The integrated observation network of land-atmosphere interactions over heterogeneous landscapes of the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a central role in the water and energy cycle, atmospheric circulation patterns, and regional and global climate, and it is sensitive and vulnerable to global climate change. Land-atmosphere interactions are an important topic in climate change studies because they encompass a wide range of intricate processes and feedback. However, because of the high elevation and harsh climate conditions, knowledge of the land-atmosphere interactions in the TP has been greatly impeded by the extremely sparse and unevenly dispersed in-situ monitoring network in this region. Although automatic weather stations have been widely established throughout the TP, they provide only a single layer of meteorological measurements. Profile measurements of temperature, humidity, and wind may aid in understanding land surface processes and boundary layer dynamics over the complex terrain of the TP. With the support of various agencies in the People's Republic of China and over 17 years of efforts, we have established an integrated observation network of land-atmosphere interactions over heterogeneous landscapes of the TP. The observation network consists of 18 stations covering various landscapes (e.g., alpine meadow, alpine desert, desert grassland, alpine wetland, alpine woodland, glaciers, and alpine lake), measurements made by planetary boundary layer towers, eddy covariance systems, wind profilers, microwave radiometers, radiosonde systems, FlowCapts, and cloud and precipitation radars will be detailed introduced. The contributions of the integrated observations to the understanding of energy and water exchanges, key land surface parameters, turbulent characteristics, atmospheric vertical structures, local circulation characteristics, and the impact of complex terrain on local atmospheric circulation patterns will be demonstrated using the National Observation and Research Station of China for Qomolangma Special Atmospheric Processes and Environmental Changes as an example. Furthermore, a long-term dataset of hourly integrated land-atmosphere observations on the TP has been released and can be freely accessed. We are confident that the integrated observations will benefit a broad multidisciplinary community by enabling the evaluation and development of existing or novel remote sensing algorithms as well as geophysical models for climate research and forecasting.