Satellite measurements reveal strong anisotropy in spatial coherence of climate variations over the Tibet Plateau.

ABSTRACT: This study uses high-resolution, long-term satellite observations to evaluate the spatial scales of the climate variations across the Tibet Plateau (TP). Both land surface temperature and precipitation observations of more than 10 years were analysed with a special attention to eight existing ice-core sites in the TP. The temporal correlation for the monthly or annual anomalies between any two points decreases exponentially with their spatial distance, and we used the e-folding decay constant to quantify the spatial scales. We found that the spatial scales are strongly direction-dependent, with distinctive patterns in the west-east and south-north orientations, for example. Meanwhile, in the same directions the scales are largely symmetric backward and forward. Focusing on the west-east an

SUBMITTER: Chen D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4995513 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature