Vol.32, NO.6, 2021
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Article Navigation >  Journal of Applied Meteorological Science  > 2021  >  32(6): 691-705
Cheng Peng, Luo Han, Chang Yi, et al. Aircraft measurement of microphysical characteristics of a topographic cloud precipitation in Qilian Mountains. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2021, 32(6): 691-705. DOI:  10.11898/1001-7313.20210605.
Citation: Cheng Peng, Luo Han, Chang Yi, et al. Aircraft measurement of microphysical characteristics of a topographic cloud precipitation in Qilian Mountains. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2021, 32(6): 691-705. DOI:  10.11898/1001-7313.20210605.
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Aircraft Measurement of Microphysical Characteristics of a Topographic Cloud Precipitation in Qilian Mountains

DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20210605
  • 1.

    Lanzhou Meterological Bureau of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730020

  • 2.

    Gansu Weather Modification Office, Lanzhou 730020

  • 3.

    Key Laboratory for Cloud Physics of China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081

  • 4.

    Sichuan Weather Modification Office, Chengdu 610072

  • 5.

    Lanzhou Central Meterological Observatory, Lanzhou 730020

  • 6.

    Minle Meterological Bureau of Gansu Province, Zhangye 734500

  • Received Date: 2021-07-19
  • Rev Recd Date: 2021-08-25
  • Publish Date: 2021-11-23
    Abstract
  • Qilian Mountains are an important ecological barrier in Northwest China. The precipitation in Qilian Mountains is mainly caused by topographical cloud system. Aircraft detection in Qilian Mountains is of great significance for deepening the understanding of cloud microphysical processes, and for scientifically and effectively carrying out artificial precipitation operations to improve the ecological environment. Using the airborne observations of a topographic cloud precipitation process in Qilian Mountains on 29 August 2020, the microphysical characteristics of the summer cloud precipitation process in Qilian Mountains are studied. The cloud system presents an obvious layered structure. The height of the cloud base is 4000 m, and the water content of the whole layer is relatively rich. The liquid water content (L) is between 0.65 and 1.1 g·m-3, and the cloud water large value area appears at 4500-5300 m altitude, which has a high concentration of cloud droplets. The water content of cloud water is mainly contributed by cloud droplets between 15 and 20 μm. The average concentrations of small cloud particles and large cloud particles are 7.54 cm-3 and 0.86 cm-3. The average effective diameters of small cloud particles and large cloud particles are 11.02 μm and 198.11 μm. The cloud particles in Qilian Mountains have the characteristics of small concentration and large diameter. There are obvious differences in cloud microphysical characteristics between the north and south slopes of Qilian Mountains. Affected by the topography, the concentration and diameter of cloud droplets on the northern slope are larger than those on the southern slope, and L on the northern slope are significantly larger than those on the southern slope too. The spectra of cloud droplets at different heights in Qilian Mountains are respectively unimodal distribution. The spectrum of cloud droplets with a diameter less than 50 μm can be fitted by Gamma distribution, while the spectrum of cloud droplets with a diameter greater than 50 μm shows a power exponent distribution. The ice crystals in the ice layer are mainly grown through the process of sublimation and coalescence. The growth mechanism of the ice crystals in the mixed layer is mainly the Bergeron process, and accompanied by attachment and aggregation growth.
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  • Fig. 1  Detecting flight trajectory on 29 Aug 2020

    (the shaded denotes the altitude)

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    Fig. 2  Time change of vertical profile of reflectivity factor at 38°21′N, 100°37′E observed by C-band Doppler radar at Zhangye on 29 Aug 2020

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    Fig. 3  Horizontal distribution characteristics of cloud microphysics at 6200 m altitude on 29 Aug 2020 (a)liquid water content and temperature, (b)concentration and effective diameter of CAS, (c)spectrum of CAS, (d)concentration and effective diameter of CIP, (e)spectrum of CIP, (f)concentration and effective diameter of PIP, (g)spectrum of PIP

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    Fig. 4  Horizontal distribution characteristics of cloud microphysics at 6800 m altitude on 29 Aug 2020 (a)liquid water content and temperature,(b)concentration and effective diameter of CAS, (c)spectrum of CAS,(d)concentration and effective diameter of CIP,(e)spectrum of CIP, (f)concentration and effective diameter of PIP,(g)spectrum of PIP

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    Fig. 5  Vertical distribution of cloud microphysical quantities detected from 1016 BT to 1042 BT at Menyuan on the south side of Qilian Mountains on 29 Aug 2020 (a)temperature and liquid water content, (b)particle concentration and diameter of CAS, (c)particle concentration and diameter of CIP, (d)particle concentration and diameter of PIP

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    Fig. 6  Images of cloud particles by CIP during detecting flight on 29 Aug 2020

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    Fig. 7  Cloud microphysical characteristics during the detection flight over Qilian Mountains on 29 Aug 2020

    (the circle track represents the detection flight path, the color of circles represents the particle number concentration, the size of circles represents the effective diameter of the particle(D,unit:102 μm), and the black line shows the terrain of Qilian Mountains)

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    Fig. 8  Particle number concentration (the dot) and fitting curve at different heights (a)gamma distribution fitting of CAS particle, (b)Γ distribution fitting of CAS particle, (c)power exponent distribution fitting of CIP particle, (d)M-P distribution fitting of CIP particle

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    Fig. 9  CAS(a) and CIP(b) average particle spectrum distribution in different supercooled water content intervals

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    Table  1  Parameter statistics of cloud particle characteristics during detecting flight on 29 Aug 2020

    要素 统计量 时间
    11:20—11:30 11:52—12:12
    NCAS/cm-3 平均值 5.05 13.35
    最大值 25.66 62.67
    DCAS/μm 平均值 10.74 16.37
    最大值 27.5 47.47
    NCIP/cm-3 平均值 0.68 2.17
    最大值 6.83 10.43
    DCIP/μm 平均值 58.63 146.04
    最大值 625.00 1150.00
    NPIP/cm-3 平均值 0.0004 0.012
    最大值 0.001 0.13
    DPIP/μm 平均值 111.60 738.80
    最大值 1683.60 4589.40
    LWC/(g·m-3) 平均值 0.71 0.77
    最大值 0.83 0.99
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    Table  2  The fitting results of the concentration spectrum of small cloud droplets at different heights

    高度/m Gamma Γ
    截距N0 形状因子μ 斜率Λ 决定系数R2 截距N0 斜率Λ
    5600 1.09×10-5 8.410 0.455 0.932 1.317 0.110
    6200 9.92×10-7 9.179 0.518 0.982 0.382 0.116
    6600 9.78×10-7 10.430 0.670 0.946 1.205 0.129
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    Table  3  The fitting results of the concentration spectrum of big cloud droplets at different heights

    高度/m M-P 幂指数
    截距N0 斜率Λ 截距N0 斜率Λ 决定系数R2
    5600 26.583 0.006 1.63×103 1.059 0.891
    6200 79.733 0.022 2.2×104 1.700 0.961
    6600 8.306 0.0120 1.43×103 1.427 0.940
    DownLoad: Download CSV
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    • Received : 2021-07-19
    • Accepted : 2021-08-25
    • Published : 2021-11-23
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