Flooded area at the Huai He river basin(China)
observed by the satelite( August,1991 ).
Observational plan over Tibetan plateau
The GAME( GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment, 1996-2000 ) is one of sub-programs of GEWEX( Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment ) which is a part of WCRP( World Climate Research Program ).
The purpose of GEWEX is to determine the overall effect of water and energy related processes on global climate. The objectives of the GAME is to understand the role of the Asian monsoon in the global energy and water cycle, to improve the simulation and prediction of Asian monsoon, and to assess the impact of monsoon variability on the regional hydrological cycle.
To achieve these objectives, intensive meteorological and hydrological observations are to be conducted at four regions in the eastern part of Eurasian continent with close cooperation with related countries, together with some modeling studies. The four regions include Tropics( the Chao Phraya river basin in Thailand tropical rain forest in Malaysia ), the Huai He River basin in China, Tibetan Plateau and Siberia.
The Water Resources Research Center and others participate in the project at the Huai He river basin. The region is characterized as the major area affected by Mei-yu front which is one of the major precipitation systems in the Asian summer monsoon. The existing observation network for meteorology and hydrology is relatively dense in this area, so that the area is expected to be one of the best areas to which the most sophisticated hydrological modeling technique is to be applied.
The Atmospheric Disaster Division participates in the project over Tibetan plateau. It has been said that the Tibetan Plateau has critical importance on the formation and maintenance of the Asian summer monsoon, because the Tibetan Plateau works as an elevated heat source for the atmosphere. The participants from DPRI will make field measurements of sensible and latent heat flux from the land to the atmosphere together with the observation of meso-ƒÁ scale meteorological variability at the eastern Tibet.
