Dominant control of the South Asian monsoon by orographic insulation versus plateau heating

William R. Boos () and Zhiming Kuang
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William R. Boos: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences,
Zhiming Kuang: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences,

Nature, 2010, vol. 463, issue 7278, 218-222

Abstract: Monsoon from the mountains Heat emitted from the Tibetan plateau as dry heat and water vapour has long been assumed to be the main driver of the South Asian summer monsoon, but new work suggests that in fact it is the neighbouring mountains that are the major influence. William Boos and Zhiming Kuang use an atmospheric model to show that flattening the Tibetan plateau has little effect on the monsoon, so long as the Himalayas and surrounding mountain ranges remain. The plateau does boost rainfall locally along its southern edge, but it is the build-up of hot, moist air over India, insulated from colder, drier air by the Himalayas, that drives large-scale monsoon circulation.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08707

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