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Influence of rainfall-induced diabatic heating on southern rainfall-northern haze over eastern China in early February 2023

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Abstract

In early February 2023, there was severe haze on the North China Plain (NCP) that was contemporaneous with heavy rainfall over southern China, which was known as southern rainfall-northern haze (SR-NH). Based on observational and reanalysis data, the meteorological causes of this SR-NH event are investigated in this study using correlation analysis, dynamic diagnostics and numerical experiments. The results show that the anticyclonic anomaly in the Pacific Northwest (also referred to as the northeast Asian anomalous anticyclone) is responsible for the SR-NH. On the one hand, this anticyclonic anomaly leads to persistent rainfall over southern China by causing strong ascending motion in conjunction with an anomalous cyclone over the Chinese mainland and transporting large amounts of water vapor there. On the other hand, it weakens the climatological northerly winds of the NCP through the southeasterly flow, worsening the horizontal diffusion conditions of pollutants. Additionally, the atmospheric stability and relative humidity over the NCP are significantly increased by this anticyclonic anomaly. These conditions result in higher PM2.5 concentrations over the NCP. Additional results suggest that this anticyclonic anomaly is related to diabatic heating released by rainfall in southern China, which not only intensifies the rainfall process there (with a contribution of 11.5%) but also induces an anticyclonic anomaly in the upper troposphere of the Pacific Northwest (i.e., 200 hPa). The rainfall-related anticyclonic anomaly reinforces the anticyclonic anomaly in the Pacific Northwest caused by large-scale circulation (with a contribution of 27%) and thus affects haze over the NCP. This study provides a new reference for understanding the contribution of rainfall in southern China to haze over the NCP.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFA0607002) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41721004 & 42275191).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Meteorology, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Xiadong An, Chun Li, Lifang Sheng, Weihang Zhang & Shangfei Hai

  2. Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China

    Wen Chen & Peng Hu

  3. Yunnan Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disasters and Climate Resources in the Greater Mekong Subregion, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China

    Wen Chen

  4. Center for Monsoon System Research, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Xiadong An

  5. CMA Earth System Modeling and Prediction Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, 100081, China

    Shangfei Hai

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  1. Xiadong An
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An, X., Chen, W., Li, C. et al. Influence of rainfall-induced diabatic heating on southern rainfall-northern haze over eastern China in early February 2023. Sci. China Earth Sci. 66, 2579–2593 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-023-1181-3

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