| Research Articles |
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| Application of wind profiler data to rainfall analyses in Tazhong Oilfield region, Xinjiang, China |
| MinZhong WANG1,2, WenShou WEI1,2, Qing HE1,2, XinChun LIU1,2, ZhongJie ZHAO3 |
1 Urumqi Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China;
2 Taklimakan Desert Atmospheric Environment Observation Experimental Station, Tazhong 841000, China;
3 Meteorological Office of Bayinguoleng Mongolian prefecture, Kurler 841000, China |
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Abstract To improve the level of meteorological service for the Oilfield region in the Taklimakan Desert, the Urumqi Institute of Desert Meteorology of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) conducted a detection experiment by means of wind profiling radar (WPR) in Tazhong Oilfield region of Xinjiang, China in July 2010. By using the wind profiler data obtained during the rainfall process on 27 July, this paper analyzed the wind field fea-tures and some related scientific issues of this weather event. The results indicated that: (1) wind profiler data had high temporal resolution and vertical spatial resolution, and could be used to analyze detailed vertical structures of rainfall processes and the characteristics of meso-scale systems. Before and after the rain event on 27 July, the wind field showed multi-layer vertical structures, having an obvious meso-scale wind shear line and three airflows from different directions, speeding up the motion of updraft convergence in the lower atmosphere. Besides, the wind directions before and after the rainfall changed inversely with increasing height. Before the rain, the winds blew clockwise, but after the onset of the rain, the wind directions became counterclockwise mainly; (2) the temperature advection derived from wind profiler data can reproduce the characteristics of low-level thermodynamic evolution in the process of rainfall, which is capable to reflect the variation trend of hydrostatic stability in the atmosphere. In the early stage of the precipitation on 27 July, the lower atmosphere was mainly affected by warm advection which had accumulated unstable energy for the rainfall event and was beneficial for the occurrence of updraft motion and precipitation; (3) the “large-value zone” of the radar reflectivity factor Z was virtually consistent with the onset and end of the rainfall, the height for the formation of rain cloud particles, and precipitation intensity. The reflectivity factor Z during this event varied approximately in the range of 18–38 dBZ and the rain droplets formed mainly at the layer of 3,800–4,500 m.
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Received: 15 February 2012
Published: 15 December 2012
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| Fund: The National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB951001), the Research Subject with the Support of National Science and Technology (2012BA C23B01), and the Central Scientific Research and Operational Project (IDM201002). |
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Corresponding Authors:
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