The land-atmosphere energy and turbulence exchange is key to understanding land surface processes on the Tibetan Plateau(TP). Using observed data for Aug. 4 to Dec. 3, 2012 from the Bujiao observation point(BJ) of the Nagqu Plateau Climate and Environment Station(NPCE-BJ), different characteristics of the energy flux during the Asian summer monsoon(ASM) season and post-monsoon period were analyzed. This study outlines the impact of the ASM on energy fluxes in the central TP. It also demonstrates that the surface energy closure rate during the ASM season is higher than that of the post-monsoon period. Footprint modeling shows the distribution of data quality assessments(QA) and quality controls(QC) surrounding the observation point. The measured turbulent flux data at the NPCE-BJ site were highly representative of the target land-use type. The target surface contributed more to the fluxes under unstable conditions than under stable conditions. The main wind directions(180° and 210°) with the highest data density showed flux contributions reaching 100%, even under stable conditions. The lowest flux contributions were found in sectors with low data density, e.g., 90.4% in the 360° sector under stable conditions during the ASM season. Lastly, a surface energy water balance(SEWAB) model was used to gap-fill any absent or corrected turbulence data. The potential simulation error was also explored in this study. The Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficients(NSEs) of the observed fluxes with the SEWAB model runs were 0.78 for sensible heat flux and 0.63 for latent heat flux during the ASM season, but unrealistic values of-0.9 for latent heat flux during the post-monsoon period.
MaoShan LiZhongBo SuYaoMing MaXueLong ChenLang ZhangZeYong Hu
In this study, a parameterization scheme based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and in-situ data was tested for deriving the regional surface heating field over a heterogeneous landscape. As a case study, the methodology was applied to the whole Tibetan Plateau (TP) area. Four images of MODIS data (i.e., 30 January 2007, 15 April 2007, 1 August 2007, and 25 October 2007) were used in this study for comparison among winter, spring, summer, and autumn. The results were validated using the observations measured at the stations of the Tibetan Observation and Research Platform (TORP). The results show the following: (1) The derived surface heating field for the TP area was in good accord with the land-surface status, showing a wide range of values due to the strong contrast of surface features in the area. (2) The derived surface heating field for the TP was very close to the field measurements (observations). The APD (absolute percent difference) between the derived results and the field observations was 〈10%. (3) The mean surface heating field over the TP increased from January to April to August, and decreased in October. Therefore, the reasonable regional distribution of the surface heating field over a heterogeneous landscape can be obtained using this methodology. The limitations and further improvement of this method are also discussed.