Premium
The influence of daytime heating and nocturnal cooling on surface airflow patterns over central Japan
Author(s) -
Suzuki Rikie
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.3370110306
Subject(s) - airflow , daytime , environmental science , meteorology , climatology , thermal , atmospheric sciences , geology , geography , thermodynamics , physics
Focus is placed on the two factors that dominate surface airflow patterns; the thermal effect (solar heating and nocturnal cooling) and the synoptic pressure gradient. The relationship between surface airflow patterns and these two factors is investigated, using a dense network of observation sites in central Japan at 0300, 0900, 1500, and 2100 LST over 3 years. The analysis consisted of the construction of 1464 airflow pattern maps, which were then classified using cluster analysis into 15 airflow pattern types. The thermal effect was parameterized by the diurnal component of surface temperature change using a high‐pass filter. The relationship between airflow patterns and the thermal effect was then examined. As a result, detailed relationships between airflow patterns and distributions of heated and cooled areas were statistically revealed. Furthermore, the dependency of airflow patterns on the thermal effect and the synoptic pressure gradient was evaluated, and it was concluded that they were the main factors in controlling the airflow patterns in the majority of cases.