Meteorological conditions for the persistent severe fog and haze event over eastern China in January 2013 (original) (raw)

Abstract

In January 2013, a severe fog and haze event (FHE) of strong intensity, long duration, and extensive coverage occurred in eastern China. The present study investigates meteorological conditions for this FHE by diagnosing both its atmospheric background fields and daily evolution in January 2013. The results show that a weak East Asian winter monsoon existed in January 2013. Over eastern China, the anomalous southerly winds in the middle and lower troposphere are favorable for more water vapor transported to eastern China. An anomalous high at 500 hPa suppresses convection. The weakened surface winds are favorable for the fog and haze concentrating in eastern China. The reduction of the vertical shear of horizontal winds weakens the synoptic disturbances and vertical mixing of atmosphere. The anomalous inversion in near-surface increases the stability of surface air. All these meteorological background fields in January 2013 were conducive to the maintenance and development of fog and haze over eastern China. The diagnosis of the daily evolution of the FHE shows that the surface wind velocity and the vertical shear of horizontal winds in the middle and lower troposphere can exert dynamic effects on fog and haze. The larger (smaller) they are, the weaker (stronger) the fog and haze are. The thermodynamic effects include stratification instability in middle and lower troposphere and the inversion and dew-point deficit in near-surface. The larger (smaller) the stratification instability and the inversion are, the stronger (weaker) the fog and haze are. Meanwhile, the smaller (larger) the dewpoint deficit is, the stronger (weaker) the fog and haze are. Based on the meteorological factors, a multi-variate linear regression model is set up. The model results show that the dynamic and thermodynamic effects on the variance of the fog and haze evolution are almost the same. The contribution of the meteorological factors to the variance of the daily fog and haze evolution reaches 0.68, which explains more than 2/3 of the variance.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

• Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
• Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
• Cancel anytime View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

• Chang C P, Lau K M. 1982. Short-term planetary-scale interactions over the tropics and mid-latitudes during northern winter. Part I: Contrasts between active and inactive periods. Mon Weather Rev, 110: 933–946
  Article Google Scholar
• Ding Y H. 2005. Advanced Synoptic Meteorology. 2nd ed. Beijing: China Meteorological Press. 585
  Google Scholar
• Gao G. 2008. The climatic characteristics and change of haze days over China during 1961–2005 (in Chinese). Acta Geogr Sin, 63: 762–768
  Google Scholar
• Kalnay E, Knamitsu M, Kistler R, et al. 1996. The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Amer Meteor Soc, 77: 437–471
  Article Google Scholar
• Li Z H, Yang J, Shi C E, et al. 2008. The Physics of Regional Dense Fog (in Chinese). Beijing: China Meteor Press. 160
  Google Scholar
• Lin J, Yang G M, Mao D Y. 2008. Spatial and temporal characteristics of fog in China and associated circulation patterns (in Chinese). Clim Environ Res, 13: 171–181
  Google Scholar
• Liu X, Xie X, Yin Z, et al. 2011. A modeling study of the effects of aerosols on clouds and precipitation over East Asia. Theor Appl Climatol, 106: 343–354
  Article Google Scholar
• Liu X N, Zhang H Z, Li Q X, et al. 2005. Preliminary research on the climatic characteristics and change of fog in China (in Chinese). J Appl Meteor Sci, 16: 220–229
  Google Scholar
• Niu S, Lu C, Yu H, et al. 2010. Fog research in China: An overview. Adv Atmos Sci, 27: 639–662
  Article Google Scholar
• Rotunno R, Klemp J B, Weisman M. 1988. A theory for strong, long-lived squall lines. J Atmos Sci, 45: 463–485
  Article Google Scholar
• Sachweh M, Koepke P. 1997. Fog dynamics in an urbanized area. Theor Appl Climatol, 58: 87–93
  Article Google Scholar
• Schichtel B A, Husar R B, Falke S R, et al. 2001. Haze trends over the United States, 1980–1995. Atmos Environ, 35: 5205–5210
  Article Google Scholar
• Sun Y, Ma Z F, Niu T, et al. 2013. Characteristics of climate change with respect to fog days and haze days in China in the past 40 years (in Chinese). Clim Environ Res, 18: 397–406
  Google Scholar
• Tong Y Q, Yin Y, Qian L, et al. 2007. Analysis of the characteristics of hazy phenomena in Nanjing area (in Chinese). China Environ Sci, 2007, 27: 584–588
  Google Scholar
• Wang R Q. 2012. Meteorological definitions of fog and haze weathers and their prevention measures. Modern Agric Sci Technol, 7: 44
  Google Scholar
• Witiw M R, LaDochy S. 2008. Trends in fog frequencies in the Los Angeles Basin. Atmos Res, 87: 293–300
  Article Google Scholar
• Wu D. 2006. More discussions on the differences between haze and fog in city (in Chinese). Meteor Mon, 32: 9–15
  Google Scholar
• Wu D, Liao G L, Deng X J, et al. 2008. Transport condition of surface layer under haze weather over the Pearl River Delta (in Chinese). J Appl Meteor Sci, 19: 1–9
  Google Scholar
• Wu D, Wu X J, Li F, et al. 2010. Spatial and temporal variation of haze during 1951–2005 in Chinese mainland (in Chinese). Acta Meteor Sin, 68: 680–688
  Google Scholar
• Yang J, Niu Z Q, Shi C E, et al. 2010. Microphysics of atmospheric aerosols during winter haze/fog events in Nanjing (in Chinese). Environ Sci, 31: 1425–1431
  Google Scholar
• Yang K, Guan Y, An L C. 2013. Main weather processes in January and February of 2013 (in Chinese). Weather Forecast Rev, 5: 1–7
  Google Scholar
• Zhang G C, Jiao M Y, Li Y X. 2007. Techniques and Methods of Contemporary Weather Forecast (in Chinese). Beijing: China Meteorological Press. 371
  Google Scholar
• Zhang R, Sumi A, Kimoto M. 1996. Impact of El Niño on the East Asia monsoon: A diagnostic study of the’ 86/87 and’ 91/92 events. J Meteor Soc Japan, 74: 49–62
  Google Scholar
• Zhang X R, Liu Z G, Yang J C, et al. 2006. Analysis of formation cause about a rare fog in east China (in Chinese). Arid Meteor, 24: 47–51
  Google Scholar
• Zhang X Y, Sun J Y, Wang Y Q, et al. 2013. Factors contributing to haze and fog in China. Chin Sci Bull, 58: 1178–1187
  Article Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
   Zhang RenHe
2. Audio and Video Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, 100081, China
   Qiang Li
3. State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China
   RuoNan Zhang

Authors

1. Zhang RenHe
2. Qiang Li
3. RuoNan Zhang

Corresponding author

Correspondence toZhang RenHe.

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

RenHe, Z., Li, Q. & Zhang, R. Meteorological conditions for the persistent severe fog and haze event over eastern China in January 2013.Sci. China Earth Sci. 57, 26–35 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-013-4774-3

Download citation

• Received: 08 August 2013
• Accepted: 31 October 2013
• Published: 27 November 2013
• Issue date: January 2014
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-013-4774-3

Keywords