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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Nathan ForsytheORCiD, Professor Hayley Fowler
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025. The Author(s). Snow cover changes are of great importance to the hydrological cycle of the western Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, the influence of the atmospheric circulation on snow cover over the western TP is still unclear. This study finds that springtime snow cover variability over the western TP tail is significantly modulated by the Western Tibetan Vortex (WTV), which explains up to 40% variance. Cyclonic (anticyclonic) WTV variability generally causes water vapor convergence (divergence) and ascending (sinking) motions over the western TP tail, which thereby leads to more (less) snowfall and snow cover about one day later. Horizontal water vapor transport at the southern boundary of the western TP tail from the tropical Indian Ocean is key for the influence of the WTV. This study elucidates the impact of the WTV on springtime snow cover, which augments our understanding of the hydrological cycle over the western TP.
Author(s): Wang J, Li X-F, Yang S, Forsythe N, Fowler HJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
Year: 2025
Volume: 52
Issue: 14
Print publication date: 28/07/2025
Online publication date: 18/07/2025
Acceptance date: 08/07/2025
Date deposited: 18/09/2025
ISSN (print): 0094-8276
ISSN (electronic): 1944-8007
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL114453
DOI: 10.1029/2024GL114453
Data Access Statement: The ERA5-Land data sets are publicly available via Muñoz Sabater (2019a, 2019b) and the ERA5 atmospheric data sets are publicly available via Hersbach et al. (2023a, 2023b, 2023c). The NSIDC data are publicly available via Brodzik and Armstrong (2013).
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