Remote sensing of cloud distributions over the Bayanhar Mountains- watershed of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers

Abstract

Although the two largest rivers in China originate in the same region separated only by the Bayanhar Mountains as a watershed, the Yangtze and Yellow rivers behave in quite different ways. Most of the warm and humid air currents from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are blocked by the Bayanhar Mountains. As a result the amount of water in the Yellow River is only 5 per cent of that in the Yangtze River. Based on the cloud coverage area and the cloud volumetric distributions, and also the thickness above 9-4 km of the cumulus clouds located north and south of the Bayanhar Mountains from the geosynchronous satellite infrared imagery, the results suggest that a more detailed investigation is warranted in the hope that the proper modification of cumuli north of the Bayanhar Mountains would enhance the rainfall over the fountainhead of the Yellow River.