Abstract Mass changes derived from gravity recovery and climate experiment(GRACE) data in high mountain Asia(HMA) and adjoining areas can be used to investigate the effects of regional climate factors such as the Indian monsoon, westerlies and El Nio-Southern Oscillation(ENSO). However, one recent study had a different viewpoint for the role of the westerlies in HMA than traditional studies. Thus, we turn to improved estimates of mass changes, derived the GRACE Release 06 Mascon solution from January 2003 to June 2017, and perform a novel complex empirical orthogonal function(CEOF) analysis. We find that the contributions to the mass changes in our study area, corresponding to the top three principal components, are 53%, 27% and 6%, and their correlation coefficients with Indian monsoon, westerlies and ENSO index data are as large as 0.92±0.16, 0.70±0.15, and 0.42±0.15, respectively. This suggests that the Indian monsoon, westerlies and ENSO could account for 53%, 27% and 6%, respectively, of the mass changes in the study area during the observation time span of 14 years. Considering our whole study area, the effect of westerlies is the second important one for mass changes, which supports most previous studies. We also find that ENSO exerts its effects on mass changes in specific areas(e.g., Pamir mountains, Himalayas and northwest India) through the linked Indian monsoon. Northwest India, the Himalayas and southeast Tibet are found to show a declining trend of mass changes, caused by the weakening Indian monsoon and the related ENSO, and the strengthening westerlies. The Hindu Kush, and the west and east Kunlun mountains are found to show an ascending trend of mass changes mainly due to stronger westerlies. Although influenced by the stronger westerlies, the Pamir mountains and the Tienshan show a declining trend of mass changes, since they are also affected by the weakening Indian monsoon and ENSO together with increasing air temperature trends.
WANG Hansheng,ZHANG Huitong,XIANG Longwei et al. Effects of Climatic Factors on the Mass Balance from 2003 to 2017 in High Mountain Asia and Adjacent Areas[J]. jgg, 2020, 40(12): 1211-1218.
WANG Hansheng,ZHANG Huitong,XIANG Longwei et al. Effects of Climatic Factors on the Mass Balance from 2003 to 2017 in High Mountain Asia and Adjacent Areas[J]. jgg, 2020, 40(12): 1211-1218.
