Articles | Volume 26, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3825-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3825-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 Jul 2022
Research article |
| 22 Jul 2022
| 22 Jul 2022
Historical droughts manifest an abrupt shift to a wetter Tibetan Plateau
Yongwei Liu
Key Laboratory of Watershed Geography Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Key Laboratory of Watershed Geography Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Wen Wang
State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China
Han Zhou
School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Lide Tian
Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security Research, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
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Cited
16 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Spatiotemporal variation and propagation process of snow drought over the Tibetan Plateau D. Wu & Z. Hu https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108623
- Are rapid onset drying events escalating forest fires across India’s ecoregions? S. Rakkasagi & M. Goyal https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add1f5
- Identifying spatiotemporal propagation of droughts in the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China with long-term WRF simulations X. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109474
- A new multivariate composite drought index considering the lag time and the cumulative effects of drought M. Yuan et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132757
- Interdecadal shift in late spring extreme precipitation on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau driven by Westerly Monsoon Synergy C. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108930
- The Impact of Satellite Soil Moisture Data Assimilation on the Hydrological Modeling of SWAT in a Highly Disturbed Catchment Y. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16020429
- Soil moisture drought and diverse impacts on vegetation across the Tibetan Plateau in recent three decades Y. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178367
- Evaluating rainfall erosivity on the Tibetan Plateau by integrating high spatiotemporal resolution gridded precipitation and gauge data B. Yin et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174334
- Tibetan lake change linked to large-scale atmospheric oscillations via hydroclimatic trajectory R. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175465
- Evolution of drought and flood events on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and key issues for response J. Lu et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-022-1168-0
- Potential impact of precipitation temporal structure on meteorological drought and vegetation condition: A case study on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau H. Lu et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2024.102048
- Comparative precipitation forecasting in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau: Tree-ring reconstruction and future projections using machine learning and CMIP6 models L. Ma et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113906
- Intensification of compound hot–dry events on the Tibetan plateau under a warming background R. Pan et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-025-08026-7
- Glacial melting explained lake expansion toward drying climate phase on the Tibetan Plateau R. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132685
- Development of Kling–Gupta Hybrid Weighted Ensemble for Improving Future Projections of Drought Characterization Under Different Climate Change Scenarios N. Amjad et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-025-03874-0
- An impact-based drought classification method using real-world agricultural drought records and explainable automated machine learning K. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.135078
16 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Spatiotemporal variation and propagation process of snow drought over the Tibetan Plateau D. Wu & Z. Hu https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108623
- Are rapid onset drying events escalating forest fires across India’s ecoregions? S. Rakkasagi & M. Goyal https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add1f5
- Identifying spatiotemporal propagation of droughts in the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China with long-term WRF simulations X. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109474
- A new multivariate composite drought index considering the lag time and the cumulative effects of drought M. Yuan et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132757
- Interdecadal shift in late spring extreme precipitation on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau driven by Westerly Monsoon Synergy C. Li et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108930
- The Impact of Satellite Soil Moisture Data Assimilation on the Hydrological Modeling of SWAT in a Highly Disturbed Catchment Y. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16020429
- Soil moisture drought and diverse impacts on vegetation across the Tibetan Plateau in recent three decades Y. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178367
- Evaluating rainfall erosivity on the Tibetan Plateau by integrating high spatiotemporal resolution gridded precipitation and gauge data B. Yin et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174334
- Tibetan lake change linked to large-scale atmospheric oscillations via hydroclimatic trajectory R. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175465
- Evolution of drought and flood events on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and key issues for response J. Lu et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-022-1168-0
- Potential impact of precipitation temporal structure on meteorological drought and vegetation condition: A case study on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau H. Lu et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2024.102048
- Comparative precipitation forecasting in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau: Tree-ring reconstruction and future projections using machine learning and CMIP6 models L. Ma et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113906
- Intensification of compound hot–dry events on the Tibetan plateau under a warming background R. Pan et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-025-08026-7
- Glacial melting explained lake expansion toward drying climate phase on the Tibetan Plateau R. Wang et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.132685
- Development of Kling–Gupta Hybrid Weighted Ensemble for Improving Future Projections of Drought Characterization Under Different Climate Change Scenarios N. Amjad et al. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-025-03874-0
- An impact-based drought classification method using real-world agricultural drought records and explainable automated machine learning K. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.135078
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 28 May 2026
Short summary
This study investigated the wetting and drying of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) from variations in soil moisture (SM) droughts. We found the TP experienced an abrupt and significant wetting shift in the middle to late 1990s, not merely the steady trends given in literature. This shift is dominated by precipitation and attributed to the North Atlantic Oscillation. The wetting shift indicates a climate regime change. Our innovative work provides implications for further knowledge of the TP climate.
This study investigated the wetting and drying of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) from variations in...
