Analysis of the Causes of a Low Cloud and Low Visibility Weather at Cangyuan Washan Airport

At 11:00 am on August 5, 2017, Cangyuan Washan Airport experienced low cloud and low visibility weather, accompanied by aircraft turbulence, which affected the normal operation of flights, which was closely related to the meteorological conditions at that time. Using the hourly reanalysis data of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) Reanalysis 5 (ERA5), including Geopotential height, temperature, precipitation, wind field, specific humidity, vorticity and other elements, with a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25°, this paper focuses on the horizontal distribution and vertical configuration of various physical quantities before and after the occurrence of low cloud and low visibility weather at the airport. The results indicate that the main influencing system of this low cloud and low visibility weather is the westward tropical depression. Before the occurrence of low cloud and low visibility weather, low-level water vapor converges and is accompanied by precipitation. The temperature decreases with precipitation, the near-surface wind direction changes, and the wind speed decreases.

THE SPATIOTEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT RAIN DAYS AND LOW CLOUD COVER UNDER HEAVY POLLUTION OVER SOUTH CHINA

By using the data set of light rain days and low cloud cover at 51 stations in South China(SC), and the method of linear regression and correlative analysis, we analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of the light rain days and low cloud cover including annual variation and long-term seasonal change. The results are as follows:(1) The trends of light rain days and low cloud cover over SC are opposite(light rain days tended to decrease and low cloud cover tended to increase in the past 46 years). The value distributed in east is higher than that in west, and coastal area higher than inland area.(2) The regression coefficients of light rain days and low cloud cover during 1960-2005 are4.88 d/10 years and 1.14%/10 years respectively, which had all passed the 0.001 significance level.(3) Variations of light rain days are relatively small in spring and summer, but their contributions are larger for annual value than that of autumn and winter.(4) There are two regions with large values of aerosol optical depth(AOD), which distribute in central and southern Guangxi and Pearl River Delta(PRD) of Guangdong, and the value of AOD in PRD is up to 0.7.The aerosol index distributed in coastal area is higher than in the inland area, which is similar to the light rain days and low cloud cover over SC. Aerosol indexes in SC kept increasing with fluctuation during the past 27 years. The GDP of the three provinces in SC increased obviously during the past 28 years, especially in Guangdong, which exhibited that there is simultaneous correlation between light rain days with the variables of low cloud cover and release of aerosols over SC during 1960 to 2005.

Analysis of a Complex Weather Process and Services at Shanghai Pudong International Airport

A complex weather process at Shanghai Pudong International Airport during April 8-9 in 2017 was analyzed deeply to study the causes of low clouds and convective weather and how to provide services for control in the complex weather situation. The results showed that when clouds and visibility were low,the situation of wind fields should be analyzed carefully to forecast the weather more accurately. The actual situation of the weather was in line with the numerical forecast on the day,and numerical forecast had certain reference value for convection forecast. The prediction of cloud height was not as perfect as expected on the day,but corresponding services were provided to the regulatory agencies 3 h early,and they had sufficient time to make decisions. The meteorological services have also been well received by the regulatory authorities,which further explains the importance of forecast in advance.

SOME STATISTICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THE APPLICATION OF JAPANESE GMS LOW CLOUD WINDS

A statistical study of GMS low cloud winds in January,April,July and October,1983 shows that on an average,there exist 223.5 low cloud winds over western North Pacific each synoptic time.The low cloud winds have a diurnal change with more low cloud winds at 12 Z than at 00 Z. The wind fields at 850 hPa over western North Pacific,with and without application of low cloud winds, have been analyzed by a successive correction scheme.The results indicate that the flow patterns without low cloud winds are considerably distorted from short of wind data over the oceanic region.On the con- trary,with application of low cloud winds,the flow patterns get much more improved over the oceanic region.