Diurnal and seasonal variations of wind farm impacts on land surface temperature over western Texas

This paper analyzes seasonal and diurnal variations of MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) data at ~1.1 km for the period of 2003–2011 over a region in West-Central Texas, where four of the world’s largest wind farms are located. Seasonal anomalies are created from MODIS Terra (~10:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. local solar time) and Aqua (~1:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local solar time) LSTs, and their spatiotemporal variability is analyzed by comparing the LST changes between wind farm pixels (WFPs) and nearby non wind farm pixels (NNWFPs) using different methods under different quality controls. Our analyses show consistently that there is a warming effect of 0.31–0.70 °C at nighttime for the nine-year period during which data was collected over WFPs relative to NNWFPs, in all seasons for both Terra and Aqua measurements, while the changes at daytime are much noisier. The nighttime warming effect is much larger in summer than winter and at ~10:30 p.m. than ~1:30 a.m. and hence the largest warming effect is observed at ~10:30 p.m. in summer. The spatial pattern and magnitude of this warming effect couple very well with the geographic distribution of wind turbines and such coupling is stronger at nighttime than daytime and in summer than winter. Together, these results suggest that the warming effect observed in MODIS over wind farms are very likely attributable to the development of wind farms. This inference is consistent with the increasing number of operational wind turbines with time during the study period, the diurnal and seasonal variations in the frequency of wind speed and direction distribution, and the changes in near-surface atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) conditions due to wind farm operations. The nocturnal ABL is typically stable and much thinner than the daytime ABL and hence the turbine enhanced vertical mixing produces a stronger nighttime effect. The stronger wind speed and the higher frequency of the wind speed within the optimal power generation range in summer than winter and at nighttime than daytime likely drives wind turbines to generate more electricity and turbulence and consequently results in the strongest warming effect at nighttime in summer. Similarly, the stronger wind speed and the higher frequency of optimal wind speed at ~10:30 p.m. than that at ~1:30 a.m. might help explain, to some extent, why the nighttime LST warming effect is slightly larger at ~10:30 p.m. than ~1:30 a.m. The nighttime warming effect seen in spring and fall are smaller than that in summer and can be explained similarly.     

An Observational Study on the Local Climate Effect of the Shangyi Wind Farm in Hebei Province

Zhangjiakou is an important wind power base in Hebei Province, China. The impact of its wind farms on the local climate is controversial. Based on long-term meteorological data from 1981 to 2018, we investigated the effects of the Shangyi Wind Farm (SWF) in Zhangjiakou on air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and precipitation using the anomaly or ratio method between the impacted weather station and the non-impacted background weather station. The influence of the SWF on land surface temperature (LST) and evapotranspiration (ET) using MODIS satellite data from 2003 to 2018 was also explored. The results showed that the SWF had an atmospheric warming effect at night especially in summer and autumn (up to 0.95°C). The daytime air temperature changes were marginal, and their signs were varying depending on the season. The annual mean wind speed decreased by 6％, mainly noted in spring and winter (up to 14％). The precipitation and relative humidity were not affected by the SWF. There was no increase in LST in the SWF perhaps due to the increased vegetation coverage unrelated to the wind farms, which canceled out the wind farm-induced land surface warming and also resulted in an increase in ET. The results showed that the impact of wind farms on the local climate was significant, while their impact on the regional climate was slight.     

近20年来风电场（群）对气候的影响研究进展

随着风电场的大规模开发,其对气候的影响受到关注,自2000年以来美国和欧洲等国陆续开展了一定的研究,中国也开展了一些观测和模拟研究,对已有研究进行综述可指导这项工作的进一步开展。通过对文献的梳理,总结了风电场对气候影响的研究进程、研究方法、影响机理和研究成果。大量观测和数值模拟结果显示风电场会导致地表气温上升,风电场下游一定距离范围内风速衰减,并间接影响降水、蒸发等其他气象要素,风电场对局地气候变化产生影响的结论具有较高信度;部分模式模拟结果显示未来大规模风电场（群）开发对全球气候也有可能产生一定影响,但仍需进一步的探索。     

成都地区城市化对气候影响的模拟研究

为了研究成都地区城市化对当地气候的影响,利用不同时期的下垫面土地利用类型数据和耦合单层城市冠层模型(UCM)的WRF（Weather Research and Forecasting）模式对成都夏季和冬季城市化效应进行了模拟研究,得到以下主要结论:1）成都地区城市化使夏季城区上空出现增温区域。城区地表气温升高约2.8°C,边界层高度升高约150 m,冬季地表气温平均升高约0.6°C,边界层高度升高约25 m。夏冬两季气温日较差均减小。2）受城市化影响,成都地区夏季和冬季2 m相对湿度减小,感热通量增加,潜热通量减小,且夏季变化程度强于冬季。3）城市化使地表的粗糙度增加,进而使夏季和冬季风速在城区减小,减小约0.1~0.6 m s?1,但夏季风速减小区域较冬季更大。城市化还使城市上空低层散度减小,辐合作用增强,垂直速度增大,夏季水汽往高层输送明显。4）夏季,城市化作用使日平均和白天时段降水量在城区的迎风区和下风区均增加,夜间降水量在下风区域增加,对迎风区域影响不明显。     

Breeze circulation in the Black Sea region

The modeling of atmospheric circulation in the Black Sea region using the WRF-ARW model for 30 summer days is considered to single out the contribution of the breeze component of wind speed. Assuming the quasiperiodic nature of breeze, the speed of daytime and nighttime breeze is computed for the whole region and for five separate areas on the coast. Specific features of the formation of daytime and nighttime breeze in these areas are distinguished. It is revealed that the presence of coastal mountains and the complex coastline determine the typical features of breeze development.     

Characteristics of Lake Breezes and Their Impacts on Energy and Carbon Fluxes in Mountainous Areas

In mountainous lake areas, lake–land and mountain–valley breezes interact with each other, leading to an "extended lake breeze". These extended lake breezes can regulate and control energy and carbon cycles at different scales. Based on meteorological and turbulent fluxes data from an eddy covariance observation site at Erhai Lake in the Dali Basin,southwest China, characteristics of daytime and nighttime extended lake breezes and their impacts on energy and carbon dioxide exchange in 2015 are investigated. Lake breezes dominate during the daytime while, due to different prevailing circulations at night, there are two types of nighttime breezes. The mountain breeze from the Cangshan Mountain range leads to N1 type nighttime breeze events. When a cyclonic circulation forms and maintains in the southern part of Erhai Lake at night, its northern branch contributes to the formation of N2 type nighttime breeze events. The prevailing wind directions for daytime, N1, and N2 breeze events are southeast, west, and southeast, respectively. Daytime breeze events are more intense than N1 events and weaker than N2 events. During daytime breeze events, the lake breeze decreases the sensible heat flux(Hs) and carbon dioxide flux(F_{CO_2}) and increases the latent heat flux(LE). During N1 breeze events, the mountain breeze decreases Hs and LE and increases F_{CO_2}. For N2 breeze events, the southeast wind from the lake surface increases Hs and LE and decreases suppress carbon dioxide exchange.     

On the Contrasting Decadal Changes of Diurnal Surface Temperature Range between the Tibetan Plateau and Southeastern China during the 1980s–2000s

The diurnal surface temperature range(DTR) has become significantly smaller over the Tibetan Plateau(TP) but larger in southeastern China, despite the daily mean surface temperature having increased steadily in both areas during recent decades.Based on ERA-Interim reanalysis data covering 1979–2012, this study shows that the weakened DTR over TP is caused by stronger warming of daily minimum surface temperature(Tmin) and a weak cooling of the daily maximum surface temperature(Tmax); meanwhile, the enhanced DTR over southeastern China is mainly associated with a relatively stronger/weaker warming of Tmax/Tmin. A further quantitative analysis of DTR changes through a process-based decomposition method—the Coupled Surface–Atmosphere Climate Feedback Response Analysis Method(CFRAM)—indicates that changes in radiative processes are mainly responsible for the decreased DTR over the TP. In particular, the increased low-level cloud cover tends to induce the radiative cooling/warming during daytime/nighttime, and the increased water vapor helps to decrease the DTR through the stronger radiative warming during nighttime than daytime. Contributions from the changes in all radiative processes(over-2?C) are compensated for by those from the stronger decreased surface sensible heat flux during daytime than during nighttime(approximately 2.5?C), but are co-contributed by the changes in atmospheric dynamics(approximately-0.4?C) and the stronger increased latent heat flux during daytime(approximately-0.8?C). In contrast, the increased DTR over southeastern China is mainly contributed by the changes in cloud, water vapor and atmospheric dynamics. The changes in surface heat fluxes have resulted in a decrease in DTR over southeastern China.     

Temperature projection in a tropical city using remote sensing and dynamic modeling

Recent temperature projections for urban areas have only been able to reflect the expected change due to greenhouse-induced warming, with little attempt to predict urbanisation effects. This research examines temperature changes due to both global warming and urbanisation independently and applies them differentially to urban and rural areas over a sub-tropical city, Hong Kong. The effect of global warming on temperature is estimated by regressing IPCC data from eight Global Climate Models against the background temperature recorded at a rural climate station. Results suggest a mean background temperature increase of 0.67 °C by 2039. To model temperature changes for different degrees of urbanization, long-term temperature records along with a measureable urbanisation parameter, plot ratio surrounding different automatic weather stations (AWS) were used. Models representing daytime and nighttime respectively were developed, and a logarithmic relationship between the rate of temperature change and plot ratio (degree of urbanisation) is observed. Baseline air temperature patterns over Hong Kong for 2009 were derived from two ASTER thermal satellite images, for summer daytime and nighttime respectively. Dynamic raster modeling was employed to project temperatures to 2039 in 10-year intervals on a per-pixel basis according to the degree of urbanization predicted. Daytime and nighttime temperatures in the highly urbanized areas are expected to rise by ca. 2 °C by 2039. Validation by projecting observed temperature trends at AWS, gave low average RMS errors of 0.19 °C for daytime and 0.14 °C for nighttime, and suggests the reliability of the method.     

Changes in Torrential Rain Days in Ningxia Under Climate Warming

 By using the summer torrential rain days data in Ningxia, the Yinchuan sounding data and the NCEP/NCAR reanalyzed data, the evolutional characteristics and the cause of torrential rain days in Ningxia were analyzed under the background of climate warming. The results show that both annual torrential rain days and annual mean temperature displayed consistent increasing trends. Further analysis results indicate that atmospheric potential instability has grown in the daytime in both July and August and in the nighttime in July, but weakened in the nighttime in August after the climate warming of Ningxia. Therefore, the climate warming not only caused more distinctive diurnal variation of the vertical distribution of atmospheric temperatures in Yinchuan, but also resulted in the increase of torrential rain days and in more obvious diurnal variation of the torrential rain in Ningxia.     

Modeling the Warming Impact of Urban Land Expansion on Hot Weather Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model: A Case Study of Beijing,China

The impacts of three periods of urban land expansion during 1990–2010 on near-surface air temperature in summer in Beijing were simulated in this study, and then the interrelation between heat waves and urban warming was assessed. We ran the sensitivity tests using the mesoscale Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with a single urban canopy model,as well as high-resolution land cover data. The warming area expanded approximately at the same scale as the urban land expansion. The average regional warming induced by urban expansion increased but the warming speed declined slightly during 2000–2010. The smallest warming occurred at noon and then increased gradually in the afternoon before peaking at around 2000 LST—the time of sunset. In the daytime, urban warming was primarily caused by the decrease in latent heat flux at the urban surface. Urbanization led to more ground heat flux during the day and then more release at night, which resulted in nocturnal warming. Urban warming at night was higher than that in the day, although the nighttime increment in sensible heat flux was smaller. This was because the shallower planetary boundary layer at night reduced the release efficiency of near-surface heat. The simulated results also suggested that heat waves or high temperature weather enhanced urban warming intensity at night. Heat waves caused more heat to be stored in the surface during the day, greater heat released at night, and thus higher nighttime warming. Our results demonstrate a positive feedback effect between urban warming and heat waves in urban areas.     

北大西洋高纬度海区湍流热通量对全球增暖的响应

大西洋经向翻转环流(the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation,AMOC)由低纬输送大量热量至高纬度北大西洋海区,并通过热通量由海洋输送给大气,主导了附近区域的气候形态,并对北半球尺度的气候变化产生显著影响。本文根据CMIP5多模式多增暖情景的预估模拟结果,通过与增暖前控制试验的对比发现,全球增暖可导致该海区湍流热通量的减小,且减小的幅度随增暖强度增大,模拟结果与观测一致。进一步研究发现,热通量的减小存在季节差异,冬季的减小幅度远大于夏季。结合淡水扰动试验的分析表明,全球增暖下AMOC强度的减弱导致大西洋经向热输送减少,进而导致高纬度北大西洋海洋向大气的热输送减小。     

气候变暖背景下宁夏暴雨日数的变化

By using the summer torrential rain days data in Ningxia,the Yinchuan sounding data and the NCEP/NCAR reaualyzed data,the evolutional characteristics and the cause of torrential rain days in Ningxia were analyzed under the background of climate warming.The results show that both annual torrential rain days and annual mean temperature displayed consistent increasing trends.Further analysis results indicate that atmospheric potential instability has grown in the daytime in both July and August and in the nighttime in July,but weakened in the nighttime in August after the climate warming of Ningxia.Therefore,the climate warming not only caused more distinctive diurnal variation of the vertical distribution of atmospheric temperatures in Yinchuan,but also resulted in the increase of torrential rain days and in more obvious diurnal variation of the torrential rain in Ningxia.     

陆/海风电场群对局地湍流和风切变影响差异初步分析

风电场存在着明显的局地气候效应，但陆/海两种不同类型风电场是否存在局地风环境效应的明显差异？以河北尚义陆地风电场和江苏如东海上风电场为例，利用风电场周边气象站及测风塔典型年份观测资料，开展了陆/海风电场对湍流强度（TI）和风切变指数（WSE）的影响差异初步分析研究。研究结果表明：陆/海风电场对TI和WSE会产生显著影响；其中，陆/海风电场对TI均为增强效应，建设后年均TI分别增加31%和37%，最大增幅分别发生在春季（47%）和冬季（49%）；影响差异主要为陆地风电场TI增幅在高层明显大于低层，夜间大于白天，而海上风电场不同高度TI增幅及日变化则较为平稳；陆/海风电场对WSE影响差异显著，陆地风电场建设后WSE白天增加、夜晚降低，日变化明显减小，年均降低8%，最大降幅发生在秋季（12%）；海上风电场建设后WSE白天、夜晚均明显增加，年均增加24%，最大增幅发生在春季（37%）。     

Urbanization Effect on the Observed Change in Mean Monthly Temperatures between 1951-1980 and 1971-2000 in Korea

Gridded temperature data are necessary to run ecological models at regional scales for climate impact studies and have been generated by spatially interpolating measured values at synoptic stations. Because there are few synoptic stations with long-term records in rural areas in Korea, data from urban stations have been used for this purpose. Due to the overlapping of the rapid urbanization-industrialization period with the global warming era in Korea, climate data from these urbanized areas might be contaminated with urban heat island effect. This study was conducted to differentiate urbanization and regional climate change effects on apparent temperature change. Monthly averages of daily minimum, maximum, and mean temperature at 14 synoptic stations were prepared for 1951-1980 (past normal) and 1971-2000 (current normal) periods, respectively.Differences in two temperature normals were regressed to the logarithm of the population increase at 14 corresponding cities from 1966 to 1985. The regression equations were used to determine potential effects of urbanization and to extract the net contribution of regional climate change to the apparent temperature change. According to the model calculation, urbanization effect was common in all months except April. Up to 0.5° warming of nighttime temperature was induced by urbanization in the current normal period compared with the past normal period. There was little effect of regional climate change on local warming in the warm season (May through November). The cool season was warmed mainly by regionally increased daytime temperature. The results could be used to remove urbanization effects embedded in raw data, helping restore unbiased rural temperature trends in South Korea.     

Summer temperature extremes in northeastern Spain: spatial regionalization and links to atmospheric circulation (1960–2006)

A procedure for classifying daily summer temperature extremes in northeastern Spain into homogenous regions has been presented and evaluated. This procedure employed daily temperature series from a dense network of 128 weather stations spanning the period from 1960 to 2006. Characteristics of temperature extremes included temperature frequency (e.g., warm days), intensity (e.g., warmest day), and duration (e.g., maximum length of hot spell). Following the results of the principal components analysis and Ward's method of clustering, the study area was divided into four homogenous sub-regions in terms of both the geographic and climatic meanings: the Mediterranean region, the mainland and the Cantabrian region, the moderately elevated areas westward and southward, and the mountainous region. Based on an internal cluster validation measure (Silhouette width), the quality of clustering was evaluated and ensured. The temporal evolution of the long-term (1960–2006) temperature extremes clearly showed a different behavior amongst these sub-regions. The Mediterranean and the highly elevated regions revealed the strongest signals in both daytime and nighttime extremes. For mainland areas, considerable differences in the behavior of the daytime and nighttime temperature extremes were evident. The influence of atmospheric circulation on spatial and temporal variability of temperature extremes was also explored. The variability of summer temperature extremes in NE Spain appears to be mainly driven by the Scandinavian (SCA), the Western Mediterranean Oscillation (WeMO), and the East Atlantic (EA) patterns, with a tendency toward increasing during the positive (negative) phases of the EA (WeMO and SCA) circulation modes. In such a region with complex geography and climate, regionalization of summer temperature extremes can be advantageous for extracting finer-scale information, which may prove useful for the vulnerability assessments and the development of local adaptation strategies in areas such as health, ecosystems and agriculture.     

西北干旱区夏季大气边界层结构及其陆面过程特征

在中国西北干旱区影响大气边界层形成和发展的气候环境和大气环流背景都具有一定特殊性.文中用外场观测试验资料,分析了位于西北干旱区的敦煌荒漠夏季大气边界层气象要素结构特征,发现该地区无论白天的对流边界层还是夜间的稳定边界层均比一般地区更深厚.在夏季晴天,夜间稳定边界层厚度超过900 m,最厚可以达到1750 m,其上的残余层一般能达到4000 m左右的高度;白天混合层最高达3700 m,混合层顶的逆温层顶盖的厚度大约450 m,甚至更厚,对流边界层厚度能够超过4000 m,对流边界层进入残余层后发展十分迅速.研究表明,白天深厚的对流边界层是夜间保持清晰而深厚的残余混合层的先决条件,夜间深厚的残余混合层又为白天对流边界层的发展提供了一个非常有利的热力环境条件.该地区经常性出现连续性晴天使得大气残余层的累积效应得以较长时间持续发展,创造了比较有利于大气对流边界层发展的大气热力环境条件.同时,该地区陆面过程和近地层大气运动特征也为这种独特的大气热力边界层结构提供了较好的支持.就该地区发展超厚大气对流边界层的物理机理而言,地表显著增温是强有力的外部热力强迫条件,近地层强感热通量提供了较充足的能量条件,较大的对流运动和湍流运动的速度是必要的运动学条件,大气残余层的累积效应提供了有利的热力环境条件.     

气候变暖背景下中国地面风速变化研究进展

气候变暖背景下,中国地面风速在过去几十年整体呈减弱趋势,对风能资源开发产生了显著影响。近50年来,中国地面风速平均减小速率为0.10~0.22 m·s-1/（10 a）,但存在明显的季节、区域和风速段差异。作为地面风的主要驱动力,对流层低层气压梯度力整体呈减弱趋势,这主要是全球变暖背景下欧亚大陆与西太平洋之间以及欧亚大陆高/低纬度地区之间的热力差异减弱所致。东亚季风的年代际变化特征和地面风速变化密切相关,其变率受到不同时间和空间尺度气候因子的影响,其中西伯利亚高压减弱是东亚冬季风减弱的主要因素,而东亚夏季风的年代际减弱主要是由于太平洋年代际振荡与北大西洋多年代尺度振荡分别向暖/冷相位的转换。研究表明:未来随着温室气体排放量增加,中国地面风速减弱趋势将更显著,这将促进低风速风电技术的发展和中低纬度地区风能开发。     

青藏高原东南缘近地层微气象学特征对比分析

本文利用位于青藏高原东南缘的温江和大理大气边界层野外观测资料,对比分析了两站包括风温湿、辐射、湍流通量等在内的近地层微气象学特征,主要结果如下：（1）两站风速值均随着高度的增加而增大,但温江站冬季4～10 m风速在白天出现随高度减小的现象.温江站冬季以东北风为主,夏季以西北风和南风为主;大理站冬季以东南风为主,其次为西南风,夏季则以东风和东南风为主.两站近地层逆温和逆湿现象都非常显著.（2）同一季节温江站大气逆辐射和地表长波辐射大于大理站,向下短波辐射小于大理站.温江站地表长波辐射总是大于大气逆辐射,而大理站白天地表长波辐射大于大气逆辐射,晚上则相反.（3）温江站感热通量冬季大于大理站,夏季小于大理站,而潜热通量无论冬夏都要小于大理站.两站潜热通量均大于感热通量,并且大理站潜热通量月平均日变化值全天始终大于零.无论冬夏,温江站土壤热通量都要小于大理站,随着深度的增加两站土壤热通量均有位相上的延迟.     

气候变暖背景下宁夏暴雨日数的变化

 根据宁夏夏季暴雨日数资料、银川探空资料和NCEP再分析资料，分析了气候变暖背景下，宁夏暴雨日数的变化规律和成因。结果表明，气候变暖后年暴雨日数明显增多， 6、7月白昼和夜间的暴雨日数增加，8月白昼的暴雨日数增加而夜间的减少。成因分析结果表明，气候变暖后7、8月白天的大气潜在不稳定性增强，夜间的大气潜在不稳定性7月增强而8月减弱，造成了银川上空大气温度垂直结构的日变化明显，导致了宁夏暴雨日数的增多和暴雨的日变化显著。     

The impact of logging on the surrounding flow in a managed forest

The influence of a freshly logged area in a managed pine forest on the flow field is investigated by comparing sodar wind profile data over the forest canopy with the synoptic wind field extracted from North American Regional Reanalysis, National Centers for Environmental Prediction. As a consequence of the pressure gradient arising from the sharp temperature difference between the clearcut and the surrounding uncut forests, the local wind direction over the forest measured with the sodar departs dramatically from the prevailing synoptic wind direction when the latter is transverse to the clearcut-sodar direction. Sodar measurements also indicate systematic strong updrafts during daytime followed by nighttime downdrafts with wind coming from the logged area. This suggests the presence of horizontal advection carrying daytime warm air (or nighttime cool air) from the clearcut to the forested area. This paper also examines the influence of wind velocity, clearcut fetch, and solar radiation on locally generated circulations and advection. The presence of local circulations arising from contrasting neighboring surface characteristics well outside the footprint is of particular relevance for atmospheric flux sites where robust surface?Catmosphere exchange values are sought. This study highlights the high level of circumspection required at the time of identifying locations for flux sites. It also suggests vigilant monitoring of the surrounding landscape during eddy?Cflux measurements particularly in actively managed landscapes.