Abstract
The present study examined the diurnal variations of summer precipitation in the Beijing area by using subdaily precipitation and wind observations. A combined effect of topography and urbanization on the characteristics of diurnal variations was suggested. It was shown that stations located in the plain area exhibited typical night rain peaks, whereas those in the mountainous area exhibited clear afternoon peaks of precipitation diurnal variations. The precipitation peaks were associated with wind fields around the Beijing area, which were found to be highly modulated by mountain-valley circulation and urban-country circulation. The lower-tropospheric wind exhibited a clear diurnal shift in its direction from north at 0800 LST to south at 2000 LST, which reflected mountain-valley circulation. The transitions from valley to mountain wind and the opposite generally happened after sunset and sunrise, respectively, and both occurred earlier for the stations located closer to mountains. By comparing the diurnal variations of precipitation at stations in a northeast suburb, an urban area, and a southwest suburb, it was revealed that the northeast suburb group had the highest normalized rainfall frequency, but the southwest group had the lowest from late afternoon to late evening. On the contrary, in the early morning from about 0200 to 1000 LST, the southwest group and urban group had the highest normalized rainfall frequency. This pattern might originate from the combined effects of mountain-valley topography and urbanization.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chen, G., W. M. Sha, and T. Iwasaki, 2009a: Diurnal variation of precipitation over southeastern China: Spatial distribution and its seasonality. J. Geophys. Res., 114, D13103, doi: 10.1029/2008JD011103.
Chen, G., W. M. Sha, and T. Iwasaki, 2009b: Diurnal variation of precipitation over southeastern China: 2. Impact of the diurnal monsoon variability. J. Geophys. Res., 114, D21105, doi: 10.1029/2009JD012181.
Chen, H. M., R. C. Yu, J. Li, W. H. Yuan, and T. J. Zhou, 2010: Why nocturnal long-duration rainfall presents an eastward delayed diurnal phase along the Yangtze River. J. Climate, 23(4), 905–917, doi: 10.1175/2009JCLI3187.1.
Collier, C. G., 2006: The impact of urban areas on weather. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 132(614), 1–25.
Fujibe, F., N. Yamazaki, and K. Kobayashi, 2006: Longterm changes in the diurnal precipitation cycles in Japan for 106 years (1898–2003). J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 84(2), 311–317.
Hu, X. M., S. H. Liu, F. M. Liang, J. H. Wang, H. P. Liu, Y. C. Wang, and J. Li., 2005: Observational study of wind fields, temperature fields over Beijing area in summer and winter. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium, Universitatis Pekinensis, 41(3), 399–407.
Jiang, X. Y., and W. D. Liu, 2007: Numerical simulation on impacts of urbanization on heavy rain in Beijing using different land use data. Acta Meteorologica Sinica, 21(2), 245–255.
Li, J., and W. J. Shu, 2008: Observation and analysis of nocturnal low-level jet characteristics over Beijing in summer. Chinese Journal of Geophysics, 51(2), 360–368. (in Chinese)
Li, J., R. C. Yu, and T. J. Zhou, 2008a: Seasonal variation of the diurnal cycle of rainfall in the southern contiguous China. J. Climate, 21, 6036–6043.
Li, J., R. C. Yu, and J. J. Wang, 2008b: Diurnal variations of summer precipitation in Beijing. Chinese Science Bulletin, 53(12), 1933–1936.
Lin, X. C., and S. Q. Yu, 2005: Interdecadal changes of temperature in the Beijing region and its heat island effect. Chinese Journal of Geophysics, 48(1), 39–45. (in Chinese)
Lin, Z. G., 1995: Topography-Induced Precipitation Climatology. Science Press, Beijing, 407pp. (in Chinese)
Sun, J. S., 2005: A study of the basic features and mechanism of boundary layer Jet in Beijing area. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 29(3), 445–451. (in Chinese)
Sun, J. S., and W. J. Shu, 2007: The effect of urban heat island on winter and summer precipitation in Beijing region. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 31(2), 311–320. (in Chinese)
Sun, J. S., and B. Yang, 2008: Meso-β scale torrential rain affected by topography and the urban circulation. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 32(6), 1352–1364. (in Chinese)
Wang, X. Q., Z. F. Wang, Y. B. Gong, and H. Guo, 2008a: Modulation of urban heat island circulation on mountain-plain wind in the Beijing area. Climatic and Environmental Research, 13(5), 639–644. (in Chinese)
Wang, X. Q., Z. F. Wang, Y. B. Qi, and H. Guo, 2008b: The effect of urban heat island on the distribution of winter precipitation in Beijing region. Science in China (D), 38(11), 1438–1442. (in Chinese)
Wang, X. R., W. G. Wang, H. Z. Liu, and H. Wang, 2008c: Beijing region precipitation feature and some statistics of relationship between it and SHWP. Plateau Meteorology, 27(4), 822–829. (in Chinese)
Wang, Y., and F. Hu, 2006: Variations of the urban heat island in summer of the recent 10 years over Beijing and its environment effect. Chinese Journal of Geophysics, 49(1), 61–68. (in Chinese)
Wu, Z. H., 1993: Climate analysis of summer short-period precipitation in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. Scientia Atmospherica Sinica, 17(3), 268–273. (in Chinese)
Yin, S. Q., D. Chen, and Y. Xie, 2009: Diurnal variations of precipitation during the warm season over China. Int. J. Climatol., 29(8), 1154–1170, doi: 10.1002/joc.1758.
Yu, R. C., J. Li, and H. M. Chen, 2009: Diurnal variation of surface wind over central eastern China. Climate Dyn., 33, 1089–1097, doi: 10.1007/s00382-008-0478-3.
Yu, R. C., T. J. Zhou, A. Y. Xiong, Y. J. Zhu, and J. Li, 2007a: Diurnal variations of summer precipitation over contiguous China. Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L01704, doi: 10.1029/2006GL028129.
Yu, R. C., Y. P. Xu, T. J. Zhou, and J. Li, 2007b: Relation between rainfall duration and diurnal variation in the warm season precipitation over central eastern China. Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L13703, doi: 10.1029/2007GL030315.
Zheng, S. Y., and S. H. Liu, 2008: Urbanization effect on climate in Beijing. Climatic and Environmental Research, 13(2), 123–133. (in Chinese)
Zhou, T. J., R. C. Yu, H. M. Chen, A. G. Dai, and Y. Pan, 2008: Summer precipitation frequency, intensity, and diurnal cycle over China: A comparison of satellite data with rain gauge observations. J. Climate, 21(16), 3997–4010.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yin, S., Li, W., Chen, D. et al. Diurnal variations of summer precipitation in the Beijing area and the possible effect of topography and urbanization. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 28, 725–734 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-010-9240-y
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-010-9240-y