Synoptic and local scale atmospheric circulation associated with air pollution episodes in an urban Mediterranean area

Air pollution episodes in urban coastal areas follow certain pre-determined patterns, being associated with certain local meteorological conditions and emission of primary pollutants. In this study, the synoptic and local scale atmospheric circulation that prevails during air pollution episodes in a coastal major city in Greece, Thessaloniki, is examined for a period of 15 years (1989–2004). The study signifies the importance of studying air pollution meteorological patterns between coastal areas with different terrain characteristics. For Thessaloniki, it was found that the episodes occur mainly during the cold period of the year, while four types of synoptic scale circulation were recognized (I, II, III, IV) and five patterns of the local scale circulation (A1, A2, B1, B2 and B3). The highest percentage of episodes is associated with the presence of an anticyclone over the northern Greece (types I and IV), being characterized by weak or very weak surface pressure gradient intensity, according to the position and extension of the anticyclone. Moreover, a temperature increase of at least 1°C during the previous 3 days is required in the lower troposphere. Consistent with the synoptic conditions, the development of the sea breeze plays a crucial role in the occurrence of the episodes, even in the cold period of the year, when the sea breeze can still develop with smaller frequency and intensity. Finally, it was found that a small number of episodes is related with the advection of polluted air masses from the industrial area in the northwest of the city and from the Eordaia area in the west, which is the largest lignite producing area of Balkans.     

The atmospheric general circulation: Some unresolved issues

Several questions concerning the general circulation for which satisfactory answers are not yet available are discussed. The focus is on the zonal mean heat balance, since problems in our understanding of this balance are a fundamental limitation on our ability to model climate and climate change. The questions are: How strong is the atmosphere's poleward heat transport? What are the relative roles of large-scale eddies and small-scale convection in stabilizing the mid-latitude atmosphere? What are the dynamical mechanisms that maintain the time mean zonal mean state in mid-latitudes? Some suggestions for addressing these questions are given.     

Surface weather observations of atmospheric dust over the southwest summer monsoon region

Summary Surface weather observations are analyzed to investigate the temporal and spatial distributions of dust loading associated with the southwest Indian summer monsoon region. The 1979 annual distribution of dust days for the region 10°N-37°N and 35°E-90°E are presented. Five year composites of dust loading for the months May, June and July are derived. Results are analyzed with respect to preferred wind direction and wind speed associated with dust loading, potential source regions and regions of deposition. A case study of the meteorological conditions of a dust outbreak that occurred over the Arabian Peninsula in June of 1979 is given. Rawinsonde temperature observations are analyzed to locate the top of the dust layer over the Rub al Khali desert. The top of the dust layer was found to vary from 400 mb during the summer to 600 mb in the late spring and early fall.With 9 Figures     

2009年石家庄地区大气气溶胶的飞机探测研究

利用2009年石家庄地区不同季节的3次机载粒子探测系统PMS(Particle Measurement System)的探测资料,结合地面天气形势、风场和探空资料对石家庄地区,晴空背景下大气气溶胶的统计特征、数浓度、平均粒径的垂直分布特征以及谱分布特征进行了分析。结果表明:晴天条件下气溶胶的数浓度随高度递减,粒径随高度变化不大;在数值上,4月16日气溶胶数浓度和粒径最大,其次是10月15日,最小的是6月10日,3次粒径变化幅度都不大;逆温层底层气溶胶明显积累,气溶胶浓度在1.5 km以下大气边界层内明显高于其他层次,逆温层的高度和厚度影响气溶胶的分布;3次不同季节晴天背景下石家庄地区气溶胶谱型基本一致呈单峰分布,小于0.3μm的细粒子对气溶胶的数浓度贡献最大。     

Influence of atmospheric circulation patterns on local cloud and solar variability in Bergen,Norway

In a previous paper, we have shown that long-term cloud and solar observations (1965–2013) in Bergen, Norway (60.39°N, 5.33°E) are compatible with a largely cloud dominated radiative climate. Here, we explicitly address the relationship between the large scale circulation over Europe and local conditions in Bergen, identifying specific circulation shifts that have contributed to the observed cloud and solar variations. As a measure of synoptic weather patterns, we use the Grosswetterlagen (GWL), a daily classification of European weather for 1881–2013. Empirical models of cloud cover, cloud base, relative sunshine duration, and normalised global irradiance are constructed based on the GWL frequencies, extending the observational time series by more than 70 years. The GWL models successfully reproduce the observed increase in cloud cover and decrease in solar irradiance during the 1970s and 1980s. This cloud-induced dimming is traced to an increasing frequency of cyclonic and decreasing frequency of anticyclonic weather patterns over northern Europe. The changing circulation patterns in winter can be understood as a shift from the negative to the positive phase of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oscillation. A recent period of increasing solar irradiance is observed but not reproduce by the GWL models, suggesting this brightening is associated with factors other than large scale atmospheric circulation, possibly decreasing aerosol loads and local cloud shifts.     

大气环流形态的分支现象

本文用二层准地转截断谱模式,研究了大气环流形态的分支现象.结果指出:依赖于热力强迫的不同取值,模式大气将显示出等温静止或Hadley环流两类定常流型,Hadley流型并具有基本解的属性.在热力强迫达到Hadley流型的分支点以前,Hadley流型是稳定的;到达分支点后,Hadley流型不稳定,激发出新的流型,显现出分支现象.绝热无地形时,分支出瞬变斜压波;绝热有地形时,在不同的分支点分别激发出地形驻波与地形瞬变波;非绝热时,分支出非绝热驻波或非绝热驻波与瞬变斜压波的混合波型,非绝热驻波失稳激发出二级分支,     

Summertime atmospheric circulation in the vicinity of a blue ice area in Queen Maud Land,Antarctica

The surface wind field is an important factor controlling the surface mass balance of Antarctica. This paper focuses on the observed atmospheric circulation during summer of an Antarctic blue ice area in Queen Maud Land. Blue ice areas are characterised by a negative surface mass balance and henceforth provide an interesting location to study the influence of meteorological processes on large local mass balance gradients. During lapse conditions, synoptic forcing determines the surface-layer flow. No significant horizontal temperature gradient with coastal stations could be detected along isobaric surfaces, indicating weak or absent thermal wind. Observations performed at the coastal stations Halley and Georg von Neumayer show the pronounced effects of synoptic forcing. The surface winds in the valley of the blue ice area could be divided into two distinct flow patterns, occurring with about equal frequency during the experiment. Flow type I is associated with cyclonic activity at the coast, resulting in strong easterly winds, precipitation and drifting snow. Flow characteristics inside and outside of the valley are similar during these conditions. Flow type II occurs when a high pressure system develops in the Weddell Sea, weakening the free atmosphere geostrophic winds. A local circulation is able to develop inside the valley of the blue ice area during these tranquil conditions. The transition from flow type II to flow type I is associated with front-like phenomena inside the valley. Some simple theoretical considerations show that surface-layer stability and the upper air geostrophic wind determine the surface flow direction in the valley. Finally, the influence of the observed circulation on the energy and mass balance of the blue ice area is discussed.     

A comparative study of the observations of high clouds and simulations by an atmospheric general circulation model

The importance of clouds in the upper troposphere (cirrus) for the sensitivity of the Earth's climate e.g., requires that these clouds be modeled accurately in general circulation model (GCM) studies of the atmosphere. Bearing in mind the lack of unambiguous quantitative information on the geographical distribution and properties of high clouds, the simulated distribution of upper tropospheric clouds in a spectral GCM is compared with several satellite-derived data-sets that pertain to high clouds only, for both winter and summer seasons. In the model, clouds are assumed to occupy an entire gridbox whenever the relative humidity exceeds 99%: otherwise the grid box is assumed to be free of cloud. Despite the simplicity of the cloud prediction scheme, the geographical distribution of the maxima in the model's upper tropospheric cloud cover coincides approximately with the regions of the observed maxima in the high cloud amount and their frequency of occurrence (e.g., intertropical convergence zone and the monsoon areas). These areas exhibit a minimum in the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR; Nimbus-7) and are also coincident with regions of heavy precipitation. The model, with its relatively simple cloud formation scheme, appears to capture the principal large-scale features of the tropical convective processes that are evident in the satellite and precipitation datasets, wherein the intense, upward motion is accompanied by condensation and the spreading of thick upper tropospheric layers of high relative humidity and cloudiness in the vicinity of the tropical rainbelt regions.This paper was presented at the International Conference on Modelling of Global Climate Change and Variability, held in Hamburg 11–15 September 1989 under the auspices of the Meteorological Institute of the University of Hamburg and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. Guest Editor for these papers is Dr. L. Dümenil     

The impact of land cover change on the atmospheric circulation

 The NCAR Community Climate Model (version 3), coupled to the Biosphere Atmosphere Transfer scheme and a mixed layer ocean model is used to investigate the impact on the climate of a conservative change from natural to present land cover. Natural vegetation cover was obtained from an ecophysiologically constrained biome model. The current vegetation cover was obtained by perturbing the natural cover from forest to grass over areas where land cover has been observed to change. Simulations were performed for 17 years for each case (results from the last 15 years are presented here). We find that land cover changes, largely constrained to the tropics, SE Asia, North America and Europe, cause statistically significant changes in regional temperature and precipitation but cause no impact on the globally averaged temperature or precipitation. The perturbation in land cover in the tropics and SE Asia teleconnect to higher latitudes by changing the position and strength of key elements of the general circulation (the Hadley and Walker circulations). Many of the areas where statistically significant changes occur are remote from the location of land cover change. Historical land cover change is not typically included in transitory climate simulations, and it may be that the simulation of the patterns of temperature change over the twentieth century by climate models will be further improved by taking it into account. Received: 27 May 1999 / Accepted: July 2000     

Surface atmospheric circulation patterns and associated minimum temperatures in the Maipo and Casablanca valleys, central Chile

This paper analyzes the influence of circulation anomalies on the magnitude of minimum air temperature (T _min) at a daily scale in two important agricultural valleys of Chile (Maipo and Casablanca) during the period 2001–2007. A statistical classification of synoptic fields was performed, resulting in eight circulation patterns (CPs, 84 % of explained variance). The corresponding anomalies of T _min (AT_min) of each CP were analyzed in order to understand their synoptic-scale forcing mechanisms. Results showed a direct association between AT_min and the synoptic structure. The average weakening in sea level pressure (SLP) yields positive AT_min, while negative AT_min is associated with a strengthening in SLP. In the latter case, it was also found that a synoptic structure (10.2 % of frequency) corresponding to a migratory high-pressure system passing eastward across the Andes led to the lowest AT_min and a higher probability of frost in both valleys (22 % on average) in winter and springtime.     

A statistical model to downscale local daily temperature extremes from synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation patterns in the Australian region

 The study seeks to describe one method of deriving information about local daily temperature extremes from larger scale atmospheric flow patterns using statistical tools. This is considered to be one step towards downscaling coarsely gridded climate data from global climate models (GCMs) to finer spatial scales. Downscaling is necessary in order to bridge the spatial mismatch between GCMs and climate impact models which need information on spatial scales that the GCMs cannot provide. The method of statistical downscaling is based on physical interaction between atmospheric processes with different spatial scales, in this case between synoptic scale mean sea level pressure (MSLP) fields and local temperature extremes at several stations in southeast Australia. In this study it was found that most of the day-to-day spatial variability of the synoptic circulation over the Australian region can be captured by six principal components. Using the scores of these PCs as multivariate indicators of the circulation a substantial part of the local daily temperature variability could be explained. The inclusion of temperature persistence noticeably improved the performance of the statistical model. The model established and tested with observations is thought to be finally applied to GCM-simulated pressure fields in order to estimate pressure-related changes in local temperature extremes under altered CO₂ conditions. Received: 26 March 1996 / Accepted: 20 September 1996     

East Atlantic oscillation of the atmospheric circulation

For the period 1950–2007, the comparison is made between the indices of the East Atlantic and North Atlantic oscillations and between the features of the atmospheric circulation and temperature regime of the Atlantic-European region connected with various combinations of indices. The analysis is made for the factors which have caused long difference in indices in 1996–2007 and for possible causes of anomalously warm winter in Europe in 2006–2007.     

南海北部冷涌及其环流特征

利用中国南部沿海风向、地面气温及南海北部风速的变化确定南海北部冷涌的判别标准,构建了一个冷涌发生频率指数,对南海北部冷涌的年际变化特征及其环流异常进行讨论。结果表明,南海北部冷涌频率指数能够更加全面地描述冷涌系统的特征,与全国范围的冷空气爆发关系密切。南海北部冷涌与中高纬、中低纬环流具有密切的联系,是二者共同作用的结果。当贝加尔湖以西高压脊偏强,中高纬环流经向度加大,西太平洋副热带高压强度偏弱、位置偏东时,有利于大陆上冷空气南下入海,在南海北部形成冷涌。冷涌发生时,经向Hadley环流加强,调整中纬与低纬地区的大气质量,高层向北输送的大气在科氏力作用下导致东亚副热带西风急流加强,有利于冷涌的维持和加强。     

Effects of atmospheric circulation and boundary layer structure on the dispersion of suspended particulates in the Seoul metropolitan area

Summary A three-dimensional non-hydrostatic numerical model and lagrangian particle model (random walk model) were used to investigate the effects of the atmospheric circulation and boundary layer structure on the dispersion of suspended particulates in the Seoul metropolitan area. Initially, emitted particulate matter rises from the surface of the city towards the top of the convective boundary layer (CBL), owing to daytime thermal heating of the surface and the combined effect of an onshore wind with a westerly synoptic-scale wind. A reinforcing sea-valley breeze directed from the coast toward the city of Seoul, which is enclosed in a basin and bordered by mountains to its east, disperses the suspended particulate matter toward the eastern mountains. Total suspended particulate concentration (TSP) at ground level in the city is very low and relatively high in the mountains. Radiative cooling of the surface produces a shallow nocturnal surface inversion layer (NSIL) and the suspended particulate matter still present near the top of the CBL from the previous day, sinks to the surface. An easterly downslope mountain wind is directed into the metropolitan area, transporting particulate matter towards the city, thereby recycling the pollutants. The particulates descending from the top of the NSIL and mountains, combine with particulates emitted near the surface over the city at night, and under the shallow NSIL spread out, resulting in a maximum ground level concentration of TSP in the metropolitan area at 2300 LST. As those particles move toward the Yellow Sea through the topographically shaped outlet west of Seoul city under the influence of the easterly land breeze, the maximum TSP concentration occurs at the coastal site. During the following morning, onshore winds resulting from a combined synoptic-scale westerly wind and westerly sea breeze, force particulates dispersed the previous night to move over the adjacent sea and back over the inland metropolitan area. The recycled particulates combine with the particulates emitted from the surface in the central part of the metropolitan area, producing a high TSP and again rise towards the top of the CBL ready to repeat the cycle.