Binbin Wang

Chinese Academy of Sciences | CAS · Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research

Surface albedo is a critical indicator of Earth’s ability to reflect solar radiation, influencing energy balance and climate dynamics. Research on blue-sky albedo on the Tibetan Plateau has often focused on clear-sky conditions, overlooking seasonal snow cover and variable weather. This paper uses convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to estimate bl...

Simulating the ice phenology of deep alpine lakes is important and challenging in coupled atmosphere–lake models. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, coupled with two lake models, the freshwater lake (WRF–FLake) model and the default lake (WRF–CLake) model, was applied to Nam Co, a typical deep alpine lake located in th...

Skin cooling, wherein the surface temperature of a water body T skin is lower than the temperature below the surface, is a widespread phenomenon. Previous studies have almost ignored this effect on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), despite the presence of thousands of lakes on the TP and the fact that extraordinary solar heating leads to very strong energy...

Ground-based microwave radiometers (MWRs) operating in the K- and V-bands (20–60 GHz) can help us obtain temperature and humidity profiles in the troposphere. Aside from some soundings from local meteorological observatories, the tropospheric atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has never been continuously observed. As part of the Chinese Secon...

Simulating the ice phenology of deep alpine lakes is important and challenging in coupled atmosphere-lake models. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, coupled with two lake models, the fresh-water lake model (WRF-FLake) and the default lake model (WRF-Lake), was applied to lake Nam Co, a typical deep alpine lake located...

Evapotranspiration (ET) plays a crucial role in the water balance of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), often referred to as the “Asian water tower” region. However, accurately monitoring and comprehending the spatial and temporal variations of ET components (including soil evaporation Es, canopy transpiration Ec, and intercepted water evaporation Ew) in th...

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) impacts local and remote atmospheric circulations, wherein it mechanically and thermally affects air masses or airflows. Moreover, the TP provides a key channel for substance transport between the troposphere and the stratosphere. This study reviews recent advances in research regarding land–atmosphere coupling processes ov...

Lake stratification and mixing processes can influence gas and energy transport in the water column and water–atmosphere interactions, thus impacting limnology and local climate. Featuring the largest high-elevation inland lake zone in the world, comprehensive and comparative studies on the evolution of lake stratification and mixing and their driv...

Study region: Lake Nam-Co, a typical deep alpine lake in the central of Tibetan Plateau. Study focus: This study investigates the role of surface turbulent fluxes in simulating lake freeze-up and the role of solar radiation transfer (when lake ice exists) in simulating the lake ice break-up. New hydrological insights: In the coupled model, the real...

Considered as a sensitive indicator of climate change, lake ice phenology can have significant influences on regional climate by affecting lake-atmosphere energy and water exchange. However, in situ measurements of ice phenology events are quite limited over high-elevation lakes on the Tibetan Plateau, where satellite monitoring can make up such de...

Numerous previous studies have pointed out that the South Asia monsoon (SAM) contributes most moisture to the southern Tibetan Plateau, whilst the moisture over the Northern Tibetan Plateau (NTP) is supplied by the westerlies, but the moisture sources for extreme precipitation events remain unclear. In this study, the tracking of external moisture...

Containing elevated topography, the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has significant thermodynamic effects for regional environment and climate change, where understanding energy and water exchange processes (EWEP) is an important prerequisite. However, estimation of the exact spatiotemporal variability of the land-atmosphere energy and water exchange over het...

Mt. Everest (Qomolangma), the highest mountain on Earth, is an unrivalled natural research platform for understanding multispheric interactions over heterogeneous landscapes. The land-atmosphere interactions in this iconic mountain region have paramount importance for weather and climate predictions at both regional and global scales; however, obse...

Changes in lake water volume can reflect variations in regional hydrometeorology and are a sensitive indicator of regional environmental change. The Tibetan Plateau, referred to as the “Asian Water Tower”, has a large number of lakes. These lakes are in a natural state and are relatively unaffected by human activities. Understanding the changes to...

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component of the water balance system in the “Asian water tower” region, the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, accurately monitoring and understanding the spatial and temporal variability of the ET components (soil evaporation Es, canopy transpiration Ec, and intercepted water evaporation Ew) on the TP remains g...

An empirical model to estimate global solar radiation was developed at Qomolangma Station using observed solar radiation and meteorological parameters. The predicted hourly global solar radiation agrees well with observations at the ground in 2008–2011. This model was used to calculate global solar radiation at the ground and its loss in the atmosp...

Changes in the water cycle on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) have a significant impact on local agricultural production and livelihoods and its downstream regions. Against the background of widely reported warming and wetting, the hydrological cycle has accelerated and the likelihood of extreme weather events and natural disasters occurring (i.e., snowst...

Lake water temperature and the related thermal structure influence not only the provision of ecosystem services in lacustrine environments but also the interactions with regional climate. However, continuous lake temperature monitoring across the Tibetan Plateau is sparse, limiting our understanding of lake thermal and mixing dynamics and hindering...

Analysis of long-term, ground-based observation data on the Tibetan Plateau help to enhance our understanding of land-atmosphere interactions and their influence on weather and climate in this region. In this paper, the daily, monthly, and annual averages of radiative fluxes, surface albedo, surface temperature, and air temperature were calculated...

A better understanding of the water and energy cycles at climate scale in the Third Pole Environment is essential for assessing and understanding the causes of changes in the cryosphere and hydrosphere in relation to changes of plateau atmosphere in the Asian monsoon system and for predicting the possible changes in water resources in South and Eas...

Actual terrestrial evapotranspiration (ETa) is a key parameter controlling land–atmosphere interaction processes and water cycle. However, spatial distribution and temporal changes in ETa over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) remain very uncertain. Here we estimate the multiyear (2001–2018) monthly ETa and its spatial distribution on the TP by a combinatio...

Monitoring paddy rice cultivation is essential for ensuring food security and for land resource management in agrarian countries of South Asia. In this study, we investigated the spatial and temporal variation of rice cultivated area and phenological metrics in Nepal between 2003 and 2018 using the time series MODIS data and PhenoRice algorithm. Co...

The northern slopes of Himalaya (NSH) have the highest average elevation in the world. It is difficult to assess how climate change has affected this region because only a few observations are available from the high terrain and harsh environment. This study investigates the long-term characteristics of temperature and precipitation in the NSH. Fur...

Terrestrial actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is a key parameter controlling the land-atmosphere interaction processes and the water cycle. However, the spatial distribution and temporal changes of ETa over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) remain very uncertain. Here we estimate the multiyear (2001–2018) monthly ETa and its spatial distribution on the TP by...

Net radiation is an important factor in studies of land–atmosphere processes, water resource management, and global climate change. This is particularly true for the Upper Blue Nile (UBN) basin, where significant parts of the basin are dry and evapotranspiration ( ET ) is a major mechanism for water loss. However, net radiation has not yet been app...

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a critical role in influencing regional and global climate, via both thermal and dynamical mechanisms. Meanwhile, as the largest high-elevation part of the cryosphere outside the polar regions, with vast areas of mountain glaciers, permafrost and seasonally frozen ground, the TP is characterized as an area sensitive t...

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a critical role in influencing regional and global climate, via both thermal and dynamical mechanisms. Meanwhile, as the largest high-elevation part of the cryosphere outside the polar regions, with vast areas of mountain glaciers, permafrost and seasonally frozen ground, the TP is characterized as an area sensitive t...

Lake evaporation can influence basin-wide hydrological cycles and is an important factor in loss of water resources in endorheic lakes of the Tibetan Plateau. Because of the scarcity of data, published lake evaporation values are inconsistent, and their spatial distribution has never been reported. Presenting a plausible hypothesis of energy balanc...

Current climate models often have significant wet biases in the Tibetan Plateau and encounter particular difficulties in representing the climatic effect of the Central Himalaya Mountain (CHM), where the gradient of elevation is extremely steep and the terrain is complex. Yet, there were few studies dealing with the issue in the high altitudes of t...

This study examines the seasonal and diurnal variations of carbon dioxide and energy fluxes over three land cover types of Nepal by using the eddy covariance method from March to November 2016. The surface energy balance closures were moderate with the values of about 56%, 61%, and 64% closure at Kirtipur, Simara, and Tarahara sites respectively. T...

The southeastern part of Nepal is traditionally known as the entrance of the South Asian summer monsoon system (SASM) and plays a vital role in the development of the national agro-economy. This research examined the diurnal and seasonal variation in the heat and mass fluxes. The study area lies in the agricultural fields that maintain crop cycles....

Lakes impact atmosphere boundary layer processes and are thus important for catchment scale climate modeling and regional water and heat budgets. To explore the differences in lake-atmosphere interaction parameters, meteorological variables and turbulent heat fluxes in small and large water bodies, we collected eddy covariance observations and mete...

Land surface temperature (LST) is an important variable for assessing climate change and related environmental impacts observed in recent decades. Regular monitoring of LST using satellite sensors such as MODIS has the advantage of global coverage, including topographically complex regions such as Nepal. In order to assess the climatic and environm...

To quantify lake evaporation and its variations in time, ten methods for estimating evaporation at a temporal resolution of 10 days over a small high-elevation lake in the Nam Co lake basin of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) were evaluated by using eddy covariance (EC) observation-based reference datasets. After examination of the consistency of the param...

South Asian monsoon crosses the Himalayan Mountains (HMs) and brings moisture for precipitations in the South Tibetan Plateau. A distinct dry‐belt was found in the north of the central HM region, where there are the highest and steepest mountains in the world. Through in situ and remote‐sensing observations and convection‐permitting numerical exper...

Based on high-quality data from eddy covariance measurements at the Qomolangma Monitoring and Research Station for Atmosphere and Environment (QOMS) and the Southeast Tibet Monitoring and Research Station for Environment (SETS), near-ground free convection conditions (FCCs) and their characteristics are investigated. At QOMS, strong thermal effects...

Time series of MODIS land surface temperature (Ts) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) products, combined with digital elevation model (DEM) and meteorological data from 2001 to 2012, were used to map the spatial distribution of monthly mean air temperature over the Northern Tibetan Plateau (NTP). A time series analysis and a regressi...

The Tibetan Plateau is an important water source in Asia. As the “Third Pole” of the Earth, the Tibetan Plateau has significant dynamic and thermal effects on East Asian climate patterns, the Asian monsoon process and atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. However, little systematic knowledge is available regarding the changing climate...

Precise measurements of evaporation and understanding of the physical controls on turbulent heat flux over lakes have fundamental significance for catchment-scale water balance analysis and local-scale climate modeling. The observation and simulation of lake-air turbulent flux processes have been widely carried out, but studies that examine high-al...

Lakes are an important part of the landscape on the Tibetan Plateau. Most of the Plateau lakes’ area has been expanding in recent years, but lake-atmosphere energy and water interaction is poorly understood because of a lack of observational data and adequate modeling systems. Based on the eddy covariance observation over a high-altitude shallow an...

Novice efforts have been made in order to study the regional distribution of land surface heat fluxes on the southern side of the central Himalayas utilizing high-resolution remotely sensed products, but these have been on instantaneous scale. In this study the Surface Energy Balance System model is used to obtain annual averaged maps of the land s...

Lakes are an important part of the landscape on the Tibetan Plateau. Most of the Plateau lakes' area has been expanding in recent years, but lake-atmosphere energy and water interaction is poorly understood because of a lack of observational data and adequate modeling systems. Based on the eddy covariance observation over a high-altitude shallow an...

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) has become a focus of strong scientific interest due to its role in the global water cycle and its reaction to climate change. Regional flux estimates of sensible and latent heat are important variables for linking the energy and hydrological cycles at the TP’s surface. Within this framework, a 3-year dataset (2008–2010) of...

Recent scientific studies based on large-scale climate model have highlighted the importance of the heat release from the southern side of the Himalayas for the development of South Asian Summer Monsoon. However, studies related to land surface heat fluxes are nonexistent on the southern side. In this study, we test the feasibility of deriving land...

Recent studies have highlighted the importance of the southern slopes of the Himalayas as a possible heating source driving the South Asian Summer Monsoon (SASM). The central Himalayas are characterized by a complex topography; consequently the measurements regarding land surface heat fluxes are scarce. In this study we tested the feasibility of de...

In this study, a parameterization method based on MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data, AVHRR (Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer) data and in situ data is introduced and tested for estimating the regional evaporative fraction Λ over a heterogeneous landscape. As a case study, the algorithm was applied to the Tibetan Pla...

In this study, a parameterization methodology based on Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and in situ data is proposed and tested for deriving the regional surface heating field, sensible heat flux, and latent heat flux over a heterogeneous landscape. In this case study, this met...

Surface solar radiation is an important parameter in surface energy balance models and in estimation of evapotranspiration. This study developed a DEM based radiation model to estimate instantaneous clear sky olar radiation for surface energy balance system to obtain accurate energy absorbed by the mountain surface. Efforts to improve spatial accur...

In this study, a new parameterization method based on MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data, AVHRR (Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer) data and in-situ data is constructed and tested for deriving the regional evaporative fraction (EF) over heterogeneous landscape. As a case study, the methodology was applied to the Tibet...

The middle reaches of Yarlung Zangbo River (YR) and its two tributaries (Lhasa River and Nianchu River) is a main agricultural region in central Tibet Autonomous Region. Drought monitoring has significant meaning for local crop growth monitoring, crop yield assessment and disaster monitoring. It also has great theoretical importance for understandi...

Surface solar radiation is an important parameter in surface energy balance models and in estimation of evapotranspiration. This study developed a DEM based radiation model to estimate instantaneous clear sky solar radiation for surface energy balance system to obtain accurate energy absorbed by the mountain surface. Efforts to improve spatial accu...

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...

The Tibetan Plateau is located in central and eastern parts of the Eurasian continent and contains the world's highest elevation (average elevation about 4000 m) relief features, some reaching into the mid-troposphere. It represents an extensive mass extending from subtropical to middle latitudes and is spanning over 25 degrees of longitude. Becaus...

In this study, a parameterization methodology based on MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and in situ data is proposed and tested for deriving the regional surface reflectance, surface temperature, net radiation flux, soil heat flux, sensible heat flux and latent heat flux over heterogeneous landscape. As a case study, the method...

In this study, a parameterization methodology based on MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and in-situ data is proposed and tested for deriving the regional surface reflectance, surface temperature, net radiation flux, soil heat flux, sensible heat flux and latent heat flux over heterogeneous landscape. As a case study, the method...

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...

As a unique geological and geographical unit, the Third Pole area (the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding areas) dramatically impacts the world's environment and especially controls climatic and environmental changes in China, Asia and even in the Northern Hemisphere. Supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, various agencies in the People's Repub...