Based on the past studies on the relationship between the heating of the Tibetan Plateau and the onset of the East Asian monsoon

a review was given in this paper as part of the preparation task of the coming SCS MONEX.The air above the Plateau is a relative heat source in all seasons compared with the air over the surrounding areas at the same level and the same latitude.The major souce of the heating above the Plateau is provided by the sensible heat transports with the mechanism of the dry thermal convection rising from the heated plateau surface

which produces the tropospheric heating over the Plateau.But the contribution from the precipitation is also important in the rainy season when the cumulus convection plays a significant role in the heating over the southeastern Plateau.The diabatic heating over the eastern Plateau is the primary cause of mid May atmospheric warming from the eastern Plateau to the centrl China Plain

which leads to the reversal of the meridional temperature gradient of the troposphere east of 80°E

which results in the commencement of the East Asian monsoon.