DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DRY AND WET SUMMER IN THE VERTICAL MOTION ON NORTH SIDE OF QINGHAI-XIZANG PLATEAU AND THE THERMAL IMPACT OF PLATEAU*

To better analyse and understand the causes of Northwest China(NW China) arid climate formation,firstly the dry and wet standards were chosen and the yearly dry and wet grades on the north side of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau(hereafter NSQXP) in summers were classified utilizing the rainfall data of five stations over the area in June-August of 1952-1990.Then the differences between the vertical motion over the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau(QXP) and NSQXP in dry and wet summers were comparatively analyzed using the ECMWF's gridded data of June-August of 1979-1986.Finally the connection between the QXP surface thermal condition and the dry and wet summers on the NSQXP was discussed as well.The main results are the following:(1)the dry and wet standards taking the rainfall standard deviation as criterion are suitable for the arid climate area;(2)the QXP may be,to some extent responsible for the environment background of Middle Asia,NW China and North China arid climate areas;(3)there are the striking differences between the dominant vertical motion over the QXP and NSQXP in the dry and wet summers of NSQXP:(4)the QXP surface thermal condition is to a great extent,responsible for the year-to-year variation of NW China arid climate as well.