Diurnal variations of circulation and precipitation in the vicinity of the Tibetan Plateau in early summer

A regional climate model (RCM) has been applied to simulate the diurnal variations of the Asian summer monsoon during the early summer period. The ERA40 reanalysis data and the TRMM precipitation data are used to evaluate the performance of the model. The 5-year simulations show that the RCM could simulate well the diurnal cycle of the monsoon circulation over the region. A strong diurnal variation of circulation over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) can be observed at the 500-hPa level, with strong convergence and upward motion in the late afternoon. The diurnal variation of the 500-hPa relative vorticity over the TP associated with the corresponding diurnal variation of convergence may lead to the formation of a prominent plateau-scale cyclonic circulation over the TP during the evening to midnight period. The simulated diurnal variation of precipitation over land is generally better than that over the ocean, particularly over the regions close to the TP such as the Bangladesh region in the southern flank of the TP, where the well-known nocturnal maximum in precipitation is well captured by the RCM. However, the late-afternoon maximum in precipitation over the Southeast Asia region is not well simulated by the RCM. The model results suggest that the diurnal variation of precipitation over the southern flank of the TP is associated with the strong diurnal variation in the circulation over the TP.