Research progress on the water vapor channel within the Yarlung Zsangbo Grand Canyon, China

The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program tasked a research team with the“Investigation of the water vapor channel of the Yarlung Zsangbo Grand Canyon(INVC)”in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau(TP).This paper summarizes the scientific achievements obtained from the data collected by the INVC observation network and highlights the progress in investigating the development of heavy rainfall events associated with water vapor changes.The rain gauge network of the INVC can represent the impacts of the Yarlung Zsangbo Grand Canyon(YGC)topography on precipitation at the hourly scale.The microphysical characteristics of the precipitation in the YGC are different than those in the lowland area.The GPM-IMERG(Integrated MultisatellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement)satellite precipitation data for the YGC region should be calibrated before they are used.The meridional water vapor flux through the YGC is more important than the zonal flux for the precipitation over the southeastern TP.The decreased precipitation around the YGC region is partly due to the decreased meridional water vapor flux passing through the YGC.High-resolution numerical models can benefit precipitation forecasting in this region by using a combination of specific schemes that capture the valley wind and water vapor flux along the valley floor.

Frequency and barriers of reporting workplace violence in nurses:An online survey in China

Objectives:This study aimed to explore the reporting of workplace violence against nurses and the reasons why they did not reported.Methods:A self-designed questionnaire regarding workplace violence and reporting was used to conduct a cross-sectional survey on nurses who submitted a manuscript to a Chinese nursing journal from 2016 to 2017.A total of 324 nurses agreed to participate in this study and 266 participants from 165 hospitals in 72 cities returned questionnaires.Results:A total of 172 nurses(64.7%)experienced violent incidents during the past year.Of these incidents,45.5%were reported;and the reporting rate of physical assaults(69.0%)was higher than those of verbal abuse(36.9%),threatening behavior(51.7%),and sexual harassment(60.0%).Formal reporting accounted for 25.4%(15.4%in written form and 10.0%through a computer-assisted reporting system).Almost half of the nurses(49.6%)stated that the hospital had no reporting system or they were uncertain about the reporting system.For reasons of not reporting,51.9%of the nurses were unware of how and what types of violence to report,and 50.6%of the nurses believed that the hospital paid greater attention to patients rather than staff.Conclusions:A clear definition of workplace violence and reporting procedures,establishment of a facile system for reporting,and supervisory support following a reporting are urgently required.

Comparative Analysis of the Characteristics of Rainy Season Raindrop Size Distributions in Two Typical Regions of the Tibetan Plateau

Mêdog and Nagqu are two typical regions of the Tibetan Plateau with different geographical locations and climate regimes.These differences may lead to discrepancies in the raindrop size distributions(DSDs)and precipitation microphysical processes between the two regions.This paper investigates discrepancies in the DSDs using disdrometer data obtained during the rainy season in Mêdog and Nagqu.The DSD characteristics are studied under five different rainfall rate categories and two precipitation types(stratiform and convective).For the total datasets,the number concentrations of drops with diameters D>0.6(D<0.6)mm are higher(lower)in Nagqu than in Mêdog.The fitted normalized gamma distributions of the averaged DSDs for the five rainfall rate categories show that Nagqu has a larger(lower)mass-weighted mean diameter D_(m)(normalized intercept parameter,lgNw)than Mêdog does.The difference in D_(m)between Nagqu and Mêdog increases with the rainfall rate.Convective clusters in Nagqu could be identified as continental-like,while convective precipitation in Mêdog could be classified as maritime-like.The relationships between the shape factorμand slope parameterΛof the gamma distribution model,the radar reflectivity Z,and the rainfall rate R are also derived.Furthermore,the possible causative mechanism for the notable DSD variation between the two regions during the rainy season is illustrated using reanalysis data and automated weather station observations.Cold rain processes are mainly responsible for the lower concentrations of larger drops observed in Nagqu,whereas warm rain prevails in Mêdog,producing abundant small drops.

A discussion on improving typhoon observation through radar by scanning the negative elevation angle

Certain feasibilities and features were discussed in typhoon detection by radar with a negative elevation angle according to the relationship between the remote detecting range and the elevation angle of the new generation weather radar, in order to rectify the disadvantages of detecting capability for remote low-level echo with a lowest elevation angle of 0.5° in the common detecting mode. The data obtained from detecting the typhoon of Haitang and Changmi with radar for their negative elevation angles and the observed data for the common lowest elevation angle of 0.5° were compared to each other. The results showed that the detection of remote low level cloud system with radar could be improved by using the negative elevation angle, and the structure and the evolution trend of a typhoon could be better judged. The increasing degree of detection for negative elevation angles in the current volume scanning mode should be helpful for predicting the intensity and developing trend of windstorms, to further improve the capability of warning and nowcasting. The detection of negative elevation angle could also help reveal the development and change of typhoon＇s low level cloud system. As far as the typhoons of Haitang and Changmi were concerned, the detecting area of Changmi was increased by 1.09 times with the negative elevation angle of 0.31°, compared with the elevation angle of 0.48° if the threshold value for the sea echo within 100 km was eliminated. Several volume scans of Haitang were increased by 2.1%-7.9% for the negative elevation angle of 0.36° compared with the elevation angle of 0.49° . Therefore, the radar detecting capability of typhoons could be improved by the detection of negative elevation angles to some extent. This could make up for the disadvantages of a low detecting capability for remote low-level echo in the common detecting mode. At the same time, a negative elevation angle could be easily influenced by the ground clutter and the close sea wave clutter which interfered with the assessment of the typhoon structure at times. Assessing these advantages and disadvantages, some advantages for using negative elevation angle were discovered from the observation of the typhoons Haitang and Changmi, if the negative elevation angle with radar was selected reasonably in some conditions. As a result, a certain value arose for improving and monitoring the early warning system for typhoons, paying close attention to the detection of negative elevation angles.

Observed Vertical Structure of Precipitation over the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau in Summer 2021

Mêdog County,with its mountains and valleys,is located in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau(TP)and at the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River.This area has the highest annual rainfall amount over the TP,and in situ measurements are very scarce due to frequent debris flows and transportation difficulties.A monitoring campaign focused on cloud and precipitation observations was established in Mêdog in 2019 as a part of the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program.This paper evaluates the accuracy of micro rain radar(MRR)measurements and investigates the variations in precipitation vertical structure in Mêdog using observations collected from the MRR,disdrometer,and rain gauges in summer 2021.The measurements from the three instruments show a strong consistency,with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.93.Although the profiles of integral rain parameters for different rain rate categories in Mêdog are similar to those in other regions,the vertical evolution of raindrop size distributions shows significant differences.For lightest rain,the evaporation of small raindrops and breakup of large raindrops are clear during their descent.For the rainfall rate category of 0.2–2.0 mm h−1(2.0–20.0 mm h−1),concentrations of small and medium(large)drops show almost uniform vertical structures,while the large(medium)drop number displays a positive(negative)gradient.A disturbance at height of 1.5–2.0 km above ground level(AGL)is observed in the heavy rainfall due to strong updrafts.In general,the MRR measurements in Mêdog are robust.The raindrop breakup process is more apparent in Mêdog than in other regions,resulting in high concentration of sizelimited raindrops.In addition,it is found that the interaction between steep terrain and Mêdog convective rain causes the strong updrafts between 1.5 and 2.0 km AGL.