Influence of the Eurasian Spring Snowmelt on Summer Land Surface Warming over Northeast Asia and Its Associated Mechanism

Abstract

Abstract Under the background of global warming, the Eurasian warming features evident spatial heterogeneity, and Northeast Asia (NEA) is one of the regions with the most significant summer warming. Based on reanalysis data and the CESM1.2.2 model, we investigated the possible impacts of spring Eurasian snowmelt on recent NEA summer warming and the relevant mechanisms. Results show that increased (decreased) spring snowmelt over eastern Europe to western Siberia (EEWS) is closely linked to NEA summer warming (cooling). Increased spring snowmelt can wet the soil, weakening surface sensible heating to the atmosphere and cooling the atmosphere. The persistent anomalous soil moisture and surface sensible heat induce geopotential height decrease over EEWS and strengthen the eastward-propagating wave train. Furthermore, positive geopotential height anomalies appear in downstream NEA in summer via the adjustment of the atmospheric circulation. Controlled by the anomalous high pressure system, the west part of NEA is affected by the southerly warm advection, while the east is affected by adiabatic warming induced by the dominant descending motion. Meanwhile, decreased cloud and increased incident solar radiation over NEA favor summer land surface warming. Model results suggest that CESM1.2.2 can basically reproduce the positive correlation between NEA summer land surface temperature and EEWS spring snowmelt. With the positive spring snowmelt forcing, the simulated positive soil moisture and negative sensible heat anomalies persist from spring to summer over EEWS. Consequently, negative geopotential height anomalies appear over the snowmelt region while positive anomalies occur around Lake Baikal, resulting in evident NEA land surface warming.