Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Characteristics of near-surface turbulence during a dust storm passing Minqin on March 19, 2010

  • Article
  • Applied Physics
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Twelve-hour real-time and synchronous measurements of the three-dimensional components of the near-surface turbulence at four heights (8, 16, 32 and 47 m) during a dust storm are obtained by sonic anemometers for the first time. The experimental results show that (1) the mean vertical velocities at all four heights have considerably positive values during the dust storm, illustrating a strong upward flow near the surface; (2) during the dust storm, the mean vertical velocity is higher at 8 m than at 16 and 32 m, implying that the convection is stronger at 8 m than at the other two heights; and (3) when the longitudinal velocity is a maximum, the mean of the vertical components of wind velocities at 8 m is a minimum and the standard deviation is a maximum, which reveals weaker vertical convection during the period of greatest dust storm intensity, while the turbulence intensity contrarily increases, which may result in more entrainment of surface dust. The analysis results also show that the standard deviations of the longitudinal and vertical velocities increase as the mean inflow velocity increases, but the standard deviation of the lateral velocity is hardly affected by the mean inflow velocity. Based on the calculated skewness and kurtosis of the longitudinal, vertical and lateral velocities every 20 min at different heights, it is seen that all three components obviously fluctuate with height, which further indicates the importance of performing real-time and synchronous measurements at different heights near the surface during a dust storm so as to reveal the three-dimensional turbulence structure accurately.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Xu Q Y, Hu J S. Features of spatial and temporal distributions of the dust storms in northwest China. Quart J Appl Meteor, 1996, 7: 479–482

    Google Scholar 

  2. Zhang Z C, Dong Z B, Zhao A G. The trend of near surface meteorological elements and sediment flux in the spring of 2006. Chinese Sci Bull, 2008, 53: 1953–1960

    Google Scholar 

  3. Zhang R J, Han Z W, Shen Z X, et al. Continuous measurement of number concentrations and elemental composition of aerosol particles for a dust storm event in Beijing. Adv Atmosph Sci, 2008, 25: 89–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Zheng Y, Zhang S H. The magnetic properties and environmental significance of dust and surface soil in Beijing city. Chinese Sci Bull, 2007, 52: 2399–2406

    Google Scholar 

  5. Sun Y L, Zhuang G S, Yuan H, et al. Analysis of the physical and chemical characteristics, composition and source of the 2002 big dust storm in Beijing. Chinese Sci Bull, 2004, 49: 340–346

    Google Scholar 

  6. Kayetha V K, Senthilkumar J, Prasad A K, et al. Effect of dust storm on ocean color and snow parameters. J Ind Soc Remote Sens, 2007, 35: 1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Jiao M Y, Zhou Z J. Monitoring and warning of dust storms in China. Eng Sci, 2003, 5: 1–6

    Google Scholar 

  8. Peng Z, Liu X M, Hong Z X, et al. Characteristics of atmospheric boundary-layer structure and turbulent flux transfer during a strong dust storm weather process over Beijing area. Clim Environ Res, 2007, 5: 267–276

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cheng X L, Zeng Q C, Hu F, et al. Gustiness and coherent structure of strong wind in the atmospheric boundary layer. Clim Environ Res, 2007, 12: 227–243

    Google Scholar 

  10. Zeng Q, Cheng X, Hu F, et al. Gustiness and coherent structure of strong wind and their role in the dust emission and entrainment. Adv Atmosph Sci, 2010, 27: 1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Zhu J, Lin C Y, Wang Z F. Dust storm ensemble forecast experiments in east Asia. Adv Atmosph Sci, 2009, 26: 1053–1070

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Wang H, Gong S L, Zhang H L, et al. A new-generation sand and dust storm forecasting system GRAPES_CUACE/Dust: Model development, verification and numerical simulation. Chinese Sci Bull, 2010, 55: 635–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Kaimal J C, Finnigan J J. Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows: Their Structure and Measurement. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994

    Google Scholar 

  14. Li X Y, He Q, Huang S P, et al. Characteristics of meteorological elements in the surface layer before and after a severe sandstorm in the Taklimakan Desert Hinterland, Southern Xinjiang, China. Plat Meteor, 2009, 6: 652–662

    Google Scholar 

  15. Hu Z Y, Huang R H, Wei G A, et al. Variations of surface atmospheric variables and energy budget during a sandstorm passing Dunhuang on June 6 of 2000. Chin J Atmosph Sci, 2002, 26: 1–8

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Western Disaster and Environment, School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    XiaoJing Zheng & JingHong Zhang

Authors
  1. XiaoJing Zheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. JingHong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to XiaoJing Zheng.

About this article

Cite this article

Zheng, X., Zhang, J. Characteristics of near-surface turbulence during a dust storm passing Minqin on March 19, 2010. Chin. Sci. Bull. 55, 3107–3112 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-010-4091-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-010-4091-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation