MICROSTRUCTURES AND TEMPORAL VARIATION CHARACTERISTICS DURING A SEA FOG EVENT ALONG THE WEST COAST OF THE TAIWAN STRAIT

Synoptic systems and microphysical properties associated with a sea fog event are analyzed based on the measurements of visibility, meteorological elements and fog droplet spectrum from a comprehensive field campaign in Xiamen, Fujian province during spring 2013. The influences of meteorological elements on the microstructures of the sea fog are also discussed. The results showed that the wind speed and direction changed suddenly during the intermittent and disperse phases of the sea fog. Liquid water content, number concentration and average diameter varied obviously in the development, mature and disperse phases of the sea fog. The burst re-enforcement of sea fog was accompanied by explosive broadening of fog droplet spectrum; average diameter, number concentration and liquid water content increased sharply; and background meteorological conditions also changed significantly. The microstructures fluctuated intensely due to changes in turbulence, radiation and meteorological conditions at different stages, including nucleation, condensation, coagulation, and evaporation, as well as the discontinuity of spatial distribution of droplets.

Progress in polar upper atmospheric physics research in China

The Chinese Antarctic Great Wall, Zhongshan, Kunlun and Arctic Yellow River stations have unique geographical locations, well suited to carry out polar upper atmospheric observations. This paper reviews the tremendous history of nearly 30 years of Chinese polar expeditions and major progress in polar upper atmospheric physics research. This includes the polar upper atmospheric physics conjugate observation system at Zhongshan Station in the Antarctic and Yellow River Station in the Arctic, and original research achievements in polar ionospheric fields, aurora and particle precipitation, the polar current system, polar plasma convection, geomagnetic pulsations and space plasma waves, inter-hemispheric comparisons of the space environment, space weather in polar regions, power spectrum of the incoherent scatter radar, ionospheric heating experiments and polar meso- spheric summer echoes, polar ionosphere-magnetosphere numerical simulation and others. Finally, prospects for Chinese polar upper atmospheric physics research are outlined.

Characteristics of Thermally-Induced Near-Surface Flows over An Enclosed Crater: Observations of the Meteor Crater Experiment(METCRAX)

Meteorological measurements of the Meteor Crater Experiment(METCRAX) were used to analyze the characteristics of the thermally-induced flows over an enclosed crater(Arizona, USA). Despite its relatively small size, this crater acts as an effective wind shelter. Daytime upslope winds and nocturnal downslope flows are regularly observed on its west/east sidewalls. The times of diurnal wind-direction shift(i.e., around sunrise and sunset) were slightly mismatched between the sites based on the east and west sidewalls, owing to the crater's shadowing effects. Under conditions of relatively weak synoptic forcing, the nocturnal downslope flows prevail throughout the night, despite quite a low wind velocity near the surface. ?

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THUNDERSTORM FREQUENCY VARIATION AND THEIR POSSIBLE RELATION WITH THE ADJUSTMENT OF CROP DISTRIBUTION IN THE LEIZHOU PENINSULA

In order to research possible influences of the adjustment of plant distribution on the development frequency of thunderstorms over the Leizhou Peninsula, mathematic statistic methods, including correlation analyses, 11 kinds of fitting models and all-variable regression methods, were used for analyses and research. The results show that the average trend of the number of annual thunderstorm days is descending obviously, and there are thunderstorms in all seasons, in which warm post-midday thunderstorms have taken up the most part, and high frequency is found from May to September, and the starting and ending dates of thunderstorms have a great annual discrepancy. The vegetation structure has been improved along with the reduction of rice fields and the area increment of sugarcane and fruits planting, which results in the decrease of the number of thunderstorm days; the change in the characteristics of winter spare fields, which is caused by the planting of vegetables, limits the formation of thunderstorms in early winter and late spring. Meanwhile, the area adjustment of peanut planting has little influence on the variation of thunderstorm days. The adjustment of principal crop distribution, such as rice, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables, may have obvious influence on the formation of thunderstorms, and sugarcane has the largest effect, followed in turn by rice, vegetables and fruits, and the adjustment of crop distribution has little influence on the starting and ending dates of thunderstorms.