Page 51 - 《高原气象》2026年第1期

1 期 杨茉岚等：青藏高原云顶参数特征分析与飞艇应用研究 47

Analysis of Cloud Top Parameters on the Qinghai-Xizang （Tibet）

Plateau and Their Application in Airship Research

YANG Molan ， XU Wenkuan ， BI Yitong ， LÜ Weihao ， YANG Yanchu ， MIAO Jinggang 1， 2
1， 2
1， 2
1， 2
1， 2
1， 2
（1. Aerospace Information Research Institute， Chinese Academy of Sciences， Beijing 100094， China；
2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences， Beijing 101408， China）
Abstract： Stratospheric airships， due to their excellent performance， exhibit great potential in flight missions
within the aerospace field. However， the complexity of the stratospheric environment presents significant chal‐
lenges to flight safety. Therefore， conducting environmental forecasts in advance to mitigate flight risks is crucial
for the successful completion of airship missions. Although existing thermodynamic models have provided a theo‐
retical foundation for airship design， their analysis remains insufficient. In this paper， two key parameters， cloud
top height and cloud top temperature， are introduced to deeply analyze their effects on the airship's thermal bal‐
ance. Cloud top height determines the relative position between the cloud layer and the airship， while cloud top
temperature directly reflects the thermodynamic state of the cloud layer. Both parameters influence the radiative
exchange and thermal balance of the airship. Based on this analysis， the importance and urgency of incorporating
these factors into thermodynamic models are emphasized， offering new insights for the optimization of future air‐
ship thermodynamic models and revealing the significance of studying cloud layer distribution characteristics.
Additionally， the unique advantages of the Qinghai-Xizang （Tibet） Plateau as a natural laboratory are highlight‐
ed， and specific data analysis is conducted. This paper analyzes historical meteorological cloud observation data
from 2015 to 2020 in the Qinghai-Xizang （Tibet） Plateau region using the CLARA-A3 dataset， focusing on the
spatial distribution characteristics， daily mean and extreme values， cloud area proportions， and the correlation
analysis between cloud top height and cloud top temperature. The results show that cloud top height exhibits a
spatial distribution pattern of lower in the northwest and higher in the southeast， while cloud top temperature
shows a trend of higher in the west and lower in the east. During the period from July to September， cloud top
height reaches its highest annual value， and cloud top temperature reaches its lowest. The annual variation pattern
of the cloud top parameters is also confirmed. Further analysis indicates the presence of extreme meteorological
phenomena， such as ultra-high clouds and extremely low temperatures， with daily cloud top heights exceeding 18
km and cloud top temperatures below -83 ℃， which mostly occur between July and September. A Spearman cor‐
relation coefficient analysis reveals a moderate negative correlation between the two variables， with a strong nega‐
tive correlation during the July-September period. This provides important data support for further quantifying the
influence of cloud layers on airship performance. The study shows that the potential threat of cloud layers to air‐
ships cannot be ignored， particularly during the July-September period， when the deployment preparation for
stratospheric airships should focus on the changes in local meteorological cloud parameters. Acquiring cloud ob‐
servation data in advance and implementing meteorological forecasting preparation are key factors in ensuring the
safe flight of airships. This research is the first to apply real meteorological data analysis to airship flight environ‐
ment assessment， verifying the feasibility of data analysis techniques， and emphasizing the critical role of obser‐
vational data in model validation， providing a new research perspective for improving the thermodynamic models
of stratospheric airships. In the future， with the continuous optimization of dynamic prediction models， the safety
of airships in complex meteorological environments is expected to be significantly improved.
Key words： Qinghai-Xizang （Tibet） Plateau； stratospheric airship； flight safety； cloud top height； cloud top
temperature