Review of Current Investigations of Cloud, Radiation and Rainfall over the Tibetan Plateau with the CloudSat/CALIPSO Dataset

Clouds over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and associated precipitation and radiation affect the structure of the TP diabatic heating. The CloudSat/CALIPSO launched in 2006 has provided quantitative information on three-dimensional distribution of clouds. This paper reviews the studies on the macrophysical and microphysical properties, the connection with precipitation, the cloud radiative forcing and the problem in numerical simulations of clouds over the TP based on the CloudSat/CALIPSO data. It is pointed out that there is less water vapor above the TP, which limits the vertical height of clouds on the plateau and significantly affects the cloud thickness and the number of cloud layers. The relative contribution of single layer cloud on the cloud fraction and its seasonal variation is greater than that in other Asian monsoon regions. The convective cloud in summer is relatively shallow, the cumulus cloud occurrence frequency is the highest, and the drop spectrum in the cloud is wider over the TP. Cirrus and cumulus clouds are major cloud types that have precipitation. The cloud contribution to total precipitation decreases with the increase of the number of cloud layers. The number concentration of ice particle tends to be denser at higher altitudes when precipitation enhances. In the summer, net radiative cooling effect occurs over a layer of only 1 km thick at the height of 8 km over the TP, where the cooling is very strong. Below the cooling layer is a strong radiative heating layer located between 4-7 km. Finally, the future studies are proposed.