Comparison of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Height Inversion Methods over Typical Areas of the Loess Plateau 

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  • 1. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science and Frozen Soil EngineeringNorthwest Institute of Eco-Environment and ResourcesChinese Academy of SciencesLanzhou 730000GansuChina
    2. University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing 100049China
    3. Pingliang Land Surface Process and Severe Weather Research StationPingliang 744015GansuChina
    4. Gansu Land Surface Process and Severe Weather Observation and Research StationPingliang 744015GansuChina
    5. Key Laboratory for Arid Climate Change and Disaster Reduction of Gansu ProvinceLanzhou Institute of Arid MeteorologyNorthwestern Regional Center of Numerical Weather PredictionKey Open Laboratory for Arid Climate Change and Disaster Reduction of the China Meteorological AdministrationLanzhou 730020GansuChina

Online published: 2025-04-29

Abstract

The atmospheric boundary layer heightABLHis one of the most important parameters in the study of atmospheric environmentweather and climate. With the development of ground-based remote sensing technologycontinuous monitoring of ABLH has become possible. Howeverthe ABLH derived based on groundbased remote sensing depends on the inversion method used and is affected by complex atmospheric conditions. In this studywe use the data from ceilometer and rain gaugeweather records from 27th August 2020 to 1st Au‐ gust 2023 and radiosonding records obtained during the 2023 summer extensive observation period at the Pingliang Land Surface Process and Severe Weather Research StationChinese Academy of Sciences. The effective‐ ness of several commonly used algorithms for inverting ABLH based on backscatter profiles from ceilometer are evaluated by comparing with the ABLH identified by potential temperature profiles. A hybrid algorithm that employs different backscatter gradient inversion methods for daytime08:00Beijing timesame as after-19:00and nighttimefrom 20:00 to 07:00 the next dayis proposed with constrained retrieval heights tailored for the study area. The results reveal notable differences in the inversion results among various algorithmsincluding the maximum negative gradient methodthe three-major negative gradient evaluation methodthe percentage fluctuation methodthe inflection point methodand the Flamant method. Specificallythe ABLHs derived by the Flamant methodthe three-major negative gradient evaluation methodand the maximum negative gradient method correlated well with that determined by the potential temperature profile and give lower mean absolute deviations. In contrastthe ABLHs derived by the inflection point method and the percentage fluctuation method give large absolute deviations. Appropriate smoothing of the backscatter profilescombined with the hybrid algorithmsignificantly improved the accuracy of the derived ABLH. Among the investigated methodsthe SG 25/ 25 smoothing scheme combined with the Flamant and maximum negative gradient hybrid algorithm yielded the best resultsachieving a correlation of 0. 56 with the ABLH determined by the potential temperature profile and an average absolute deviation of approximately 406 m. The correlation between the ABLHs derived from the hybrid algorithm and that from the ceilometer’s internal algorithm is 0. 64. The hybrid algorithm can effectively capture the diurnal variation of ABLH. The proposed hybrid algorithm can be used to obtain continuoushighresolution ABLH informationserving as a valuable supplementary method for obtaining fundamental data on ABLH and related parameters.

Cite this article

ZHANG Xiang, YU Ye, DONG Longxiang, ZHAO Guo, MA Teng, QI Shaofeng, ZHAO Suping, LI Jianglin, ZHANG Tong . Comparison of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Height Inversion Methods over Typical Areas of the Loess Plateau [J]. Plateau Meteorology, 0 : 1 . DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-0534.2025.00032

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