Abstract
The moisture sources of precipitation in the Tianshan Mountains, one of
the regions with the highest precipitation in Central Asia during
1979-2017 are comprehensively and quantitatively summarized by using a
Lagrangian moisture source detection technique. Continental sources
provide about 93.2\% of the moisture for precipitation
in the Tianshan Mountain, while moisture directly from the ocean is very
limited, averaging only 6.8\%. Central Asia plays a
dominant role in providing moisture for all sub-regions of the Tianshan
Mountains. For the Western Tianshan, moisture from April to October
comes mainly from Central Asia (41.4\%), while moisture
from November to March is derived primarily from Western Asia
(45.7\%). Nearly 13.0\% of moisture to
precipitation for Eastern Tianshan in summer originates from East and
South Asia, and the Siberia region. There is a significant decreasing
trend in the moisture contribution of local evaporation and Central Asia
in the Eastern Tianshan during winter. The contribution of moisture from
Europe to summer precipitation in the Central and Eastern Tianshan and
the contribution of the North Atlantic Ocean to summer precipitation in
the Northern, Central, and Eastern Tianshan also exhibit a decreasing
trend. The largest increase in moisture in Western Tianshan stems from
West Asia during extreme winter precipitation months. Europe is also an
important contributor to extreme precipitation in the Northern Tianshan.
The moisture from East and South Asia and Siberia during extreme
precipitation months in both winter and summer is significantly enhanced
in the Eastern Tianshan.