Dominating Remote Source and Its Potential Contribution of Airborne Dust Over the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Dust particles, transported over long-distances and driven by westerly winds, dominate high-altitude (>4 km) snow darkening and melting over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). A systematic assessment of their remote sources and potential contributions remains limited. In this paper, we present a novel algorithm for source-tracing of airborne dust designed to tackle the aforementioned challenges. The algorithm effectively constrains dust activity and guarantees precise tracking through using satellite and reanalysis-based estimates. The high-altitude airborne dust over the TP shows considerable spatial variation and primarily comes from the desert clusters in Central Asia, West Asia, and South Asia. The Karakum, Taklimakan, and Thar deserts are significant sources of high-altitude airborne dust in the northwest, northeast, and southwest regions of TP, with average mass loadings (mg m⁻²) contributing rates of 42.2% (32.9), 49.6% (48.3), and 16.4% (32.1), respectively. The results demonstrate significant differences in how adjacent deserts affect high-altitude snowmelt in the TP.