Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Atmospheric Science
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1529934

Numerical Case Study of a Clear-Air Turbulence Event over the Tibetan Plateau

Provisionally accepted
Haiwen Liu Haiwen Liu Zhenzhen Dai Zhenzhen Dai Kun Wang Kun Wang *Kaijun Wu Kaijun Wu Kuo Zhou Kuo Zhou
  • Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Tibetan Plateau is known as the "Third Pole". However, there are few studies on clear-air turbulence (CAT) event over the Tibetan Plateau. On 11 February 2023, a severe clear-air turbulence (CAT) event occurred along Lhasa-Chongqing route. To verify the role of mountain waves in this aircraft turbulence event, using ERA5 reanalysis data and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, the characteristics and generation mechanisms of this event are investigated. In synoptic features, the warm advection in the lower troposphere benefits the atmospheric instability, promoting the development of atmospheric turbulence. The CAT primarily occurred near the upper-level jet stream core. The significant vertical wind shear decreases the Richardson number (Ri). Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability with small Ri generates the CAT. To a certain extent, the WRF model can reproduce this turbulence event and accurately simulate the vertical motions over the plateau. Though previous studies indicated that the Tibetan Plateau is one of the main causes of CAT along Sichuan-Tibet route for the complex topography, our results of terrain sensitive experiments reveal that the

    Keywords: clear-air turbulence1, jet stream2, wind shear3, tropopause folding4, topography5

    Received: 18 Nov 2024; Accepted: 06 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Dai, Wang, Wu and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kun Wang, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.