The atmospheric boundary layer （ABL） is an important physical characteristic of the Earth＇s atmosphere. Compared with the typical ABL, the ABL in arid regions has distinct features and is formed by particular mechanisms. In this paper, the depth of the diurnal and nocturnal ABLs and their related thermodynamic features of land surface processes, including net radiation, the ground-air temperature difference and sensible heat flux, under typical summer and winter conditions are discussed on the basis of comprehensive observations of the ABL and thermodynamic processes at the land surface carried out in the extreme arid zone of Dunhuang. The relationships of the ABL depth in the development and maintenance stages with these thermodynamic features are also investigated. The results show that the depth of the ABL is closely correlated with the thermodynamic features in both development and maintenance stages and more energy is consumed in the development stage. Further analysis indicates that wind velocity also affects ABL development, especially the development of a stable boundary layer in winter. Taken together, the analysis results indicate that extremely strong thermodynamic processes at the land surface are the main driving factor for the formation of a deep ABL in an arid region.
Macroscopic reason for the development of turbulences in fluid is the conjunction action of velocity and temperature shears. We use the 2008 spring flux observations in the surface layer over Inner Mongolian grassland, obtain the similarity functions of turbulent intensity under different stratification stability conditions, and calculate the clear day turbulent intensity in the spring, which is then analyzed and compared with the observed values of turbulent intensity. The results show that in the Inner Mongolian grassland, under the condition of spring unstable stratification of the surface layer, dependence of the similarity function of turbulent intensity on stratification stability follows a "2/3 power law". The structural function is a constant under the neutral stratification condition, and complicated under the stable condition. The calculated turbulent intensity has a close correlation with the observed one, which verifies the accuracy of the similarity functions and the suitability of the theorem of turbulent intensity in the grassland region.
YUE Ping1,2,3, NIU ShengJie2, HU YinQiao4 & ZHANG Qiang1 1 Key Laboratory of Arid Climate Change and Reducing Disaster of Gansu Province, Key Laboratory of Arid Climate Change and Reducing Disaster of CMA, Institute of Arid Meteorology, CMA, Lanzhou 730020, China
