scholarly journals Diurnal variation of upper tropospheric humidity and its relations to convective activities over tropical Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 2489-2502 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Chung ◽  
B. J. Sohn ◽  
J. Schmetz ◽  
M. Koenig

Abstract. Diurnal variations of upper tropospheric humidity (UTH) as well as middle tropospheric humidity (MTH) were examined in conjunction with the diurnal cycle of convection over tropical Africa and the adjacent tropical Atlantic Ocean using Meteosat-8 measurements. Cloud and humidity features were also tracked to document the diurnal variations of humidity and clouds in the Lagrangian framework. A distinct diurnal variation of UTH (and MTH) is noted over regions where tropical deep convective cloud systems are commonly observed. The amplitude of the UTH diurnal variation is larger over land, while its variations over convectively inactive subtropical regions are much smaller. The diurnal variation of UTH tends to reach a maximum during nighttime over land, lagging deep convection and high cloud whose maxima occurred in the late afternoon and evening, respectively. It was revealed that these diurnal variations over the African continent are likely associated with continental-scale daytime solar heating and topography, in which topographically-induced signals develop earlier around the mid-afternoon and merge into stronger and broader continental-scale convection clusters later, forming a precipitation maximum in the late afternoon. It was also revealed that advection effect on the diurnal variation appears to be insignificant.

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 351-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Chung ◽  
B. J. Sohn ◽  
J. Schmetz ◽  
M. Koenig

Abstract. Diurnal variations of upper tropospheric humidity (UTH) as well as middle tropospheric humidity (MTH) were examined in conjunction with the diurnal cycle of convection over tropical Africa and the adjacent tropical Atlantic Ocean using Meteosat-8 measurements. Cloud and humidity features were also tracked to document the diurnal variations of humidity and clouds in the Lagrangian framework. A distinct diurnal variation of UTH (and MTH) is noted over regions where tropical deep convective cloud systems are commonly observed. The amplitude of the UTH diurnal variation is larger over land, while its variations over convectively inactive subtropical regions are much smaller. The diurnal variation of UTH tends to peak during nighttime over land, lagging deep convection and high cloud whose maxima occurred in the late afternoon and the evening, respectively. The time lag between the maximum UTH and deep convection/high cloud maxima over the ocean appears to be longer in comparison to that found over land. It was also indicated that both the UTH (and MTH) and the cirrus anvil cloud show a variation which is in phase, implying that moistening of the upper troposphere is closely linked to process of development and dissipation of deep convective clouds.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengzhao Luo ◽  
Dieter Kley ◽  
Richard H. Johnson ◽  
Herman Smit

Abstract Ten years (1994–2004) of measurements of tropical upper-tropospheric water vapor (UTWV) by the Measurement of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In-Service Aircraft (MOZAIC) are investigated over three regions—the tropical Atlantic, tropical Africa, and the Asian monsoon region—to determine the UTWV climatology and variability on multiple scales and to understand them in relation to moisture transport and deep convection. The seasonal migration of upper-tropospheric humidity (UTH) keeps pace with that of the ITCZ, indicating the convective influence on UTH distribution. Some significant regional differences are identified with the tropical Africa and the Asian monsoon regions being moister than the tropical Atlantic. UTH generally increases with height by 10%–20% relative humidity with respect to ice (RHi) from about 300 to 200 hPa, and the differences are larger in the deep Tropics than in the subtropics. The probability density functions of tropical UTH are often bimodal. The two modes stay rather constant; differences in the mean value are largely due to the variations in the proportion of the two modes as opposed to changes in the modes themselves. In the deep Tropics, the moisture level frequently reaches ice supersaturation, the most notable case being the near-equatorial Asian monsoon region during the wet season when ice supersaturation is observed 46% of the time. Interannual variations are observed in association with the 1997–98 ENSO event. A warming of about 1–2 K is observed for all three regions equatorward of roughly 15°. Specific humidity also increases somewhat for the tropical Atlantic and tropical Africa, but the increase in temperature outweighs the increase in specific humidity such that RH decreases by 5%–15% RHi. In addition to the ENSO-related variation, MOZAIC also sees increases in both RH and specific humidity over tropical Africa from 2000 onward. Moisture fluxes are computed from MOZAIC data and decomposed into contributions from the mean circulation and from eddies. The flux divergence, which represents the moisture source/sink from horizontal transport, is also estimated. Finally, the MOZAIC climatology and variability are revisited in relation to deep convection obtained from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP).


2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 4011-4028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Munehisa K. Yamamoto ◽  
Fumie A. Furuzawa ◽  
Atsushi Higuchi ◽  
Kenji Nakamura

Abstract Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data during June–August 1998–2003 are used to investigate diurnal variations of rain and cloud systems over the tropics and midlatitudes. The peak time of the coldest minimum brightness temperature derived from the Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) and the maximum rain rate derived from the Precipitation Radar (PR) and the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) are compared. Time distributions are generally consistent with previous studies. However, it is found that systematic shifts in peak time relative to each sensor appeared over land, notably over western North America, the Tibetan Plateau, and oceanic regions such as the Gulf of Mexico. The peak time shift among PR, TMI, and VIRS is a few hours. The relationships among the amplitude of diurnal variation, convective frequency, storm height, and rain amount are further investigated and compared to the systematic peak time shifts. The regions where the systematic shift appears correspond to large amplitude of diurnal variation, high convective frequency, and high storm height. Over land and over ocean near the coast, the relationships are rather clear, but not over open ocean. The sensors likely detect different stages in the evolution of convective precipitation, which would explain the time shift. The PR directly detects near-surface rain. The TMI observes deep convection and solid hydrometeors, sensing heavy rain during the mature stage. VIRS detects deep convective clouds in mature and decaying stages. The shift in peak time particularly between PR (TMI) and VIRS varies by region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunheng Xue ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Zhenglong Li ◽  
Mathew M. Gunshor ◽  
Timothy J. Schmit

A near global dataset of homogenized clear-sky 6.5-μm brightness temperatures (BTs) from international geostationary (GEO) weather satellites has recently been generated and validated. In this study, these radiance measurements are used to construct the diurnal variation of upper tropospheric humidity (UTH) and to evaluate these diurnal variations simulated by five reanalysis datasets over the 45° N–45° S region. The features of the diurnal variation described by the new dataset are comparable with previous observational studies that a land–sea contrast in the diurnal variation of UTH is exhibited. Distinct diurnal variations are observed over the deep convective regions where high UTH exists. The evaluation of reanalysis datasets indicates that reanalysis systems still have considerable difficulties in capturing the observed features of the diurnal variation of UTH. All five reanalysis datasets present the largest wet biases in the afternoon when the observed UTH experiences a diurnal minimum. Reanalysis can roughly reproduce the day–night contrast of UTH but with much weaker amplitudes and later peak time over both land and ocean. Comparison of the geographical distribution of the diurnal variation shows that both ERA5 and MERRA-2 could capture the larger diurnal variations over convective regions. However, the diurnal amplitudes are widely underestimated, especially over convective land regions, while the phase biases are relatively larger over open oceans. These results suggest that some deficiencies may exist in convection and cloud parameterization schemes in reanalysis models.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Torge ◽  
Rainer Haeckel ◽  
Mustafa Özcürümez ◽  
Alexander Krebs ◽  
Ralf Junker

Abstract It has been observed that the estimation of reference intervals of leukocytes in whole venous blood leads to higher upper reference limits (uRLs) with indirect methods than has been reported in the literature determined by direct approaches. This phenomenon was reinvestigated with a newer, more advanced indirect method, and could be confirmed. Furthermore, a diurnal variation was observed with lower values during the morning and higher values in the late afternoon and at night. This observation can explain why indirect approaches using samples collected during 24 h lead to higher uRLs than direct methods applied on samples collected presumably in the morning.


1872 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 756-758
Author(s):  
J. A. Broun

The author gives the results derived from different discussions of nearly eighty thousand observations, made hourly during the eleven years 1854 to 1864. They are as follows:—1. That the lunar diurnal variation consists of a double maximum and minimum in each month of the year.2. That in December and January the maxima occur near the times of the moon's upper and lower passages of the meridian; while in June and July they occur six hours later, the minima then occurring near the times of the two passages.3. The change of the law for December and January to that for June and July does not happen, as in the case of the solar diurnal variations, by leaps in the course of a month (those of March and October), but more or less gradually for the different maxima and minima.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chellappan Seethala ◽  
Jan Fokke Meirink ◽  
Ákos Horváth ◽  
Ralf Bennartz ◽  
Rob Roebeling

Abstract. Marine stratocumulus (Sc) clouds play an essential role in the earth radiation budget. Here, we compare liquid water path (LWP), optical thickness (COT), and effective radius (CER) retrievals from two years of collocated Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI), MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager (TMI) observations, estimate the effect of biomass burning smoke on passive imager retrievals, as well as evaluate the diurnal cycle of South Atlantic marine Sc clouds. The effect of absorbing aerosols from biomass burning on the retrievals was investigated using aerosol index (AI) obtained from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). SEVIRI and MODIS LWPs were found to decrease with increasing AI relative to TMI LWP, consistent with well-known negative visible/near-infrared retrieval biases in COT and CER. In the aerosol-affected months of July–August–September, SEVIRI LWP – based on the 1.6-µm CER – was biased low by 14 g m−2 (~ 16 %) compared to TMI in overcast scenes, while MODIS LWP showed a smaller low bias of 4 g m−2 (~ 5 %) for the 1.6-µm channel and a high bias of 8 g m−2 (~ 10 %) for the 3.7-µm channel compared to TMI. Neglecting aerosol-affected pixels reduced the mean SEVIRI-TMI LWP bias considerably. On a two-year data base, SEVIRI LWP had a correlation with TMI and MODIS LWP of about 0.86 and 0.94, respectively, and biases of only 4–8 g m−2 (5–10 %) for overcast cases. The SEVIRI LWP diurnal cycle was in good overall agreement with TMI except in the aerosol-affected months. Both TMI and SEVIRI LWP decreased from morning to late afternoon, after which a slight increase was observed. Terra and Aqua MODIS mean LWPs also suggested a similar diurnal variation. The relative amplitude of the two-year mean and seasonal mean LWP diurnal cycle varied between 35–40 % from morning to late afternoon for overcast cases. The diurnal variation in SEVIRI LWP was mainly due to changes in COT, while CER showed only little diurnal variability.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Hardian Susanto Herho ◽  
Dasapta Erwin Irawan

Sonic anemometer observation was performed on 29 - 30 September 2014 in Ledeng, Bandung to see diurnal variations of Turbulence Kinetic Energy (TKE) that occurred in this area. The measured sonic anemometer was the wind velocity components u, v, and w. From the observation result, it can be seen that the diurnal variation that happened was quite significant. The maximum TKE occurs during the daytime when atmospheric conditions tend to be unstable. TKE values were small at night when atmospheric conditions are more stable than during the daytime.


2020 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 03011
Author(s):  
Yasukuni Shibata ◽  
Chikao Nagasawa ◽  
Makoto Abo

We have conducted the measurement of high accurate CO2 mixing ratio profiles by measuring the temperature profiles simultaneously using the three wavelength CO2 DIAL. The measurements of CO2 diurnal variation in the lower atmosphere were carried out on sunny and cloudy days respectively. We find out that increasing of the CO2 mixing ratio occurs over the altitude of about 2 km from the surface during nighttime. On the other hand, the CO2 mixing ratio decreases over the lower atmosphere during daytime. In particular, the CO2 mixing ratio decreases earlier on sunny days than on cloudy days after sunrise. This result suggests that CO2 absorption by photosynthesis greatly contributes to the strength of the solar radiation.


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