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DOI | 10.5194/acp-20-2263-2020 |
Conceptual model of diurnal cycle of low-level stratiform clouds over southern West Africa | |
Lohou F.; Kalthoff N.; Adler B.; Babić K.; Dione C.; Lothon M.; Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia X.; Zouzoua M. | |
发表日期 | 2020 |
ISSN | 1680-7316 |
起始页码 | 2263 |
结束页码 | 2275 |
卷号 | 20期号:4 |
英文摘要 | The DACCIWA (Dynamics Aerosol Chemistry Cloud Interactions in West Africa) project and the associated ground-based field experiment, which took place during summer 2016, provided a comprehensive dataset on the low-level stratiform clouds (LLSCs), which develop almost every night over southern West Africa. The LLSCs, inaccurately represented in climate and weather forecasts, form in the monsoon flow during the night and break up during the following morning or afternoon, affecting considerably the radiation budget. Several published studies give an overview of the measurements during the campaign, analyse the dynamical features in which the LLSCs develop, and quantify the processes involved in the LLSC formation. Based on the main results of these studies and new analyses, we propose in this paper a conceptual model of the diurnal cycle of the LLSCs over southern West Africa. Four main phases compose the diurnal cycle of the LLSC. The stable and the jet phases are the two steps during which the relative humidity increases, due to cooling of the air, until the air is saturated and the LLSCs form. Horizontal advection of cold air from the Guinean coast by the maritime inflow and the nocturnal low-level jet (NLLJ) represents 50 % of the local total cooling. The remaining half is mainly due to divergence of net radiation and turbulence flux. The third step of the LLSC diurnal cycle is the stratus phase, which starts during the night and lasts until the onset of surface-buoyancy-driven turbulence on the following day. During the stratus phase, interactions between the LLSCs and the NLLJ lead to a modification of the wind speed vertical profile in the cloud layer, and a mixing of the sub-cloud layer by shear-driven turbulence below the NLLJ core. The breakup of the LLSC occurs during the convective phase and follows three different scenarios which depend on the intensity of the turbulence observed during the night in the sub-cloud layer. The breakup time has a considerable impact on the energy balance of the Earth's surface and, consequently, on the depth of the convective boundary layer, which could vary by a factor of 2 from day-to-day. © 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. |
语种 | 英语 |
scopus关键词 | diurnal variation; energy balance; radiation budget; relative humidity; stratiform cloud; turbulence; West Africa |
来源期刊 | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
条目标识符 | http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/141527 |
作者单位 | Laboratoire d'Aérologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, UPS, France; Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany; Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands; Felix Houphouët Boigny University, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Lohou F.,Kalthoff N.,Adler B.,et al. Conceptual model of diurnal cycle of low-level stratiform clouds over southern West Africa[J],2020,20(4). |
APA | Lohou F..,Kalthoff N..,Adler B..,Babić K..,Dione C..,...&Zouzoua M..(2020).Conceptual model of diurnal cycle of low-level stratiform clouds over southern West Africa.Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics,20(4). |
MLA | Lohou F.,et al."Conceptual model of diurnal cycle of low-level stratiform clouds over southern West Africa".Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 20.4(2020). |
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