Quality control of specific humidity from surface stations based on EOF and FFT—— Case study

Comparisons between observations and back- ground fields indicate that amplitude and phase differences in oscillations result in a non-Gaussian distribution in observation minus background vectors （OMB）. Empirical Orthogonal Function （EOF） quality control （QC） and Fast Fourier Transform （FFT） quality control are proposed from the perspective of data assimilation and are applied to the surface specific humidity from ground-based stations. The QC results indicate that the standard deviation between observations and background is reduced effectively, and the frequency distribution for the observation increment is closer to a normal distribution. The specific humidity outliers occur primarily in mountainous and coastal regions. Comparing the two QC methods, it is found that the EOF QC performs better than the FFT QC as it can keep large scale of fluctuation information from the original field, preventing these waves from entering into the residual field and being removed by the QC process.

High-resolution Surface Relative Humidity Computation Using MODIS Image in Peninsular Malaysia

Forest fire is a serious disaster all over the world. The Fire Weather Index (FWI) System can be used in ap- plied forestry as a tool to investigate and manage all types of fire. Relative humidity (RH) is a very important parameter to calculate FWI. However, RH interpolated from meteorological data may not be able to provide precise and confident values for areas between far separated stations. The principal objective of this study is to provide high-resolution RH for FWI using MODIS data. The precipitable water vapor (PW) can be retrieved from MODIS using split window tech- niques. Four-year-time-series (2000-2003) of 8-day mean PW and specific humidity (Q) of Peninsular Malaysia were analyzed and the statistic expression between PW and Q was developed. The root-mean-square-error (RMSE) of Q es- timated by PW is generally less than 0.0004 and the correlation coefficient is 0.90. Based on the experiential formula between PW and Q, surface RH can be computed with combination of auxiliary data such as DEM and air temperature (Ta). The mean absolute errors of the estimated RH in Peninsular Malaysia are less than 5% compared to the measured RH and the correlation coefficient is 0.8219. It is proven to be a simple and feasible model to compute high-resolution RH using remote sensing data.

Surface Humidity Changes in Different Temporal Scales

As the key driven factor of hydrological cycles and global energy transfer processes, water vapour in the atmosphere is important for observing and understanding climatic system changes. In this study, we utilized the multi-dimensional Kolmogorov-Zurbenko filter (KZ filter) to assimilate a near-global high-resolution (monthly 1°?× 1°?grid) humidity climate observation database that provided consistent humidity estimates from 1973 onwards;then we examined the global humidity movements based on different temporal scales that separated out according to the average spectral features of specific humidity data. Humidity climate components were restored with KZ filters to represent the long-term trends and El Nino-like interannual movements. Movies of thermal maps based on these two climate components were used to visualize the water vapour fluctuation patterns over the Earth. Current results suggest that increases in water vapour are found over a large part of the oceans and the land of Eurasia, and the most confirmed increasing pattern is over the south part of North Atlantic and around the India subcontinent;meanwhile, the surface moisture levels over lands of south hemisphere are becoming less.

Characteristics of atmospheric boundary layer structure and its influencing factors under different sea and land positions in Europe

This study identifies quantitatively the dominant contributions of meteorological factors on the development of the boundary layer heights(BLH)in the European region,based on 32 years(1990-2021)of radiosonde observations.The spatial variability of the BLH is further discussed by location,by classifying recording stations as inland,coastal,or bay.We find that the BLH in Europe varies considerably from day to night and with the seasons.Nighttime BLH is higher in winter and lower in summer,with the highest BLH recorded at coastal stations.Daytime BLH at coastal stations shows a bimodal structure with peaks in spring and autumn;at inland and bay stations,daytime BLH is lower in winter and higher in summer.The daily amplitudes of BLH at the inland and bay stations are stronger than those at coastal stations.Based on our multiple linear regression analysis and our decoupling analysis of temperature and specific humidity,we report that the development of the nighttime BLH at all types of stations is strongly dominated by the variations of surface wind speed(and,at coastal stations,wind directions).The main contributors to daytime BLH are the near-surface temperature variability at most coastal and inland stations,and,at most bay stations,the variation of the near-surface specific humidity.

Isentropic Analysis on the Rainstorm in Liaoning on July 15,2008

By using NCAR/NCEP daily reanalysis data and the precipitation data in Liaoning routine automatic station during July 14-16,2008,the regional rainstorm weather process in Liaoning was done the isentropic analysis. According to the variation characteristics of isobar,isocratic specific humidity line and wind field on the isentropic surface,the rainstorm landing zone was gained and compared with the analysis results of isobaric surface. The results showed that the warm wet transportation belt on 330 K isentropic surface provided the rich water vapor condition for the rainstorm generation,and the distribution of air-pressure and wind field on the isentropic surface favored to understand the movement of airflow. Compared with the analysis of isobaric surface,the analysis of isobaric surface could better directly judge the landing zone of precipitation,and the forecast effect was better than the analysis forecast results of isobaric surface.

Characteristics of Hydrologic Transfer between Soil and Atmosphere over Gobi near Oasis at the End of Summer

By utilizing the data observed at Dunhuang during August and September 2000 in the 'Field Experiment on Interaction between Land and Atmosphere in the Arid Region of Northwest China (FEILARNC)', the characteristics of the soil moisture, temperature, and atmospheric humidity are analyzed. It is found that the thickness of the soil temperature active layer is about 5 cm and much thinner than is typical, that not only the atmospheric humidity gradient is often inverted but also the soil moisture gradient in the shallow layer in the Gobi near oasis, that the diurnal variation of soil moisture can be divided into the four stages that are called the wet stage, the losing-water stage, the dry stage, and the attaining-water stage. It is shown that in soil moisture profiles, the depth of the soil moisture active layer is about 10 cm and soil moisture inversion is the main feature in the shallow layer during the wet stage. Such a feature as soil moisture inversion indicates that soil in the shallow layer can inhale moisture from the air through condensation in the nighttime and exhale moisture to the air through evaporation in the daytime. The condensation and evaporation constitute together the full respiration process of moisture on the ground. The formation of soil moisture inversion is related with the state of soil temperature and moisture, the intensity of atmospheric humidity inversion, and the atmospheric thermodynamic stability.

SURFACE OBSERVATIONS IN THE TROPICAL CYCLONE ENVIRONMENT OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

In this paper, the observational data from Marine and Meteorological Observation Platform （MMOP） at Bohe, Maoming and buoys located in Shanwei and Maoming are used to study the characteristics of air-sea temperature and specific humidity difference and the relationship between wind and wave with the tropical cyclones over the South China Sea （SCS）. The heat and momentum fluxes from eddy covariance measurement （EC） are compared with these fluxes calculated by the COARE 3.0 algorithm for Typhoon Koppu. The results show that at the developing and weakening stages of Koppu, both these differences between the sea surface and the near-surface atmosphere from the MMOP are negative, and data from the buoys also indicate that the differences are negative between the sea surface and near-surface atmosphere on the right rear portion of tropical cyclones （TCs） Molave and Chanthu. However, the differences are positive on the left fi＇ont portion of Molave and Chanthu. These positive differences suggest that the heat flux is transferred from the ocean to the atmosphere, thus intensifying and maintaining the two TCs. The negative differences indicate that the ocean removes heat fluxes from the atmosphere, thus weakening the TCs. The wind-wave curves of TCs Molave and Chanthu show that significant wave height increases linearly with 2-min wind speed at 10-m height when the wind speed is less than 25 m/s, but when the wind speed is greater than 25 m/s, the significant wave height increases slightly with the wind speed. By comparing the observed sensible heat, latent heat, and friction velocity from EC with these variables from COARE 3.0 algorithm, a great bias between the observed and calculated sensible heat and latent heat fluxes is revealed, and the observed friction velocity is found to be almost the same as the calculated friction velocity.

A Study of Surface Humidity Changes in China During the Recent 50 Years

This paper analyzes in detail the characteristics of surface humidity changes in China under the background of global warming in the recent 50 years by using the observation data compiled by the National Meteorological Information Center of China. The results reveal that （i） with the increase of temperature, surface saturation specific humidity （qs） shows basically an exponential growth, according to the Clausius- Clapeyron equation. The nationwide average moistening rate in winter is obviously less than the annual average rate and the summer rate. There are some regional differences in qs trends in different regions of China. For example, qs in central and eastern parts of China exhibits a reducing trend in summer, consistent with the weakening trend of temperature in these areas; （2） except parts of South China and Jianghnai Region in eastern China, unanimously increasing trends of annual and winter specific humidity （q） are found in most of China, especially in western China. In summer, except parts of Northeast China, Northwest China, and some areas over the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the decreasing and drying trends are significant in most of China, which is not consistent with the global mean situation; （3） the surface relative humidity （RH） in most of China shows a reducing trend. One of the major reasons for the reduction of RH is that the increasing rates of q are smaller than those of qs. Nonetheless, upward trends of RH in central and eastern China mainly due to the cooling temperature and rising q in these regions are observed in summer, leading to more precipitation. From about 2003 or so, qs has remarkably increased while q has sharply decreased in most parts of China; therefore, RH has reduced to a great extent. This may be closely related to the persistent growth of drought areas in China in the recent 10 years.

A Diagnostic Analysis of the Simulated Structure of a Meiyu Front System in 1999

A numerical simulation of a torrential rain event occurring in the Jiang-Huai Valley of China from 22-24 June 1999 is performed and analyzed by using the PSU/NCAR MM5 mesoscale non-hydrostatic model. The high-resolution model output data are utilized to diagnose the double front structure, and the distributions of potential temperature, equivalent potential temperature, and specific humidity in the vicinity of the Meiyu Front System （MYFS） in the Jiang-Huai Valley. The results show that both the potential temperature gradient and the specific humidity gradient have important impacts on the two strong equivalent potential temperature gradient zones associated with the double front structure of the MYFS, but the latter （moisture gradient） is more important. In addition, the tendency equation of specific humidity gradient is theoretically derived. It shows that variations of the specific humidity gradient are related to the advection, convergence/divergence, horizontal and vertical vorticities （secondary circulation） effects and the gradient of water vapor source/sink. As an example, the budget of the meridional component of the tendency equation is selected and diagnosed by using the above model simulation data of the torrential rain event. It is shown that the variation of the specific humidity gradient averaged throughout the simulation is mainly controlled by the convergence/divergence effect, the secondary circulation effect associated with the horizontal vorticities, and the water vapor source/sink effect. Since the water vapor source/sink is often formed from the phase change processes of water vapor in the air and thus directly associated with cloud and precipitation microphysics processes, the variation of the specific humidity gradient is closely related with cloud and precipitation microphysics and the distribution, development and evolution of cloud and rainfall systems. The double front structure of the MYFS provides an advantageous environmental condition for the development and movement of the mesoscale torrential rain system nearby. In turn, the development of the torrential rain exerts a signifiant impact on the MYFS through changing the thermal and moisture distributions.