山东半岛南部一次沿海强降雨成因分析

利用常规气象观测资料、区域自动站观测资料、NCEP/NCAR 1°×1°再分析资料和雷达探测等资料,对2012年9月21日山东半岛南部沿海强降雨过程的成因进行了天气学诊断分析,结果表明:1强降雨是在500hPa第1个西风槽过后第2个西风槽逼近的过程中产生的,850hPa以下为偏南的向岸风,且风速随时间增大,形成偏南的超低空急流,持续地向沿海输送水汽和能量,造成水汽辐合、湿度增大、对流有效位能升高。产生强降雨的水汽和不稳定能量条件远小于内陆地区。2在向岸的超低空急流的左侧产生中小尺度的涡旋和辐合上升,海岸地形抬升作用使得上升运动加强,触发对流不稳定能量释放,造成强降水。3在雷达回波中,小尺度的对流单体沿海岸线向西南方向发展,后期在日照附近的沿海形成弓状回波,向东南海区移动。     

闪电和固、液态降水关系差异的数值模拟

为了进一步认识闪电和固、液态降水的关系,本文利用三维雷暴云动力-电耦合数值模式,通过设置敏感性试验组,模拟了一次雷暴过程,分析雷暴中闪电和降水的特征,以及闪电和固、液态降水对垂直风速的依赖关系,探讨闪电与固、液态降水的时空分布关系和单次闪电表征的降水量(RPF:rainyields per flash)。结果表明:对流云降水中,液态降水占主要部分,但固态降水比液态降水对于垂直风速的依赖性更强。随着对流的增强,固态降水在总降水中占的比重越来越大。首次放电时间不断提前,闪电峰值落后垂直风速峰值,总闪数一开始随对流的增强而增加,对流一旦增强到一定程度,总闪数则逐渐减小。固态降水和液态降水的开始时间和峰值时间均随着对流的增强而不断提前,而液态降水出现时间和峰值时间均提前于固态降水。雷暴云首次放电的时间滞后于液态降水,而闪电峰值提前固态降水峰值或与固态降水峰值同时产生。雷暴云中的放电活动集中在强降水区域前缘的较弱降水区,强降水区对应的闪电较少,对流的增强会使降水区域面积、降水量和降水强度增加。由于液态降水总量远大于固态降水总量,固、液态RPF的数值相差达到一个量级,但单位时间内固态降水和液态降水增加的速率相近。在单位时间内闪电次数越多,RPF则越小,而固态RPF和闪电次数的线性相关性明显好于液态RPF,所以利用固态降水可以更好地预报闪电。这些结果有助于进一步认识闪电和降水的关系,并可为闪电预报提供新的思路。     

A diagnostic analysis on the effect of the residual layer in convective boundary layer development near Mongolia using 20th century reanalysis data

Although the residual layer has already been noted in the classical diurnal cycle of the atmospheric boundary layer,its effect on the development of the convective boundary layer has not been well studied. In this study, based on 3-hourly20 th century reanalysis data, the residual layer is considered as a common layer capping the convective boundary layer. It is identified daily by investigating the development of the convective boundary layer. The region of interest is bounded by(30°–60° N, 80°–120° E), where a residual layer deeper than 2000 m has been reported using radiosondes. The lapse rate and wind shear within the residual layer are compared with the surface sensible heat flux by investigating their climatological means, interannual variations and daily variations. The lapse rate of the residual layer and the convective boundary layer depth correspond well in their seasonal variations and climatological mean patterns. On the interannual scale, the correlation coefficient between their regional averaged(40°–50°N, 90°–110° E) variations is higher than that between the surface sensible heat flux and convective boundary layer depth. On the daily scale, the correlation between the lapse rate and the convective boundary layer depth in most months is still statistically significant during 1970–2012. Therefore, we suggest that the existence of a deep neutral residual layer is crucial to the formation of a deep convective boundary layer near the Mongolian regions.     

An equilibrium cloud-resolving modeling study of diurnal variation of tropical rainfall

The diurnal variation of tropical rainfall is examined through the analysis of an equilibrium cloud-resolving model experiment. Model domain mean rain rate is defined as a product of rain intensity and fractional rainfall coverage. The diurnal variation of the mean rain rate is associated with that of fractional rainfall coverage because the diurnal variation of rain intensity is significantly weakened through the decrease in rainfall in early morning hours. The decrease in rainfall corresponds to the reduction in secondary circulations through the barotropic conversion from the perturbation kinetic energy to the mean kinetic energy under the imposed negative vertical gradient of westerly winds. The fractional rainfall coverage shows the diurnal signal with the maximum in the early morning hours primarily due to nocturnal infrared radiative cooling.     

近30年中国地面风速分区及气候特征

通过中国近地面风速区划可以深入了解风速分布规律,有助于研究风速的变化机制。利用1980-2009年中国608个测站的日平均风速资料,经过旋转经验正交函数分解法(REOF)得到10个分区,各分区范围和地形有一定的关系。风速频率曲线变化表明,中国北部地区(第3、4区)风速偏大,中部地区(第2、10区)风速普遍较小;对比分析了区域有效风速日数频率和风能分布。根据谐波方法得到各分区风速的年变化特征,大部分区域呈单峰单谷型或双峰双谷型,高值区主要出现在春季,并分析了形成上述特点的可能天气学成因。风速线性倾向估计结果表明,中国大部分地区风速呈减小趋势,第1、4、5区平均风速递减率在-0.028~-0.023 m·s-1·a-1之间,但是,中部地区(第2区、第6区西部、第10区)年平均风速出现递增。通过Mann-Kendan法和小波分析方法检测表明,第2、3、5区突变点出现在2000年附近,第1、4、6区突变点出现在20世纪90年代初。环流特征量指数和风速同期相关性分析,揭示了北极涡和副热带高压对风速的影响。     

Optimized running conditions and sensitivity for direction sensitive detectors of WIMP dark matter

Optimum fill pressures for direction-sensitive dark matter detectors based on tracking in gases are considered. Given the minimum resolvable track length and the gas fill, the Lindhard–Scharf stopping model leads to the existence of an optimum pressure which maximizes the specific event rate R (event rate per unit detector volume). In addition, maximizing the detectibility of the recoil nucleus diurnal asymmetry is considered. Optimum fill pressures are calculated for Ar, CF₄, CS₂ and Xe gas fills, as a function of the WIMP mass and the minimum resolvable track length. The associated minimum target volumes required to achieve currently competitive WIMP-nucleon cross-section sensitivity are also calculated. The standard isothermal sphere model of the galactic WIMP halo is used throughout, but the method could be extended to use any desired WIMP distribution function.     

Observation of saturnian stream particles in the interplanetary space

In January 2004 the dust instrument on the Cassini spacecraft detected the first high-velocity grain expelled from Saturn - a so-called stream particle. Prior to Cassini’s arrival at Saturn in July 2004 the instrument registered 801 faint impacts, whose impact signals showed the characteristic features of a high-velocity impact by a tiny grain. The impact rates as well as the directionality of the stream particles clearly correlate with the sector structure of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The Cosmic Dust Analyser (CDA) registered stream particles dominantly during periods when the IMF direction was tangential to the solar wind flow and in the prograde direction. This finding provides clear evidence for a continuous outflow of tiny dust grains with similar properties from the saturnian system. Within the compressed part of co-rotating interaction regions (CIRs) of the IMF, characterized by enhanced magnetic field strength and compressed solar wind plasma, CDA observed impact bursts of faster stream particles. We find that the bursts result from the stream particles being sped up inside the compressed CIR regions. Our analysis of the stream-particle dynamics inside rarefaction regions of the IMF implies that saturnian stream particles have sizes between 2 and 9 nm and exit the saturnian systems closely aligned with the planet’s ring plane with speeds in excess of 70 km s⁻¹.     

Search for Phobos and Deimos gas/dust tori using in situ observations from Mars Global Surveyor MAG/ER

More than 490 elliptical aerobraking and science phasing orbits made by Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) in 1997 and 1998 provide unprecedented coverage of the solar wind in the vicinity of the orbits of the martian moons Phobos and Deimos. We have performed a comprehensive survey of magnetic field perturbations in the solar wind to search for possible signatures of solar wind interaction with dust or gas escaping from the moons. A total of 1246 solar wind disturbance events were identified and their distribution was examined relative to Phobos, the Phobos orbit, and the Deimos orbit. We find that the spatial distribution of solar wind perturbations does not increase near or downstream of Phobos, Phobos’ orbit, or Deimos’ orbit, which would have been expected if there is significant outgassing or dust escape from the martian moons. Of the 1246 magnetic field perturbation events found in the MGS data set, 11 events were found within 2000 km of the Phobos orbit, while three events were found within 2000 km of the Deimos orbit. These events were analyzed in detail and found to likely have other causes than outgassing/dust escape from the martian moons. Thus we conclude that the amount of gas/dust escaping the martian moons is not significant enough to induce detectable magnetic field perturbations in the solar wind. In essence we have not found any clear evidence in the MGS magnetic field data for outgassing or dust escape from the martian moons.     

Preservation potential of implanted solar wind volatiles in lunar paleoregolith deposits buried by lava flows

The lunar surface is bathed in a variety of impacting particles originating from the solar wind, solar flares, and galactic cosmic rays. These particles can become embedded in the regolith and/or produce a range of other molecules as they pass through the target material. The Moon therefore contains a record of the variability of the solar and galactic particle fluxes through time. To obtain useful temporal snapshots of these processes, discrete regolith units must be shielded from continued bombardment that would rewrite the record over time. One mechanism for achieving this preservation is the burial of a regolith deposit by a later lava flow. The archival value of such deposits sandwiched between lava layers is enhanced by the fact that both the under- and over-lying lava can be dated by radiometric techniques, thereby precisely defining the age of the regolith layer and the geologic record contained therein. The implanted volatile species would be vulnerable to outgassing by the heat of the over-lying flow, at temperatures exceeding 300-700 °C. However, the insulating properties of the finely particulate regolith would restrict significant heating to shallow depths. We have therefore modeled the heat transfer between lunar mare basalt lavas and the regolith in order to establish the range of depths below which implanted volatiles would be preserved. We find that the full suite of solar wind volatiles, consisting predominantly of H and He, would survive at depths of ∼13-290 cm (for 1-10 m thick lava flows, respectively). A substantial amount of CO, CO₂, N₂ and Xe would be preserved at depths as shallow as 3.7 cm beneath meter-thick flows. Given typical regolith accumulation rates during mare volcanism, the optimal localities for collecting viable solar wind samples would involve stacks of thin mare lava flows emplaced a few tens to a few hundred Ma apart, in order for sufficient regolith to develop between burial events. Obtaining useful archives of Solar System processes would therefore require extraction of regolith deposits buried at quite shallow depths beneath radiometrically-dated mare lava flows. These results provide a basis for possible lunar exploration activities.     

Alfven Wave Reflection model of field-aligned currents at Mercury

An Alfven Wave Reflection (AWR) model is proposed that provides closure for strong field-aligned currents (FACs) driven by the magnetopause reconnection in the magnetospheres of planets having no significant ionospheric and surface electrical conductance. The model is based on properties of the Alfven waves, generated at high altitudes and reflected from the low-conductivity surface of the planet. When magnetospheric convection is very slow, the incident and reflected Alfven waves propagate along approximately the same path. In this case, the net field-aligned currents will be small. However, as the convection speed increases, the reflected wave is displaced relatively to the incident wave so that the incident and reflected waves no longer compensate each other. In this case, the net field-aligned current may be large despite the lack of significant ionospheric and surface conductivity. Our estimate shows that for typical solar wind conditions at Mercury, the magnitude of Region 1-type FACs in Mercury’s magnetosphere may reach hundreds of kilo-Amperes. This AWR model of field-aligned currents may provide a solution to the long-standing problem of the closure of FACs in the Mercury’s magnetosphere.