A workshop was hosted during June 4-7, 2012, at Taiyuan, China, to discuss the relationship between land-air interaction on the Tibetan Plateau and atmospheric circulation irregularity. This workshop also acts as an overview of the working-group 1 within the National 973 program entitled “Tibetan Plateau climate system variations, their influences on East Asia and their mechanisms.”

The workshop is presided over by program PI Prof. MA Yaoming. Prof. Ma first introduced the contents and research goals of the entire program, emphasizing on the importance of outcomes from working-group 1 to the accomplishment of the program. Profs HU Zeyong, LIU Liangyun and WANG Cheng then took turns to report on subjects within each of their charges, ranging from comprehensive experimental approaches and research progress, to the ecosystems in the hinder land and the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, and to aero-remote sensing and intensified ground observation in studying land surface processes in selected region along the East Asian moisture transportation route. Studies of interactions between air-land interactions on the Tibetan Plateau and East Asian atmospheric circulation abnormality were also reported and reviewed during the workshop.

Present at this workshop were over 30 scientific staff from CAS institutes including the ITP, Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth, and Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute. Among them, Profs. LU Shihua and WANG Jiemin attended the workshop to guide further development of the program.