Regional and Teleconnected Impacts of Radiation-Topography Interaction
over the Tibetan Plateau
Abstract
Radiation-topography interaction plays an important role in the surface
energy balance over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, the impacts of
such interaction over the TP on climate locally and in the Asian regions
remain unclear. This study uses the Energy Exascale Earth System Model
(E3SM) to evaluate the regional and teleconnected impacts of
radiation-topography interaction over the TP. Land-atmosphere coupled
experiments show that topography regulates the surface energy balance,
snow processes, and surface climate over the TP across seasons.
Accounting for radiation-topography interaction overall improves E3SM’s
performance in simulating surface climate. The winter cold bias in air
temperature decreases from -4.48 K to -3.70 K, and the wet bias in
summer precipitation is mitigated in southern TP. The TP’s
radiation-topography interaction further reduces the South and East
Asian summer precipitation biases. Our results demonstrate the
topographic roles in regional climate over the TP and highlight its
teleconnected climate impacts.