Spatiotemporal variations of land surface albedo and associated influencing factors on the Tibetan Plateau

Land surface albedo plays a crucial role in the land surface energy budget and climate. This paper identified the spatiotemporal variations of surface albedo on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) from 1982 to 2015, and quantified the relationships between the spatial and temporal patterns of the albedo and associated influencing factors (snow cover, vegetation, and soil moisture) on the seasonal and interannual basis using satellite products and reanalysis data. It was determined that the albedo presented a distinct spatial variability, with high values in mountainous areas and low values on the southeastern TP. Spatially, average albedo exhibited a positive correlation with snow cover and negative correlations with vegetation and soil moisture. Average albedo over the whole TP had a clear seasonal cycle with a peak in winter and a minimum value in summer, which is dictated by seasonal changes in snow and vegetation covers. Annual average albedo exhibited a weakly downward trend, which was mainly contributed by a significant decrease in summer, pointing to the important role in vegetation dynamics for temporal change of the albedo. On the regional basis, interannual variation of albedo was more responsive to snow cover over the snow- and vegetation-coexisting area than the snow-covered area, and to changes in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) over the vegetation-covered area than the snow- and vegetation-coexisting area; albedo had a weakly negative correlation with soil moisture over bare soil. Furthermore, our results indicated that snow cover was the dominant factor for albedo change on mountainous areas, and vegetation change predominated the variation of albedo on the eastern, southern, and northwestern TP. Specifically, variations in snow cover contributed more than those of vegetation to the interannual albedo variation over the Three Rivers Headwater Region. These results would be beneficial for better understanding the climate and eco-environment changes over the TP.