Indirect determination of broadband turbidity coefficients over Egypt

Long-term data from diffuse and global irradiances were used to calculate direct beam irradiance which was used to determine three atmospheric turbidity coefficients (Linke T _L , Ångström β and Unsworth–Monteith δ _a ) at seven sites in Egypt in the period from 1981 to 2000. Seven study sites (Barrani, Matruh, Arish, Cairo, Asyut, Aswan and Kharga) have been divided into three categories: Mediterranean climate (MC), desert Nile climate (DNC) and urban climate (UC, Cairo). The indirect method (i.e., global irradiance minus diffuse irradiance) used here allows to estimate the turbidity coefficients with an RMSE% ≤20 % (for β, δ _a and T _L ) and ~30 % (for β) if compared with those estimated by direct beam irradiance and sunphotometeric data, respectively. Monthly averages of T _L , β and δ _a show seasonal variations with mainly maxima in spring at all stations, due to Khamsin depressions coming from Sahara. Secondary maxima is observed in summer and autumn at DNC and MC (Barrani and Arish) stations in summer due to dust haze which prevails during that season and at UC (Cairo) in autumn, due to the northern extension of the Sudan monsoon trough, which is accompanied by small-scale depressions with dust particles. The mean annual values of β, δ _a , and T _L (0.216, 0.314, and 4.6, respectively) are larger in Cairo than at MC stations (0.146, 0.216, and 3.8, respectively) and DNC stations (0.153, 0.227, and 3.8, respectively). Both El-Chichon and Mt. Pinatubo eruptions were examined for all records data at MC, UC and DNC stations. The overburden caused by Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption was larger than El-Chichon’s eruption and overburden for β, and T _L at DNC stations (0.06, and 0.58 units, respectively) was more pronounced than that at MC (0.02, and 0.26, respectively) and UC (0.05 and 0.52 units, respectively) stations. The annual variations in wind speed and turbidity parameters show high values for both low and high wind speed at all stations. The wind directions have a clear effect on atmospheric turbidity, and consequently, largest turbidities occur when the wind carries aerosols from the main particle sources, such as industrial particle sources around Cairo or to some extent from the Sahara surrounding all study stations.     

THE APPROACH TO REMOTE SENSING OF WATER VAPOR BASED ON GPS AND LINEAR REGRESSION Tm IN EASTERN REGION OF CHINA

The approach to remote sensing of water vapor by using global positioning systems(GPS) isdiscussed.In order to retrieve the vertical integrated water vapor(IWV) or the precipitable water(PW),the weighted "mean temperature" of the atmosphere,T_m would be estimated to the specificarea and season.T_m depends on surface temperature,tropospheric temperature profile,and thevertical distribution of water vapor.The surface temperature dependence is borne out by acomparison of T_m and the values of surface temperature T_s using radiosonde profiles of BeijingStation(No.54511) throughout 1992.The analysis of radiosonde profiles spanning a one-yearinterval(1992) from sites in eastern region of China with a latitude range of 20-50°N and alongitude range of 100-130°E yields the coefficients a and b of a linear regression equation T_m=a+bT_s.     

Analysis of the Weighted Mean Temperature of China Based on Sounding and ECMWF Reanalysis Data

Weighted mean temperature (Tm) is one of the most important conversion parameters for calculating precipitable water vapor by the signal path wet delay in ground-based GPS meteorology. This paper first discusses the Tmregression models for Hong Kong (HK) and the associated error statistics relative to the true values of Tmfrom the numerical method. The results show that there is little difference in precision between annual and seasonal Tmregression models for HK. The Bevis Tm-Ts(surface temperature) regression model is more suitable for northeastern China and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau than the local models. For areas lack of historical sounding data, the Kriging interpolation method and the ECMWF reanalysis product ERA-interim were employed to set up local Tm-Ts models. The results indicate that the Tmderived by the ERA-interim data coincides well with that by the sounding data, and the Kriging interpolation method can successfully obtain the coefficients of local Tm-Tsmodels, suggesting that these two approaches may serve as effective ways in the acquisition and localization of Tm.     

Atmospheric turbidity of urban and desert areas of the Nile Basin in the aftermath of Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption

Summary  The Linke T _L , ?ngstr?m β and Unsworth-Monteith δ _a turbidity parameters are investigated for two sites in Egypt: Cairo, a densely populated urban area, and Aswan, an arid unpolluted area. These three turbidity parameters are calculated from broadband pyrheliometric measurements recorded hourly over the period 1992–96. Monthly averages of T _L , β and δ _a show relatively flat and identical seasonal variations with a marked main maxima during spring at both sites, due to Khamsin depressions coming from the Great Sahara. A secondary maximum is observed at Aswan in summer, due to dust haze which prevails during that season, and at Cairo in autumn, due to the northern extension of the Sudan monsoon trough, which is accompanied by small scale depressions with dust particles. Annual mean values of T _L , β and δ _a (5.59, 0.250 and 0.372, respectively) at Cairo are larger than at Aswan (3.89, 0.139 and 0.213, respectively). In the same way, the seasonal mean values of T _L , β and δ _a at Cairo are larger than at Aswan. More generally, the monthly and yearly average turbidity values are significantly larger in Cairo than in Aswan for the whole period 1992–96, which is attributable in part to the urbanization/industrialization effect of Cairo. An estimate of the corresponding overburden is obtained by comparison between the present data and older T _L data from 1922–27. It is also shown that turbidity over both sites is largest during 1992, just after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. The dependence of β on some meteorological parameters such as wind speed and direction, precipitable water, relative humidity, temperature and visibility, is also analyzed. This reveals in particular that visibility is not a good predictor of turbidity at either site. Conversely, the wind direction and speed have a definite effect on turbidity, and consequently, largest turbidities occur when the wind carries aerosols from the main industrial particle source areas around Cairo. For any season of the year, the average turbidity at the latter site is larger than that at other big cities such as Athens, Rome, and Toronto, but is lower than at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Received February 3, 2000 Revised August 25, 2000     

A compact form for the analytic description of temperature dependence of saturation vapor pressure over plane surfaces of water and ice

A possibility is studied of extending the range of action of the simple three-parameter formula (ITS-90 scale) proposed in the previous work of the author [2] for the dependence of saturation vapor pressure E on temperature T within the range of 250 to 490 K. The results demonstrated that the dependence ln[E(T)/E(T _bas)] = (T - T _bas)[A - B(T - T _bas) + C(T - T _bas)²]/T with four sets of coefficients A, B, and C obtained using one base temperature Tbas equal to the temperature of triple point of water T _t = 273.16 K and two additional base values T _bas2 = 473.16 K and T _bas3 = 623.16 K makes it possible to approximate rather accurately the initial experimental and computed data in the temperature range from the point of homogeneous freezing of 235 K to the critical temperature of 647 K for liquid water and from 193 K to T _t for ice. A procedure used for obtaining the inverse function T(E) by solving the third-degree algebraic equation is validated. A hypothesis is proposed for the physical substantiation of additional base points in the form of “a noticeable appearance of dimers at the point T _bas2 and their 100% concentration at the temperature T _bas3.”     

Variability of the Linke and Unsworth-Monteith turbidity parameters in Athens, Greece

Summary  This work studies the variability of the Linke (T _L ) and Unsworth-Monteith (T _U ) turbidity parameters in the urban atmosphere of Athens. Beam irradiance observations performed at the Actinometric Station of the National Observatory of Athens are used in the period 1975–1995. This study examines (i) the inter-annual variation of T _L and T _U , (ii) their mean seasonal variability, (iii) their monthly average variation, and (iv) their mean daily variation. Also, for various air-mass origins, the mean seasonal variations of T _L and T _U are given. The frequency of occurrence of the parameters in various ranges is also shown. An innovative interpretation of the impact of the Saharan dust on the radiative properties in the atmosphere of Athens is attempted. Received May 19, 2000 Revised October 17, 2000     

A model for inferring canopy and underlying soil temperatures from multi-directional measurements

Thermal emission is modeled from a canopy/soil surface, where the soil and the leaves are at different temperatures,T _g andT _c respectively. The temperatureT _m corresponding to a radiometer reading is given by $$B_\lambda (T_m ) = \chi B_\lambda (T_g ) + (1 - \chi )B_\lambda (T_c ) ,$$ whereB _λ denotes the Planck blackbody function at wavelength λ, χ specifies the fraction of the field of view occupied by the soil at a given view direction, and an emissivity of 1.0 is assumed for the plants and the soil. The dependence of the soil-fraction χ on the view direction and the structure is expressed by the viewing-geometry parameter, which allows for concise and simple formulation. We observe from our model that at large view zenith angles, only the plants are effectively seen (that is, χ tends to zero), and thereforeT _c can be determined from observations at large zenith angles, to the extent that such observations are practical. Viewing from the zenith, χ = exp(-L _hc), whereL _hc is the projection of the canopy leaf-area (per unit surface area) on a horizontal plane. For off-zenith observations, the soil-fraction χ depends on the distribution in the azimuth of the projected areas of various leaf categories, in addition to the dependence on the sum total of these projections,L _hc.L _hc, rather than the leaf-area index, emerges as the parameter characterizing the optical thickness of the canopy. Inferring bothT _c andT _g from observations from the zenith and from large zenith angles is possible ifL _hc is known from other measurements. Drooping of leaves under water-stress conditions affects the observed temperatureT _m in a complicated way because a leaf-inclination change produces a change inL _hc (for the same leaf area) and also a change in the dependence of χ on the view direction. Water stress can produce an increase of the soil-fraction χ and thus tends to produce an exaggerated increase in the observed temperature compared to the actual increase in canopy temperature. These effects are analyzed for a simulated soybean canopy.     

The characteristics of ultraviolet radiation in arid and semi-arid regions of China

Measurements of the broadband global solar radiation (R _S) and total ultraviolet radiation (the sum of UV-A and UV-B) were conducted from 2005 to 2010 at 9 sites in arid and semi-arid regions of China. These data were used to determine the temporal variability of UV and UV/R _S and their dependence on the water vapor content and clearness index. The dependence of UV/R _S on aerosol optical depth (AOD) and water vapor content was also investigated. In addition, a simple and efficient empirically model suited for all-weather conditions was developed to estimate UV from R _s. The annual average daily UV level in arid and semi-arid areas is 0.61 and 0.59 MJ m^?2 d^?1, respectively. The highest value (0.66?±?0.25 MJ m^?2 d^?1) was recorded at an arid area at Linze. The lowest value (0.53?±?0.22 MJ m^?2 d^?1) was recorded at a semi-arid area at Ansai. The highest daily value of UV radiation was measured in May, whereas the lowest value was measured in December. The monthly variation of the UV/R _s ratio ranged from 0.41 in Aksu to 0.35 in Qira. The monthly mean value of UV/R _s gradually increased from November and then decreased in August. A small decreasing trend of UV/R _s was observed in the arid and semi-arid regions due to recently increasing amounts of fine aerosol. A simple and efficient empirically model suit for all-weather condition was developed to estimate UV from R _s. The slope a and intercept b of the regression line between the estimated and measured values were close to 1 and zero, respectively. The relative error between the estimated and measured values was less than 11.5%. Application of the model to data collected from different locations in this region also resulted in reasonable estimates of UV.     

An evaluation of ice nuclei characteristics from the long-term measurement data over North China

An attempt was made to delineate the characteristics of ice nuclei (IN) over North China using the ground-based measurement data from 1963?C2003. The results show that: (1) the IN concentrations increased during the period from 1963?C1996, but decreased after 2000; (2) the average IN concentrations range from 1.0 to 26.3, 3.6 to 78.9, 19.2 to 627.3, and 92.9 to 5285.0 L^?1 at temperature ?15, ?20, ?25, and ?30°C, with the overall average of 7.8, 20.6, 167.7, and 890.6 L^?1, respectively; and (3) the number concentration of active IN increased nearly exponentially with decreasing temperature, with the slope (ranging from 0.11 to 0.42°C^?1) being of a narrow range in a log-linear coordinate; the regression equations for the western central China and the eastern central China can be expressed as N(T) = 0.0396 exp (?0.317 ??T) and N(T) = 0.1496 exp (?0.299??T), respectively. The present study may be useful toward applications in models for predicting IN effects on the cloud, precipitation and climate over North China.     

塔里木盆地沙尘气溶胶的柱质量密度特性

气溶胶质量密度是气溶胶重要的参数,它影响着大气中复杂的化学反应,也与气溶胶的传输过程和空间分布息息相关.基于MERRA-2再分析资料提供的气溶胶柱质量密度数据,研究了我国塔里木盆地1980—2018年长时间序列的沙尘气溶胶柱质量密度的时空分布特征.结果表明,沙尘气溶胶和沙尘PM_2.5气溶胶柱质量密度有很大的变化范围,平均值分别为0.33和0.086 g/m²,同时具有明显的年际、月和季节变化特征.沙尘气溶胶和沙尘PM_2.5气溶胶柱质量密度的年平均值在0.24~0.41和0.06~0.11 g/m²范围内变化;春季最大,其平均值分别为0.47和0.12 g/m²,冬季最小,其平均值分别为0.13和0.04 g/m²;月平均值最大出现在5月,分别为0.57和0.14 g/m²,最小在1月,分别为0.1和0.03 g/m².     

Detection and attribution of anthropogenic forcing to diurnal temperature range changes from 1950 to 1999: comparing multi-model simulations with observations

Observations show that the surface diurnal temperature range (DTR) has decreased since 1950s over most global land areas due to a smaller warming in maximum temperatures (T _max) than in minimum temperatures (T _min). This paper analyzes the trends and variability in T _max, T _min, and DTR over land in observations and 48 simulations from 12 global coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models for the later half of the 20th century. It uses the modeled changes in surface downward solar and longwave radiation to interpret the modeled temperature changes. When anthropogenic and natural forcings are included, the models generally reproduce observed major features of the warming of T _max and T _min and the reduction of DTR. As expected the greenhouse gases enhanced surface downward longwave radiation (DLW) explains most of the warming of T _max and T _min while decreased surface downward shortwave radiation (DSW) due to increasing aerosols and water vapor contributes most to the decreases in DTR in the models. When only natural forcings are used, none of the observed trends are simulated. The simulated DTR decreases are much smaller than the observed (mainly due to the small simulated T _min trend) but still outside the range of natural internal variability estimated from the models. The much larger observed decrease in DTR suggests the possibility of additional regional effects of anthropogenic forcing that the models can not realistically simulate, likely connected to changes in cloud cover, precipitation, and soil moisture. The small magnitude of the simulated DTR trends may be attributed to the lack of an increasing trend in cloud cover and deficiencies in charactering aerosols and important surface and boundary-layer processes in the models.     

Comparison of artificial neural network and multivariate linear regression methods for estimation of daily soil temperature in an arid region

Soil temperature (T _S) strongly influences a wide range of biotic and abiotic processes. As an alternative to direct measurement, indirect determination of T _S from meteorological parameters has been the focus of attention of environmental researchers. The main purpose of this study was to estimate daily T _S at six depths (5, 10, 20, 30, 50 and 100?cm) by using a multilayer perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network (ANN) model and a multivariate linear regression (MLR) method in an arid region of Iran. Mean daily meteorological parameters including air temperature (T _a), solar radiation (R _S), relative humidity (RH) and precipitation (P) were used as input data to the ANN and MLR models. The model results of the MLR model were compared to those of ANN. The accuracy of the predictions was evaluated by the correlation coefficient (r), the root mean-square error (RMSE) and the mean absolute error (MAE) between the measured and predicted T _S values. The results showed that the ANN method forecasts were superior to the corresponding values obtained by the MLR model. The regression analysis indicated that T _a, RH, R _S and P were reasonably correlated with T _S at various depths, but the most effective parameters influencing T _S at different depths were T _a and RH.     

Spatial dependence of diurnal temperature range trends on precipitation from 1950 to 2004

This paper analyzes the spatial dependence of annual diurnal temperature range (DTR) trends from 1950–2004 on the annual climatology of three variables: precipitation, cloud cover, and leaf area index (LAI), by classifying the global land into various climatic regions based on the climatological annual precipitation. The regional average trends for annual minimum temperature (T _min) and DTR exhibit significant spatial correlations with the climatological values of these three variables, while such correlation for annual maximum temperature (T _max) is very weak. In general, the magnitude of the downward trend of DTR and the warming trend of T _min decreases with increasing precipitation amount, cloud cover, and LAI, i.e., with stronger DTR decreasing trends over drier regions. Such spatial dependence of T _min and DTR trends on the climatological precipitation possibly reflects large-scale effects of increased global greenhouse gases and aerosols (and associated changes in cloudiness, soil moisture, and water vapor) during the later half of the twentieth century.     

Mass concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 fine-dispersed aerosol fractions in the Eastern Gobi Desert

Results are presented of monitoring measurements of the mass concentration of PM₁₀ (particles with the size of less than 10 μm) and PM_2.5 (less than 2.5 μm) fine-dispersed aerosol fractions at the Sainshand and Zamyn-Üüd stations located in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Revealed are the annual variations of the mass concentration of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 fine-dispersed aerosol fractions at these stations in 2008. The maximum values of monthly mean concentration during the year were observed in May in the period of dust storms. On the days with the steady calm weather, the mass concentrations of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 varied within 5–8 μg/m³ (PM₁₀) and 3–5 μg/m³ (PM_2.5) at the Sainshand station. During the dust storms, the maximum values of concentration exceeded 1400 μg/m³ (PM₁₀) and 380 μg/m³ (PM_2.5) that is by 28 (PM₁₀) and 15 (PM_2.5) times higher than the maximum permissible concentration for the European Union. Results are given of studying the frequency and duration of dust storms in recent 20 years (1991–2010) in the Eastern Gobi Desert.     

A universal spectrum for interannual variability of monsoon rainfall over India

Continuous periodogram analyses of 115 years (1871-1985) summer monsoon rainfall over the Indian region show that the power spectra follow the universal and unique inverse power law form of the statistical normal distribution with the percentage contribution to total variance representing the eddy probability corresponding to the normalized standard deviation equal to [(log L/log T50) – 1] where L is the period length in years and T50 the period up to which the cumulative percentage contribution to total variance is equal to 50. The above results are con-sistent with a recently developed non-deterministic cell dynamical model for atmospheric flows. The implications of the above result for prediction of interannual variability of rainfall is discussed.     

Wind profiles at the Boulder Tower

Analysis of wind profiles at the Boulder Tower (BAO) leads to these conclusions:

1. The variation of roughness with wind direction found earlier is confirmed. Roughness lengths measured on the tower are larger than those measured close to the surface.
2. The profiles and measurements of Reynolds stress are consistent with a von-Karman constant of 0.35.
3. The form φ_m=(1?15z/L)^-1/3 fits best in the range -0.6 < z/L < 0. In the range 0 < z/L < 0.5, θ _m ～ 1 + 4.7z/L provides a good fit to the observations. For z/L < 0.1, φ _m also depends on h, the thickness of the PBL. For z/L < -0.6, Φ _m approaches the constant 0.5, in contrast to all previous suggestions. For larger stabilities, the upper level is usually not in the surface layer, and wind ratios become independent of z/L.
4. With snow cover, the effective roughness diminishes to about 1 cm, even for directions for which the roughness length without snow is large.
5. Estimation of winds at 100 or 150 m from information near the surface is best for similarity theory provided that the ratio of height to Monin-Obukhov L is less than 0.1. For larger z/L, simple power laws seem more appropriate.

     

中国区域性大气加权平均温度线性模型精度评估

以欧洲中期天气预报中心的再分析资料ERA5为参考数据,评估由探空数据建立的中国区域88个单站大气加权平均温度（T_m）与地表气温（T_s）线性关系模型的精度.各站T_m-T_s线性模型计算的T_m（计算值）与ERA5 气压层数据积分所得的T_m（参考值）间偏差均方根值（RMSE）为1.8~5.5 K.不同站模型计算值与参考值间存在-1.22~4.54 K 的系统性偏差,且绝大多数测站（82个站）系统性偏差为正值,即模型计算值总体上大于参考值.补偿各站系统性偏差后,模型计算值与参考值间RMSE降为1.5~3.5 K.与使用中国区域统一模型相比,使用单站模型平均能提高0.6 K的T_m计算精度,尤其在中国西部、西北和内蒙区域,精度提高可达1~3.9 K.对所有测站模型计算值和参考值间偏差时序进行分析,发现超过半数测站的偏差存在明显季节性变化.     

Contemporary surface wind climatology of Turkey

The aim of this study was to examine the climatological characteristics of boundary layer gradient winds in Turkey in detail. In the study, monthly average wind speed (V _m) data measured at 267 stations for the 16 directions, prevailing wind direction (V _p), and station pressure (P _s) data measured at 174 stations during the period 1970–2008 by the Turkish Meteorological Service (TMS) were used. The data were provided by the TMS. To attain the aim of the study, wind patterns of midseason months representing the seasonal wind distributions were used, and surface wind formations were examined through calculation of divergent and rotational components of the average wind rate. Besides, it was aimed at explaining the relationships between sea level pressure (SLP) patterns and wind formations. The patterns of midseason months were examined via the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). In accordance with V _m data, it is seen that air flows in Turkey generally tend to orientate radially from west to east. Climatologically, the strongest prevailing winds in Turkey blow during the summer months, while the weakest winds blow during the autumn months. V _m and V _p distributions show a parallelism (i.e., wind gradient) in the months during which temperature differences between land and sea are high due to the differences in their specific heat values. The distributions of V _m and V _p values vary considerably in spring and autumn months during which temperature differences are relatively lower. According to the PCA results, the first two components represent the strong wind areas in Turkey. These components presumably explain the existence of coherent wind formation areas, which display different characteristics due to regional physical geographical factors and processes (e.g., orography, altitude, exposure, land–sea distribution, surface mechanical and thermodynamic modifications of the air masses and air flows, etc.) in addition to the direct effect of different synoptic-scale pressure and circulation conditions.     

Characteristics of Elemental Composition of PM2.5 in the Spring Period at Tongyu in the Semi-arid Region of Northeast China

Continuous observations of mass concentration and elemental composition of aerosol particles （PM2.5） were conducted at Tongyu, a semi-arid site in Northeast China in the spring of 2006. The average mass concentration of PM2.5 at Tongyu station was 260.9±274.4 μg m^-3 during the observation period. Nine dust events were monitored with a mean concentration of 528.0±302.7 μgm^-3. The PM2.5 level during non- dust storm （NDS） period was 111.65±63.37 μg m^-3. High mass concentration shows that fine-size particles pollution was very serious in the semi-arid area in Northeast China. The enrichment factor values for crust elements during the dust storm （DS） period are close to those in the NDS period, while the enrichment factor values for pollution elements during the NDS period are much higher than those in the DS period, showing these elements were from anthropogenic sources. The ratios of dust elements to Fe were relative constant during the DS period. The Ca/Fe ratio in dust aerosols at Tongyu is remarkably different from that observed in other source regions and downwind regions. Meteorological analysis shows that dust events at Tongyu are usually associated with dry, low pressure and high wind speed weather conditions. Air mass back-trajectory analysis identified three kinds of general pathways were associated with the aerosol particle transport to Tongyu, and the northwest direction pathway was the main transport route.     

Water vapor motion signal extraction from FY-2E longwave infrared window images for cloud-free regions: The temporal difference technique

The aim of this study is to calculate the low-level atmospheric motion vectors （AMVs） in clear areas with FY-2E IR2 window （11.59-12.79 μm） channel imagery,where the traditional cloud motion wind technique fails.A new tracer selection procedure,which we call the temporal difference technique,is demonstrated in this paper.This technique makes it possible to infer low-level wind by tracking features in the moisture pattern that appear as brightness temperature （TB） differences between consecutive sequences of 30-min-interval FY-2E IR2 images over cloud-free regions.The TB difference corresponding to a 10％ change in water vapor density is computed with the Moderate Resolution Atmospheric Transmission （MODTRAN4） radiative transfer model.The total contribution from each of the 10 layers is analyzed under four typical atmospheric conditions：tropical,midlatitude summer,U.S.standard,and midlatitude winter.The peak level of the water vapor weighting function for the four typical atmospheres is assigned as a specific height to the TB ＂wind＂.This technique is valid over cloudfree ocean areas.The proposed algorithm exhibits encouraging statistical results in terms of vector difference （VD）,speed bias （BIAS）,mean vector difference （MVD）,standard deviation （SD）,and root-mean-square error （RMSE）,when compared with the wind field of NCEP reanalysis data and rawinsonde observations.