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Special Issue "Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Effects on the Climate of the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Regions III"

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Atmospheric Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2023 | Viewed by 3522

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yaoming Ma

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor

Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China
Interests: water cycle; evapotranspiration and evaporation; atmospheric boundary layer; satellite remote sensing application
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Prof. Dr. Li Jia

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Guest Editor

Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China
Interests: earth observations for terrestrial water cycle study; evapotranspiration; water resource; land surface process; optical-thermal remote sensing; climate change
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Prof. Dr. Massimo Menenti

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Guest Editor

1. State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2. Department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, 2628 Delft, The Netherlands
Interests: land surface processes; terrestrial water cycle; water management; optical remote sensing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Lei Zhong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
Interests: application of remote sensing; energy and water cycle; land-atmosphere interaction; hydrometorology; atmospheric boundary layer process
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Due to great support and interest from all of you, we are introducing the 3rd edition of the Special Issue on “Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Effects on the Climate of the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Regions”. I would like to thank all the authors and co-authors in the previous editions, who made Volumes 1 and 2 a grand success.

The Tibetan Plateau is also known as the roof of the world and third pole of the Earth. Energy and water exchange at the heterogeneous interface of the plateau land surface with the atmosphere is great and rapidly varying. This land–atmosphere interaction has profound impacts on atmospheric circulation and climate conditions over the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding regions, as well. In the context of global warming, the Tibetan Plateau itself is becoming warmer and wetter. In the last decades, both polar orbiting and geostationary satellites have been providing vital information to form a better understanding of land–atmosphere interactions and the related climate effects in the third pole region. Large research efforts have been focusing on the retrieval of key land-surface properties, i.e., land-surface temperature, NDVI, albedo, soil moisture, and land-surface heat fluxes. These observations are a vital source of information to monitor the variations in snow, glaciers, lakes, and other hydro-meteorological processes on the Tibetan Plateau. A rapidly growing body of knowledge documents how land–atmosphere interactions and their climatic effects have been revealed using multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal, and microwave remote sensing data.

This Special Issue will showcase successful recent endeavors in studies covering applications of multisource remote sensing data regarding land–atmosphere interactions and their effects on the climate of the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Regions. The subject relates to the multi-disciplinary intersection of atmospheric and hydro-meteorological science with remote sensing. It fits well within the scope of the journal.

Contributions may address research questions ranging from the retrieval of land-surface variables and land-surface heat fluxes at different spatial and temporal scales, to the monitoring of variations in snow, glaciers, lakes, and other land-surface covers. Hence, studies focused on land-surface processes, hydro-meteorological processes, and their climate impacts based on a combined use of multisource data, e.g., remote sensing data and in situ measurements, are welcome. Articles may address but are not limited to the following topics:

Retrieval of land-surface key properties;
Estimation of land-surface heat fluxes;
Land-surface heating and its impacts on the atmospheric boundary layer;
Estimation of atmospheric heating sources;
Climate effects of land–atmosphere interactions;
Parameterization of radiation fluxes;
Evapotranspiration modeling;
Time series analysis and effect studies;
Monitoring of glacier and glacial lakes;
Remote sensing of hydrological processes;
Vegetation dynamics and its response to weather and climate;
Remote sensing-based drought assessment and monitoring.

Prof. Dr. Yaoming Ma
Prof. Dr. Li Jia
Prof. Dr. Massimo Menenti
Prof. Dr. Lei Zhong
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

land–atmosphere interactions
radiation flux
sensible and latent heat fluxes
land-surface heating
atmospheric heating sources
atmospheric boundary layer
climate effects
evapotranspiration
land-surface temperature
vegetation dynamics
soil moisture
machine learning
validation and evaluation

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 5045 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long-Term Characteristics of Surface Soil Moisture over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Response to Climate Change

Chenxia Zhu

Shijie Li

Daniel Fiifi Tawia Hagan

and

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(18), 4414; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15184414 - 07 Sep 2023

Viewed by 563

Abstract

Soil moisture over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) can affect hydrological cycles on local and remote scales through land–atmosphere interactions. However, TP long-term surface soil moisture characteristics and their response to climate change are still unclear. In this study, we firstly evaluate two satellite-based products—SSM/I (the Special Sensor Microwave Imagers) and ECV COMBINED (the Essential Climate Variable combined)—and three reanalysis products—ERA5-Land (the fifth generation of the land component of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts atmospheric reanalysis), MERRA2 (the second version of Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications), and GLDAS Noah (the Noah land surface model driven by Global Land Data Assimilation System)—against two in situ observation networks. SSM/I and GLDAS Noah outperform the other soil moisture products, followed by MERRA2 and ECV COMBINED, and ERA5-Land has a certain degree of uncertainty in evaluating TP surface soil moisture. Analysis of long-term soil moisture characteristics during 1988–2008 shows that annual and seasonal mean soil moisture have similar spatial distributions of soil moisture decreasing from southeast to northwest. Additionally, a significant increasing trend of soil moisture is found in most of the TP region. With a non-linear machine learning method, we quantify the contribution of each climatic variable to warm-season soil moisture. It indicates that precipitation dominates soil moisture changes rather than air temperature. Pixel-wise partial correlation coefficients further show that there are significant positive correlations between precipitation and soil moisture over most of the TP region. The results of this study will help to understand the role of TP soil moisture in land–atmosphere coupling and hydrological cycles under climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Effects on the Climate of the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Regions III)

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27 pages, 5892 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Implications for Validation of IMERG Satellite Precipitation in a Complex Mountainous Region

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Remote Sens. 2023, 15(18), 4380; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15184380 - 06 Sep 2023

Viewed by 696

Abstract

Satellite-based precipitation retrievals such as the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG), provide alternative data in mountainous regions. In this study, we evaluated IMERG in the Yarlung Tsangbo Grand Canyon (YGC) using ground observations. It was found that IMERG underestimated the total rainfall primarily due to under-detection of rainfall events, with misses being more prevalent than false alarms. We analyzed the relationships between the probability of detection (POD), false alarm ratio (FAR), bias in detection (BID), and Heidke skill score (HSS) and terrain factors. It was found that the POD decreased with elevation, leading to increased underestimation of rainfall events at higher elevations, and the FAR was higher in valley sites. In terms of the hit events, IMERG overestimated the light rainfall events and underestimated the heavy rainfall events and the negative bias in the hit events decreased with elevation. IMERG could capture the early morning peak precipitation in the YGC region but underestimated the amplitude of the diurnal variation. This bias was inherent at the sensor level, and the Global Precipitation Climatology Center (GPCC) calibration partially improved the underestimation. However, this improvement was not sufficient for the YGC region. This study fills the gap in IMERG validation in a complex mountainous region and has implications for users and developers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Effects on the Climate of the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Regions III)

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16 pages, 3194 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Distinct Impacts of Two Types of Developing El Niño–Southern Oscillations on Tibetan Plateau Summer Precipitation

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Remote Sens. 2023, 15(16), 4030; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15164030 - 14 Aug 2023

Viewed by 612

Abstract

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has remarkable impacts on Tibetan Plateau (TP) summer precipitation. However, recently identified ENSO spatial diversity brings complexity to these impacts. This study investigates the distinct impacts of the Eastern Pacific (EP) and Central Pacific (CP) ENSOs on TP summer precipitation based on numerous precipitation data and satellite-observed and reanalyzed circulation data. The results show that the EP El Niño and the CP La Niña have opposite effects on summer precipitation in the southwestern TP, with significant decreases and increases, respectively, indicating a trans-type inversion. In contrast, the CP El Niño causes significant decreases in summer precipitation in the central-eastern TP. No significant anomaly occurs during the EP La Niña. Moisture budget and circulation analyses suggest that these distinct precipitation characteristics can be attributed to different atmospheric teleconnections, which provide varying vertical motion and moisture conditions. The EP El Niño triggers an atmospheric response similar to the Indian Summer Monsoon–East Asian Summer Monsoon teleconnection, and the CP La Niña generates a teleconnection in the opposite phase. In contrast, the CP El Niño mainly causes a teleconnection resembling the East Asian–Pacific pattern. This study may deepen our understanding of ENSO impacts on TP summer precipitation and have implications for regional climate predictions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Effects on the Climate of the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Regions III)

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17 pages, 11842 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Regional Climate Effects of Irrigation under Central Asia Warming by 2.0 °C

Liyang Wu

and

Hui Zheng

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(14), 3672; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143672 - 23 Jul 2023

Viewed by 539

Abstract

There has been a severe shortage of water resources in Central Asia and agriculture has been highly dependent on irrigation because of the scarce precipitation in the croplands. Central Asia is also experiencing climate warming in the context of global warming; however, few studies have focused on changes in the amount of irrigation in Central Asia under future climate warming and their regional climate effects. In this study, we adopted the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to design three types of experiments: historical experiments (Exp01); warming experiments using future driving fields (Exp02); and warming experiments that involved increasing the surface energy (Exp03). In each type of experiment, two experiments (considering and not considering irrigation) were carried out. We analyzed the regional climate effects of irrigation under the warming of Central Asia by 2.0 °C through determining the differences between the two types of warming experiments and the historical experiments. For surface variables (irrigation amount; sensible heat flux; latent heat flux; and surface air temperature), the changes (relative to Exp01) in Exp03 were thought to be reasonable. For precipitation, the changes (relative to Exp01) in Exp02 were thought to be reasonable. The main conclusions were as follows: in Central Asia, after warming by 2.0 °C, the irrigation amount increased by 10–20%; in the irrigated croplands of Central Asia, the irrigation-caused increases (decreases) in latent heat flux (sensible heat flux) further expanded; and then the irrigation-caused decreases in surface air temperature also became enhanced; during the irrigation period, the irrigation-caused increases in precipitation in the mid-latitude mountainous areas were reduced. This study also showed that, in the WRF model, the warming experiments caused by driving fields were not suitable to simulate the changes in irrigation amount affected by climate warming. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Effects on the Climate of the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Regions III)

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16 pages, 5005 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Comparison of Spring Wind Gusts in the Eastern Part of the Tibetan Plateau and along the Coast: The Role of Turbulence

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Remote Sens. 2023, 15(14), 3655; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143655 - 21 Jul 2023

Viewed by 616

Abstract

Wind gusts are sudden, brief increases in wind speed that have important implications for wind power generation, building design, aviation and marine safety. However, wind gusts in the Plateau and coastal plain are very different. In this paper, the gust characteristics are explored and compared at two sites in the same latitude—Xining, a city in the eastern Tibetan Plateau, and Qingdao, a city in the coast in China—using Doppler lidar data. The results indicate that the wind gusts in Xining are more intense and occur at a higher height than those in Qingdao. Though mean winds and turbulence significantly influence gusts, the turbulence intensity is responsible for the differences in gust, and high turbulence in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau is inferred. These results provide observational evidence for wind gusts over the complex terrain of the Tibetan Plateau and are useful for studying their impact on important aspects, such as flight safety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land-Atmosphere Interactions and Effects on the Climate of the Tibetan Plateau and Surrounding Regions III)

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