Frost-free season lengthening and its potential cause in the Tibetan Plateau from 1960 to 2010

Frost-free season was an important index for extreme temperature, which was widely discussed in agriculture and applied meteorology research. The frost-free season changed, which was associated with global warming in the past few decades. In this study, the changes in three indices (the last frost day in spring, the first frost day in autumn, and the frost-free season length) of the frost-free season were investigated at 73 meteorological stations in the Tibetan Plateau from 1960 to 2010. Results showed that the last frost day in spring occurred earlier, significantly in 39 % of the 73 stations. For the regional average, the last frost day in spring occurred earlier, significantly at the rate of 1.9 days/decade during the last 50 years. The first frost day in autumn occurred later, significantly in 31 % of the stations, and the regional average rate was 1.5 days/decade from 1960 to 2010. The changing rate of the first frost day in autumn below 3,000 m was 1.8 times larger than the changing rate above 3,000 m. In addition, the first frost day in autumn above 3,000 m fluctuated dramatically before the early 1990s and then it was later sharply after the early 1990s. The frost-free season length increased significantly at almost all stations in the Tibetan Plateau from 1960 to 2010. For the regional average, the frost-free season lengthened at the rate of 3.1 days/decade. The changing rate of the frost-free season length below 3,000 m was more significant than the changing rate above 3,000 m. Eight indices of large-scale atmospheric circulation were employed to investigate the potential cause of the frost-free season length change in the Tibetan Plateau during the past 50 years. There was a significant relationship between the frost-free season length and the Northern Hemisphere Polar Vortex indices. The weakening cold atmospheric circulation might be an essential factor to the Tibetan Plateau warming since 1960.