Spring biomass burning in Indochina enhances summer Yangtze River Valley rainfall through land–atmosphere interactions

Abstract

Indochina is one of the regions with the most severe biomass burning (BB) in the world, which produces enormous amounts of atmospheric aerosols, mostly in spring. Moreover, the spring soil moisture anomalies in Indochina have been found to have a significant influence on the summer rainfall in the Yangtze River Valley (YRV). It is still partially unclear how spring BB in Indochina influences the local and regional climate and land–atmosphere interactions. Here, we use regional model experiments and observational data to show that the radiative effect of BB aerosols in Indochina stabilizes the atmosphere and reduces local precipitation and soil moisture. The dry soil in Indochina persists from spring to summer, which warms the land surface and the atmosphere. As a result, the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) is stronger and extends westward from spring to summer. This leads to stronger moisture transport to and more precipitation in the YRV (increases of approximately 5% in July and 10% in August). Thus, the effect of BB aerosols on the YRV rainfall is similar to that of the Indochina dry soil anomaly. Additionally, the increase in the YRV summer rainfall caused by the Indochina spring dry soil anomaly is almost doubled when there are BB aerosols compared to that without BB aerosols, suggesting the importance of BB aerosols in regulating the regional land–atmosphere interactions.