Abstract
This study investigates the influences of urban land cover on the extreme rainfall event over the Zhengzhou city in central China on 20 July 2021 using the Weather Research and Forecasting model at a convection-permitting scale [1-km resolution in the innermost domain (d3)]. Two ensembles of simulation (CTRL, NURB), each consisting of 11 members with a multi-layer urban canopy model and various combinations of physics schemes, were conducted using different land cover scenarios: (i) the real urban land cover, (ii) all cities in d3 being replaced with natural land cover. The results suggest that CTRL reasonably reproduces the spatiotemporal evolution of rainstorms and the 24-h rainfall accumulation over the key region, although the maximum hourly rainfall is underestimated and displaced to the west or southwest by most members. The ensemble mean 24-h rainfall accumulation over the key region of heavy rainfall is reduced by 13%, and the maximum hourly rainfall simulated by each member is reduced by 15–70 mm in CTRL relative to NURB. The reduction in the simulated rainfall by urbanization is closely associated with numerous cities/towns to the south, southeast, and east of Zhengzhou. Their heating effects jointly lead to formation of anomalous upward motions in and above the planetary boundary layer (PBL), which exaggerates the PBL drying effect due to reduced evapotranspiration and also enhances the wind stilling effect due to increased surface friction in urban areas. As a result, the lateral inflows of moisture and high-θe (equivalent potential temperature) air from south and east to Zhengzhou are reduced.
摘 要
利用天气研究与预报 (WRF) 模式开展对流可分辨模拟[最内网格 (d3) 采用 1-km 分辨率], 研究城市下垫面对 2021 年 7 月 20 日中国中部郑州市极端降水事件的影响. 利用不同的陆面覆盖情景实施了两组集合模拟试验: CTRL 试验采用真实的城市陆面覆盖, NURB 试验则把 d3 内所有城市换为自然陆地覆盖. 每组试验均包含采用不同物理方案组合的 11 个成员, 每个成员都采用了多层城市冠层模型. 结果表明: CTRL 试验合理再现了强降水对流的时空演变和关键区内 24-h 累积降水, 虽然多数成员低估了最大小时降水量, 且其位置偏西或西南; 与 NURB 试验相比, CTRL 试验模拟的关键区内集合平均 24-h 累积降水被降低 13%, 最大小时雨量被各个成员降低 15–70 mm; 城市化导致模拟的降水减少与郑州以南/东南/东的众多城镇密切相关, 这些上游城镇下垫面的蒸散发减少导致边界层变干, 地表摩擦增强导致风速减小, 并且 “合力” 加热导致郑州市上游边界层内及其上空形成了异常上升运动, 加剧了边界层变干、 风速减小, 最终导致从南边界和东边界输入郑州的水汽和高相当位温空气减少.
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Acknowledgements
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42030610 and 42075083) and the Innovation and Development Project of China Meteorological Administration (CXFZ2022J014) supported this study. We thank Prof. Xiuqun YANG (Nanjing University) for very helpful discussions. We are grateful to National Meteorological Information Center of the China Meteorological Administration for providing the observational surface datasets (http://data.cma.cn/en/?r=data/detail&data-Code=A.0012.0001). The ERA5 data were downloaded from https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/reanalysis-era5-pressure-levels?tab=form.
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Article Highlights
• The simulated 24-h rainfall accumulation and maximum hourly rainfall in Zhengzhou are reduced by 13% and 15–70 mm, respectively, by urbanization.
• The simulated rainfall reduction is closely associated with cities/towns to the south, southeast, and east of Zhengzhou.
• The warming, drying, and wind stilling effects of the upstream urban areas lead to reduction of lateral inflow of moisture to Zhengzhou.
This paper is a contribution to the special collection on the July 2021 Zhengzhou, Henan Extreme Rainfall Event.
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Luo, Y., Zhang, J., Yu, M. et al. On the Influences of Urbanization on the Extreme Rainfall over Zhengzhou on 20 July 2021: A Convection-Permitting Ensemble Modeling Study. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 40, 393–409 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-022-2048-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-022-2048-8
Key words
- urbanization
- extreme rainfall
- convection-permitting ensemble simulation
- land—atmosphere interaction
- boundary layer
- water vapor transport