scholarly journals Impacts of Land Cover Change on the Near-Surface Temperature in the North China Plain

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruijie Qu ◽  
Xiaolin Cui ◽  
Haiming Yan ◽  
Enjun Ma ◽  
Jinyan Zhan

This study first tested and verified the ability of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the near-surface temperature in the North China Plain. Then the static land cover data in the WRF were replaced, and thereafter the modified WRF model was used to explore the impacts of land cover change on the near-surface temperature in the North China Plain in year 1992 and year 2005. The results indicated that the land cover change in the North China Plain, which was characterized by the regional urbanization, had led to significant changes in the near-surface temperature, increasing the regional near-surface temperature by 0.03°C/year on average. The spatial pattern of the climate change basically corresponded to that of the land cover change; for example, the temperature increased most significantly in the regions mainly consisting of cities and built-up area. Besides, there were some variations in the degree and range of influence of the land cover change on the temperature among seasons. The result can provide important theoretical support for the adaptation to climate change, scientific land cover change management, and land use planning.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingchen Ma ◽  
Yang Gao ◽  
Yuhang Wang ◽  
Shaoqing Zhang ◽  
L. Ruby Leung ◽  
...  

Abstract. In the summer of 2017, heavy ozone pollution swamped most of the North China Plain (NCP), with the maximum regional average of daily maximum 8-h ozone concentration (MDA8) reaching almost 120 ppbv. In light of the continuing reduction of anthropogenic emissions in China, the underlying mechanisms for the occurrences of these regional extreme ozone episodes are elucidated from two perspectives: meteorology and biogenic emissions. The significant positive correlation between MDA8 and temperature, which is amplified during heat waves concomitant with stagnant air and no precipitation, supports the crucial role of meteorology in driving high ozone concentrations. We also find that biogenic emissions are enhanced due to factors previously not considered. During the heavy ozone pollution episodes in June 2017, biogenic emissions driven by high vapor pressure deficit (VPD), land cover change and urban landscape yield an extra mean MDA8 ozone of 3.08, 2.79 and 4.74 ppbv, respectively over the NCP, which together contribute as much to MDA8 ozone as biogenic emissions simulated using the land cover of 2003 and ignoring VPD and urban landscape. In Beijing, the biogenic emission increase due to urban landscape has a comparable effect on MDA8 ozone to the combined effect of high VPD and land cover change between 2003 and 2016. This study highlights the vital contributions of heat waves, land cover change and urbanization to the occurrence of extreme ozone episode, with significant implications for ozone pollution control in a future when heat wave frequency and intensity are projected to increase under global warming.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (13) ◽  
pp. 8703-8719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiarui Wu ◽  
Naifang Bei ◽  
Bo Hu ◽  
Suixin Liu ◽  
Meng Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract. Atmospheric aerosols scatter or absorb a fraction of the incoming solar radiation to cool or warm the atmosphere, decreasing surface temperature and altering atmospheric stability to further affect the dispersion of air pollutants in the planetary boundary layer (PBL). In the present study, simulations during a persistent and heavy haze pollution episode from 5 December 2015 to 4 January 2016 in the North China Plain (NCP) were performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) to comprehensively quantify contributions of aerosol shortwave radiative feedback (ARF) to near-surface (around 15 m above the ground surface) PM2.5 mass concentrations. The WRF-Chem model generally performs well in simulating the temporal variations and spatial distributions of air pollutants concentrations compared to observations at ambient monitoring sites in the NCP, and the simulated diurnal variations of aerosol species are also consistent with the measurements in Beijing. Additionally, the model simulates the aerosol radiative properties, the downward shortwave flux, and the PBL height against observations in the NCP well. During the episode, ARF deteriorates the haze pollution, increasing the near-surface PM2.5 concentrations in the NCP by 10.2 µg m−3 or with a contribution of 7.8 % on average. Sensitivity studies have revealed that high loadings of PM2.5 attenuate the incoming solar radiation reaching the surface to cool the low-level atmosphere, suppressing the development of the PBL, decreasing the surface wind speed, further hindering the PM2.5 dispersion, and consequently exacerbating the haze pollution in the NCP. Furthermore, when the near-surface PM2.5 mass concentration increases from around 50 to several hundred µg m−3, ARF contributes to the near-surface PM2.5 by more than 20 % during daytime in the NCP, substantially aggravating the heavy haze formation. However, when the near-surface PM2.5 concentration is less than around 50 µg m−3, ARF generally reduces the near-surface PM2.5 concentration due to the consequent perturbation of atmospheric dynamic fields.


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