Abstract
Synoptic-scale weather systems play dominant roles in inducing high tropospheric dust over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, few studies have summarized the typical synoptic-scale weather patterns when high tropospheric dust occurs over the TP, as well as the difference between the distribution and transport methods of dust under weather patterns. Based on dust optical depth (DOD) from remote sensing data and reanalysis data during 2000 to 2019, two typical synoptic-scale weather patterns (T1 and T2) in the middle troposphere in association with high DOD in spring over the TP were obtained by using the self-organizing map (SOM) clustering method. The results show that the T1 features a deep trough over the Altai Mountains and the westerly wind increases over the TP. As a result, dust is transported from the Taklimakan Desert and Qaidam Basin to the upper troposphere and extends to the TP and northern China. T2 shows a low-pressure system over the western TP and decreased westerly winds over the TP, resulting in dust from the Taklimakan Desert, Qaidam Basin, and western TP to downstream areas. T1 (T2) contributes more to DOD over the eastern (western) TP. Therefore, we believe that a small increase (decrease) in DOD in the western (eastern) part of the TP from 2000 to 2019 may be related to an increase (decrease) in the occurrence of the T2 (T1). This work may provide a new possibility for projecting dust transport and its influence on tropospheric dust over the TP.
Article Highlights
• There are two typical synoptic-scale weather patterns (T1 and T2) of high tropospheric dust over the TP.
• T1 contributes higher DOD on eastern TP and T2 induces higher DOD on Western TP.
• The increase (decrease) of DOD on western (eastern) TP may be related to an increase (decrease) in the occurrence of the T2 (T1) during 2000-2019.
• T1 is related to the enhanced polar front jet stream over the northern TP and northern China, resulting in low-pressure systems to the northeast of the TP.
• T2 shows an increase in the subtropical westerly jet stream along the southern boundary of the TP, inducing low-pressure systems over the western TP.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Ming Bao (Nanjing University, China) for providing codes for SOM analysis. This study was supported by the China’s Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (2019QZKK0906) and the National Key R&D Program of China (2020YFA0608201; 2022YFC3004404). Dr. Guangjian Wu was supported by the NSFC (41725001).
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Feng, X., Mao, R., Gong, DY. et al. Two Typical Synoptic-Scale Weather Patterns of Dust Events over the Tibetan Plateau. Asia-Pac J Atmos Sci 59, 403–416 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-023-00325-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-023-00325-5