (11.55%). These findings enhance the understanding of moisture–precipitation coupling mechanisms over the TP and provide a scientific basis for water resource management under changing climate conditions.
Source: Water
DOI: 10.3390/w17243587
Authors: Beiming Kang, Yan Ren, Yang Shi, Xiaomei Zhu, Jingjing Huang, Wenwen Bai
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
Award: G4904532811
OpenAlex ID: W4417436215