Air Pollution Transport in an Alpine Valley: Results From Airborne and Ground-Based Observations

An observational dataset from a wintertime field campaign in the Inn Valley, Austria, is analysed in order to study mechanisms of air pollution transport in an Alpine valley. The results illustrate three types of mechanisms: transport by a density current, back-and-forth transport by valley winds, and transport by slope winds. The first type is associated with an air mass difference along the valley. Cooler air located in the lower part of the valley behaves like a density current and produces the advection of pollutants by upvalley winds. In the second type, strong horizontal gradients in pollution concentrations exist close to ground. Multiple wind reversals result in a back-and-forth transport of pollutants by weak valley winds. In the third type, upslope winds during daytime decrease low-level pollution concentrations and cause the formation of elevated pollution layers.     

Observational Study of Surface Wind along a Sloping Surface over Mountainous Terrain during Winter

The 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Pyeongchang, Korea, during February and March. We examined the near surface winds and wind gusts along the sloping surface at two outdoor venues in Pyeongchang during February and March using surface wind data. The outdoor venues are located in a complex, mountainous terrain, and hence the near-surface winds form intricate patterns due to the interplay between large-scale and locally forced winds. During February and March, the dominant wind at the ridge level is westerly; however, a significant wind direction change is observed along the sloping surface at the venues. The winds on the sloping surface are also influenced by thermal forcing,showing increased upslope flow during daytime. When neutral air flows over the hill, the windward and leeward flows show a significantly different behavior. A higher correlation of the wind speed between upper-and lower-level stations is shown in the windward region compared with the leeward region. The strong synoptic wind, small width of the ridge, and steep leeward ridge slope angle provide favorable conditions for flow separation at the leeward foot of the ridge. The gust factor increases with decreasing surface elevation and is larger during daytime than nighttime. A significantly large gust factor is also observed in the leeward region.     

Temperature And Wind Velocity Oscillations Along a Gentle Slope During Sea-Breeze Events

The flow structure on a gentle slope at Vallon dOl in the northern suburbs of Marseille in southern France has been documented by means of surface wind and temperature measurements collected from 7 June to 14 July 2001 during the ESCOMPTE experiment. The analysis of the time series reveals temperature and wind speed oscillations during several nights (about 60--90 min oscillation period) and several days (about 120–180 min oscillation period) during the whole observing period. Oscillating katabatic winds have been reported in the literature from theoretical, experimental and numerical studies. In the present study, the dynamics of the observed oscillating katabatic winds are in good agreement with the theory.In contrast to katabatic winds, no daytime observations of oscillating anabatic upslope flows have ever been published to our knowledge, probably because of temperature inversion break-up that inhibits upslope winds. The present paper shows that cold air advection by a sea breeze generates a mesoscale horizontal temperature gradient, and hence baroclinicity in the atmosphere, which then allows low-frequency oscillations, similar to a katabatic flow. An expression for the oscillation period is derived that accounts for the contribution of the sea-breeze induced mesoscale horizontal temperature gradient. The theoretical prediction of the oscillation period is compared to the measurements, and good agreement is found. The statistical analysis of the wind flow at Vallon dOl shows a dominant north-easterly to easterly flow pattern for nighttime oscillations and a dominant south-westerly flow pattern for daytime oscillations. These results are consistent with published numerical simulation results that show that the air drains off the mountain along the maximum slope direction, which in the studied case is oriented south-west to north-east.     

Observation and modeling of thermally induced upslope flow

Thermally induced upslope flows were observed on several slopes and in valleys, and a simple one-layer model of upslope flow was developed. In this model, the thickness and speed of upslope flow are expressed in terms of sensible heat flux from the slope surface, drag coefficient of the slope surface, slope steepness and stability of the ambient atmosphere. Model results compare favorably with the observations.The development process in the upslope direction of a steady upslope flow was investigated with this model. A steadily developing state in the upslope direction is expressed by the dimensionless equations together with a unique parameter associated with momentum advection. The vertical distance of the slope required for well-developed upslope flow has a minimum value for a moderate slope steepness, but increases monotonously with decreasing ambient stability. The effect of unsteadiness on upslope flow was also investigated. The transient time required to reach a steady state becomes shorter with increasing ambient stability and slope steepness.     

太行山东麓一次强对流降雹过程中的地形强迫

利用WRF模式对2011年5月26日发生在太行山东麓的一次强对流降雹过程进行数值模拟,探讨了太行山及周边地形在本次强对流过程的作用。结果表明,控制华北平原的偏东暖湿气流受太行山阻挡并与切变线东南侧的西南暖湿气流汇合,在太行山东侧形成水汽高值区。太行山东坡下垫面向上热通量明显高于华北平原,午后850hPa高度山坡与平原的假相当位温梯度达到0.2 K·km~(-1),850~600 hPa假相当位温垂直梯度达4 K·km~(-1),对应上坡风的垂直速度大于1 m·s~(-1),热力环流为太行山东麓对流的发生提供了动力条件。太行山东侧暖湿气层之上为偏西干冷气流,由此形成的强热力不稳定与水汽高值区、上坡风共同造成太行山东麓强对流过程的发生。局地小尺度地形抬升与重力波共同促使太原盆地有对流单体生成,该单体移经太行山西侧迎风坡受阻挡抬升而增强,越过山顶后与维持在太行山东侧的对流单体发生合并,从而导致对流云的强烈发展。     

Influence of non-flat terrain and wind direction shear on canopy turbulence

We have analyzed eddy covariance data collected within open canopy to investigate the influence of non-flat terrain and wind direction shear on the canopy turbulence. The study site is located on non-flat terrain with slopes in both south-north and east-west directions. The surface elevation change is smaller than the height of roughness element such as building and tree at this site. A variety of turbulent statistics were examined as a function of wind direction in near-neutral conditions. Heterogeneous surface characteristics results in significant differences in measured turbulent statistics. Upwind trees on the flat and up-sloping terrains yield typical features of canopy turbulence while upwind elevated surface with trees yields significant wind direction shear, reduced u and w skewness, and negligible correlation between u and w. The directional dependence of turbulence statistics is due that strong wind blows more horizontally rather than following terrain, and hence combination of slope related momentum flux and canopy eddy motion decreases the magnitude of Sk _w and r _uw for the downslope flow while it enhances them for the upslope flow. Significant v skewness to the west indicates intermittent downdraft of northerly wind, possibly due to lateral shear of wind in the presence of significant wind direction shear. The effects of wind direction shear on turbulent statistics were also examined. The results showed that correlation coefficient between lateral velocities and vertical velocity show significant dependence on wind direction shear through change of lateral wind shear. Quadrant analysis shows increased outward interaction and reduced role of sweep motion for longitudinal momentum flux for the downslope flow. Multi-resolution analysis indicates that uw correlation shows peak at larger averaging time for the upslope flow than for the downslope flow, indicating that large eddy plays an active role in momentum transfer for the upslope flow. On the other hand, downslope flow shows larger velocity variances than other flows despite similar wind speed. These results suggest that non-flatness of terrain significantly influences on canopy-atmosphere exchange.     

Spectral Structure of Small-Scale Turbulent and Mesoscale Fluxes in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer over a Thermally Inhomogeneous Land Surface

Spectral analysis was performed on aircraft observations of a convective boundary layer (CBL) that developed over a thermally inhomogeneous, well-marked mesoscale land surface. The observations, part of the GAME-Siberia experiment, were recorded between April and June 2000 over the Lena River near Yakutsk City. A special integral parameter termed the ‘reduced depth of the CBL’ was used to scale the height of the mixed layer with variable depth. Analysis of wavelet cospectra and spectra facilitated the separation of fluxes and other variables into small-scale turbulent fluctuations (with scales less than the reduced depth of the CBL, approximately 2 km) and mesoscale fluctuations (up to 20 km). This separation approach allows for independent exploration of the scales. Analyses showed that vertical distributions obeyed different laws for small-scale fluxes and mesoscale fluxes (of sensible heat, water vapour, momentum and carbon dioxide) and for other variables (wind speed and air temperature fluctuations, coherence and degree of anisotropy). Vertical profiles of small-scale turbulent fluxes showed a strong decay that differed from generally accepted similarity models for the CBL. Vertical profiles of mesoscale fluxes and other variables clearly showed sharp inflections at the same relative (with respect to the reduced depth of the CBL) height of approximately 0.55 in the CBL. Conventional similarity models for sensible heat fluxes describe both small-scale turbulent and mesoscale flows. The present results suggest that mesoscale motions that reach up to the relative level of 0.55 could be initiated by thermal surface heterogeneity. Entrainment between the upper part of the CBL and the free atmosphere may cause mesoscale motions in that region of the CBL.     

Model Simulations of the Boundary-Layer Evolution over an Arid Andes Valley

The boundary layer of the Elqui valley in the arid north of Chile exhibits several interesting phenomena, such as a very shallow convective boundary layer (CBL) during the day. In the morning, warming is observed in and above the CBL, while the humidity decreases in the CBL. At midday, in and above the CBL of the valley, the temperature stagnates. In the afternoon in the CBL the temperature decreases and humidity increases, although the latent heat flux is very low. Because the characteristic features of the valley atmosphere are hard to interpret from observations alone, model simulations were applied. The simulations indicate that all components of the budget equations, i.e. the turbulent flux divergences, advection via the sea breeze, the upvalley and upslope wind systems, as well as subsidence, contribute to the evolution of the valley atmosphere.     

Relation of slope winds to the ambient flow over gentle terrain

Four years of continuous tower data collected at the Risø National Laboratory are analyzed to study the climatological influence of a gentle slope on surface winds. Under very stable nocturnal conditions, the surface air tends to flow down the slope, at least intermittently, regardless of the direction of the overlying ambient wind. With more significant upslope ambient wind and only modest stability, downslope gravity flow is normally prevented. However, the slope-buoyancy effect is still of importance in that it retards the upslope flow of cold air. This effect is of climatic importance for the data studied here.     

Two-dimensional field of thermal turbulence at the edge of an escarpment

Acoustic sounder measurements of the temperature structure parameter were obtained at the edge of an escarpment which is part of a ridge of mountains. These measurements indicate that in mountainous terrain, the daytime two-dimensional field of thermal turbulence is strongly affected by relative sun-slope orientation and wind direction out to ranges of at least 200–300 m. For the geometry of this site, westerly flow results in a field which tends to decrease rapidly to the west in the morning with a much less rapid decrease in the afternoon. At night, easterly flow results in significantly higher thermal turbulence compared to that obtained during westerly flow.These measurements show an increase in thermal turbulence at horizontal ranges of 100–200 m to the west of the escarpment during early afternoon on days with deep mixed layers. It is conjectured that this is due to the mountain upslope wind.     

A Comparison Of Aerosol-Layer And Convective Boundary-Layer Structure Over A Mountain Range During Staaarte '97

The temporal evolution and spatial structure of the aerosol layer (AL) height as observed with an airborne downlooking lidar over the Swiss Alps were investigated with a three-dimensional mesoscale numerical model and a particle dispersion model. Convective boundary-layer (CBL) heights were derived from the mesoscale model output, and the behaviour of surface-released particles was investigated with the particle dispersion model. While a previous investigation, using data from the same field study, equated the observed AL height with the CBL height, the results of the current investigation indicate that there is a considerable difference between AL and CBL heights caused by mixing and transport processes between the CBL and the free atmosphere. CBL heights show a more terrain-following behaviour and are lower than AL heights. We argue that processes causing the difference between AL and CBL heights are common over mountainous terrain and that the AL height is a length scale that needs to be considered in air pollution studies in mountainous terrain.     

A study of the diurnal behavior of boundary-layer winds at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory

Diurnal wind variations are examined at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory which is located 25 km east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Data were obtained from a 300-m tower which was instrumented at eight levels and operated almost continuously for three weeks during September 1978. Observations on clear days, for which the diurnal heating and cooling of the local terrain slopes can be expected to affect the winds, show that daytime winds tend to be easterly (upslope) throughout the 300-m depth. At night, a temperature inversion typically develops to about 100 m. Below this level, the nocturnal flow tends to be downslope; above the inversion, a distinctly different regime of flow develops. A diurnal wind oscillation, characterized by strong southerly flow beginning near sunset and ending near midnight, occurred in the upper layer on 25% of the days during the study period. Rapid clockwise rotation of the wind vector occurred during the period of increased wind speed. This oscillation occurred only on days when the synoptic-scale geostrophic wind was southerly. It is suggested that this non-steady state behavior is an inertial oscillation affected by the diurnally varying temperature gradients and local topography.     

Parameterizations of the daytime friction velocity,temperature scale,and upslope flow over gently inclined terrain in calm synoptic conditions

A set of new parameterizations for the friction velocity and temperature scale over gently sloped terrain and in calm synoptic conditions are theoretically derived. The friction velocity is found to be proportional to the product of the square root of the total accumulated heating in the boundary layer and the sinusoidal function of the slope angle, while the temperature scale is proportional to the product of the boundary layer depth, the sinusoidal function of the slope angle and the potential temperature gradient in the free atmosphere. Using the new friction velocity parameterization, together with a parameterization of eddy diffusivity and an initial potential temperature profile around sunrise, an improved parameterization for the thermally induced upslope flow profile is derived by solving the Prandtl equations. The upslope flow profile is found to be simply proportional to the friction velocity.     

Evening and Morning Transition of Katabatic Flows

An experimental investigation of the evening and morning transition phases of katabatic slope flows has been conducted to identify the mechanisms for their development and destruction over an isolated slope. The momentum and energy equations of the flow have been used to describe these mechanisms for the particular topographic features of the studied slope, and to outline the differences from the dynamics of well-developed simple slope flows. In the lowest portion of the slope, frontal characteristics have been identified in early evening periods when the local pre-existing near-surface thermal structure does not impose a katabatic acceleration. The frontal shape is determined by the near-surface thermal stability and ambient wind. The flow initiation is distinctly different when it is linked to the local surface cooling, in which case it develops gradually and produces a slight local warming.The erosion of the katabatic layer at mid-slope precedes that at the foot and is closely linked to dilution of the local surface inversion. The flow erosion at the foot is often delayed, as the warming of air proceeds uniformly at all heights near the ground, so maintaining the inversion due to warming produced by mixing and advective processes linked to the upslope flow development. The latter initiates first at mid-slope and then at the foot, where for a non-negligible time period it flows over the persistent katabatic flow. The prerequisite for the development of this structure is the maintenance of a shallow inversion in the first 2–3 m above the ground surface.The morning dilution of the katabatic flow is apparently different from common experience over simple slopes and may be attributed to the steep upper portion of the slope in association with its easterly orientation, which results in strong non-uniformity of the solar heating along the slope.     

Boundary layer evolution over a large and broad mountain basin

Summary In this study observations of the vertical structure of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL), recorded at a broad mountainous valley are presented. The vertical profiles of temperature, wind speed and direction up to a height of about 800 meters over the valley bottom have been measured and the temporal evolution of ABL structure of the area has been studied. Specifically, the mechanism of nocturnal inversion destruction during morning hours has been studied, which is of major importance in the study of the dispersion of air pollutants over the area. These observations suggest that the break up of nocturnal inversion during morning hours is mainly caused by a combined mechanism, the build up of the Convective Boundary Layer (CBL) and the presence of upslope winds, resulting to a continuous descent of the top of the nocturnal inversion.With 5 Figures     

Numerical modeling of pollutant transport and chemistry during a high‐ozone event in northern Taiwan

An air pollution prediction model system (APOPS) is developed and applied to northern Taiwan with complex terrain and local thermal circulations. It consists of a nonhydrostatic mesoscale meteoro‐logical model system (MMPMS) and a gas/aerosol transport and air quality model (GATAM). The basic processes relevant to modeling the urban air pollution problems such as meteorology, dispersion, chemistry and deposition are solved at the same time on practically the same grid. The APOPS was tested on a high‐ozone event in northern Taiwan on 16 November 1998. Comparison with observed surface winds shows able to predict local flow patterns such as sea/land breezes and mountain‐valley wind in this high air pollution episode. The predicted surface concentrations of ozone and other pollutants are compared with measured values, and a fairly good agreement with the mean normalized biases of −6%, −11%, for one‐day simulation and for daytime, respectively, is obtained for ozone. Thus, it is confirmed that the APOPS can be utilized to predict urban air quality in complex terrain area.     

A Study of the Relationship between Air Pollutants and Inversion in the ABL over the City of Lanzhou

By analyzing the pollutant concentrations over the urban area and over the rural area of the city of Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China, the relationships between the daytime inversion intensity and the pollutant concentration in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) are studied with the consideration of wind speed and direction, potential temperature, specific humidity profiles, pollutant concentration in the ABL, the surface temperature, and global radiation on the ground. It was shown that the daytime inversion is a key factor in controlling air pollution concentration. A clear and positive feedback process between the daytime inversion intensity and the air pollutants over the city was found through the analysis of influences of climatic and environmental factors. The mechanisms by which the terrain and air pollutants affect the formation of the daytime inversion are discussed. The solar radiation as the essential energy source to maintain the inversion is analyzed, as are various out-forcing factors affecting the inversion and air pollutants. At last, a physical frame of relationships of air pollution with daytime inversion and the local and out-forcing factors over Lanzhou is built.     

Daytime Turbulence Statistics above a Steep Forested Slope

Six levels of simultaneously sampled ultrasonic data are used to analyse the turbulence structure within a mixed forest of 13 m height on a steep slope (35°) in an alpine valley. The data set is compared to other studies carried out over forests in more ideal, flat terrain. The analysis is carried out for 30-min mean data, joint probability distributions, length scales and spectral characteristics.Thermally induced upslope winds and cold air drainage lead to a wind speed maximum within the trunk space. Slope winds are superimposed on valley winds and the valley-wind component becomes stronger with increasing height. Slope and valley winds are thus interacting on different spatial and time scales leading to a quite complex pattern in momentum transport that differs significantly from surface-layer characteristics. Directional shear causes lateral momentum transports that are in the same order or even larger than the longitudinal ones. In the canopy, however, a sharp attenuation of turbulence is observed. Skewed distributions of velocity components indicate that intermittent turbulent transport plays an important role in the energy distribution.Even though large-scale pressure fields lead to characteristic features in the turbulent structure that are superimposed on the canopy flow, it is found that many statistical properties typical of both mixing layers and canopy flow are observed in the data set.     

2017年冬季长沙一次重度霾污染天气过程气象成因分析

利用空气质量监测资料、常规气象资料,根据气象条件的水平和垂直扩散能力,以及地面湿度和动力条件等分析了2017年1月27—29日长沙地区这次严重空气污染事件的污染特征。结果表明:污染发生时段,南支槽不断加深东移,槽前势力强盛的西南气流将孟加拉湾一带的水汽向长沙地区输送,进一步增加了该地区的空气湿度。同时,持续东移的脊前暖平流对长沙中低层大气增温有显著影响,为稳定的大气层结创造了有利条件。长沙处于弱高压的底后部,受大范围的弱鞍型场及均压场控制,地面有暖倒槽发展,且由于高压较弱,导致地面和低空的风速较小,不利于污染物的水平扩散,同时有利于夜间地面的辐射降温。稳定的大气环流形势为霾天气和严重污染提供了持续稳定的大气环境场,逆温结构和稳定温度层结在一定程度上减弱了大气在垂直方向上的湍流交换和热力对流,大气中的污染颗粒不易扩散,为此次污染事件的维持、加剧提供了重要的气象条件。长沙地区处在罗霄山脉和雪峰山脉之间的湘江故地,受周边地形阻挡的影响,污染物在下沉气流的控制下聚集到长沙地区后,很难通过水平输送离开,这也是造成此次霾污染的原因之一。     

Laboratory and Numerical Studies of the Convective Boundary Layer Capped by a Strong Inversion

The convective boundary layer (CBL) with a wide range of stability is simulated experimentally using a thermally stratified wind tunnel, and numerically by direct numerical simulation (DNS). The turbulence structures and flow characteristics of various CBL flows, capped by a strong temperature inversion and affected by surface shear, are investigated. The various vertical profiles of turbulence statistics similar to those from the observed CBL in the field are successfully simulated in both the wind-tunnel experiment and in DNS. The comparison of the wind-tunnel data and DNS results with those of atmospheric observations and water-tank studies shows the crucial dependence of the turbulence statistics in the upper part of the layer on the strength of the inversion layer, as well as the modification of the CBL turbulence regime by the surface shear.