An investigation into the vertical structures of low‐altitude atmosphere over the Central Taklimakan Desert in summer

Atmospheric Science Letters

Jie Huang¹  Jinfang Yin¹  Haodong Gu¹  Minzhong Wang² 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LaSW) Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences Beijing China;Taklimakan Desert Meteorology Field Experiment Station Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration (CMA) Xinjiang China;

关键词: radiosonde observation;    superadiabatic and inversion;    the Central Taklimakan Desert;    vertical structure of the atmosphere;   

DOI  :  10.1002/asl.1042

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract In this study, 1‐month continuous radiosonde observational data were applied to present the low‐altitude vertical structures and their evolutions over the Central Taklimakan Desert (CTD). The primary focus is to highlight the vertical structures near the ground with the high‐resolution (10 m in height and 6 hr in time) radiosonde data. One of the unique features evident in our results is an obvious diurnal transition in lower layers near the ground due to strong surface heating or cooling. Unlike a traditional vertical structure in the boundary layer observed over a nondesert surface, both superadiabatic and inversion layers are distinct during the day. More specifically, the superadiabatic layer is obvious in the daytime because of strong solar radiation over the desert, and the superadiabatic can reach up to 0.2 km. In contrast, an apparent inversion layer forms in the nighttime due to the surface cooling. It is found that the surface forcing mainly dominates the structures in the boundary layer. At last, the vertical structures from the observations are compared with those from the ERA‐Interim and MERRA2 reanalysis data sets. The results indicate that both reanalysis products can provide similar vertical profile patterns and diurnal variations. However, the diurnal transitions of temperature and wind profiles over the CTD are underestimated severely by both reanalysis data. Besides, the reanalysis data sets completely miss the superadiabatic near the ground in the daytime.

【 授权许可】

Unknown