the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
| 12 Jun 2025
Quantifying the spatial-temporal patterns of land-atmosphere water, heat and CO2 flux exchange over the Tibetan Plateau from an observational perspective
Abstract. Land-atmosphere (LA) interaction process, through the turbulent exchange of water, heat and CO2 flux, significantly influences regional micro-climates, local water cycles, energy budgets, and ecosystem dynamics. The Tibetan Plateau (TP), characterized by vast extent, high elevation, strong solar radiation and convection, as well as extreme weather fluctuations, has been under-explored due to the scarcity of LA interaction stations, particularly in the western and northern regions. To address this gap, this study introduces a newly constructed research and observation platform, which consists of 16 planetary boundary layer towers, spans diverse landscapes and covers dynamic meteorological conditions, with average annual air temperature, wind speed and liquid precipitation ranging from -3.5 to 18.5 °C, 0.6 to 5.6 m s-1, and 43 mm to 2164 mm. Elevation correlates significantly with all meteorological variables, highlighting a strong spatial heterogeneity distribution patterns of LA coupling. The turbulent flux of water and heat show clear seasonal variations, with highest sensible heat flux (SH) in April–May and largest latent heat flux (LE) in July–August. Further, most stations report negative net ecosystem exchange (NEE) values, ranging from -3.2 g C m-2 a-1 at Mangai to -174.3 g C m-2 a-1 at NADORS, and function as carbon sinks. However, Medog station, locating in the densely forested Yarlung Zangbo valley, functions as a carbon source which is most probably related to the vegetation destruction and human activities. LE is significantly and closely correlated with SH, NEE and ecosystem respiration, indicating strong coupling between water, heat and carbon fluxes. Precipitation as well as soil water content provide favorable moisture sources and show significance in the water-carbon coupling process. The observation and research platform and the quality-controlled high-temporal resolution data provide valuable in situ measurements for studying water-heat-carbon interactions, validating numerical models and satellite algorithms, and offering ground truth for research on hydrological, meteorological, and ecological responses to global climate change.
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Status: open (until 09 Oct 2025)
- RC1: 'Comment on essd-2025-195', Anonymous Referee #1, 24 Sep 2025 reply
Data sets
Meteorological variables and eddy fluxes at 15 land-atmosphere interaction stations over the Tibetan Plateau (May-2021 to July 2023) Binbin Wang and Yaoming Ma https://doi.org/10.11888/Atmos.tpdc.302428
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- 1
This manuscript presents a valuable and comprehensive dataset on turbulent water, heat, and CO₂ fluxes across the Tibetan Plateau, based on measurements from 16 eddy covariance stations. The authors highlight notable spatial heterogeneity in meteorological conditions and land-atmosphere exchange processes. Given the scarcity of long-term, ground-based observations in this region, the dataset is relevant and will be useful for model validation and understanding flux dynamics on the Plateau.
That said, there are several areas that could be improved to strengthen the manuscript:
While the REddyProc is referenced for flux partitioning, key methodological details are missing — particularly the u* threshold filtering, gap-filling strategy, and quality control protocols. These are essential for transparency and reproducibility.
Phrases like “significantly correlated” are used frequently, but without supporting statistical values (e.g., p-values, confidence intervals, or correlation coefficients). This weakens the interpretation of the results.
The manuscript classifies stations into "wet" and "dry," but it's unclear how this was defined. Some objective metric like aridity index, annual precipitation thresholds, or soil moisture levels would help readers understand the basis of this classification.
The discussion occasionally loses focus, with hydrology, meteorology, and carbon cycle topics mixed together without strong connections. Consider restructuring or summarizing the key takeaways more clearly.
There are a number of minor grammatical issues and typos throughout. I’ve flagged several below but recommend a full proofreading pass before submission.
Line-by-Line Comments
Title: The title suggests strong emphasis on temporal patterns, but the manuscript only presents seasonal analysis, there's little interannual variation discussed. You might consider rephrasing.
Line 43: Probably should be “located” rather than “locating.”
Line 52: Key worlds?
Line 56: Use “is pivotal” instead of “are pivotal,” since "interaction" is singular.
Lines 94–95: It’s not clear what these names refer to, consider clarifying.
Table 2 vs Line 408: Table 2 includes "EBC" — did you mean "EBR"? Also, line 408 references Table 1 for EBR, but the data appears in Table 2. Please check consistency.
Lines 123–125: Are these numbers from your own results? If so, clarify. If not, cite the sources.
Line 131: "CO₂ flux exchange" is redundant, consider "CO₂ flux".
Line 170: "Platrom"?
Line 231: “to analyzing” should be “to analyze.”
Line 254: When referencing “WPL correction,” please explain what WPL stands for (Webb-Pearman-Leuning)?.
Line 499 / Figure 6: Figure 6 only shows 12 stations, but the manuscript states 15 were used. Please clarify which stations were excluded and why.
Line 513: “carbon absorption primarily occur” → should be “occurs.”