Arid Zone Research ›› 2021, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (5): 1207-1215.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2021.05.02

• Weather and Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Characteristics of the radiation balance and surface albedo of a typical alpine wetland in Qiangtang Plateau

QIANG Yaohui1,2(),WANG Kunxin1,2,MA Ning3,ZHANG Yinsheng1,4(),GUO Yanhong1   

  1. 1. Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    3. Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Process, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    4. China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences, CAS-HEC, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
  • Received:2020-12-10 Revised:2021-03-17 Online:2021-09-15 Published:2021-09-24
  • Contact: Yinsheng ZHANG E-mail:qiangyh18@itpcas.ac.cn;yszhang@itpcas.ac.cn

Abstract:

The energy exchange process and its effects on wetlands in the Qiangtang Plateau have an important impact on the local climate. This study is based on the radiation data observed from June 2017 to June 2020 in Xainza—a typical alpine wetland located in the Qiangtang Plateau—and comprehensively analyzes the characteristics of seasonal, monthly, daily, and hourly weather radiation and albedo. The results show that all the radiation components present obvious seasonal “U”-shaped patterns. The maximum downward shortwave radiation is 301.1 W·m-2, and, in June the maximum upward longwave radiation is 371.5 W·m-2, yet the minimum of both appeared in January. Downward shortwave radiation, upward and downward longwave radiation, and net radiation all show obvious seasonal patterns, characterized by “U”-shaped changes. The hourly value of shortwave radiation in each season is the highest in spring, followed by summer and autumn, and the lowest is detected in winter. Longwave radiation and net radiation are highest in summer and lowest in winter. The radiant flux on sunny days in each season is relatively smooth, and the changes in cloud cover and precipitation are irregular; the average yearly surface albedo is 0.23, the lowest detected in summer and the highest in winter, reaching up to 0.63 on snowy days. These results can contribute to revealing the dynamic changes of the radiation budget occurring on the typical alpine wetland of Xainza, in the Qiangtang Plateau, and to clarifying the influence of such variation on the thermal effect.

Key words: Xainza wetland, radiation change, typical weather, albedo