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Shift in the Temporal Trend of Boundary Layer Height in China Using Long‐Term (1979–2016) Radiosonde Data
Author(s) -
Guo Jianping,
Li Yuan,
Cohen Jason Blake,
Li Jian,
Chen Dandan,
Xu Hui,
Liu Lin,
Yin Jinfang,
Hu Kaixi,
Zhai Panmao
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl082666
Subject(s) - radiosonde , relative humidity , environmental science , climatology , troposphere , atmospheric sciences , term (time) , china , boundary layer , meteorology , planetary boundary layer , period (music) , geography , geology , turbulence , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , acoustics , thermodynamics
The knowledge regarding how the boundary layer height (BLH) changes over time is still poor. Here we analyze the spatial and temporal changes in radiosonde‐derived measurements of BLH over China from 1979 to 2016. A qualitatively robust and abrupt change of BLH occurred in 2004. Over the former period (from 1979 to 2003) a spatially uniform increase was found in the BLH, while over the latter period BLH decreased in a spatially nonuniform way. Second, the meteorological influence on the rising BLH was determined to have a negative association with soil moisture, lower tropospheric stability and relative humidity, and a positive association with the near‐surface temperature. Yet, there was a different influence of meteorology on the BLH over the latter period, where a negative association was revealed with T sfc and relative humidity. These findings shed new light on the long‐term changes in air pollution across China.