The synthesis of potential factors contributing to the asynchronous warming between air and shallow ground since the 2000s on the Tibetan Plateau

The relative importance of the three categories that influence the GSTSAT spatial variation was: atmospheric variables (56.1 %) > shallow soil properties (24.4 %) > interfacial land cover features (19.5 %). The importance of the factors also varied with the combinations of annual, seasonal, daily, day-time and night-time time scales, manifested by positive or negative effects. The interdecadal changes of net radiation, precipitation, wind speed and soil moisture amplified the asynchronous warming between air and shallow ground over the TP since the 2000s.

These findings provide an in-depth understanding of the spatiotemporal variations of GST-SAT and the underlying mechanisms. This study will benefit the development of the Earth system models on the TP.