Impacts of oasis on the atmospheric hydrological cycle over the nearby desert

Qiang Zhang, Yuhe Nan, Sheng Wang

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DOI: 10.4236/ns.2010.27084                

Abstract

Using the data of “A field experiment on landatmosphere interaction over arid region in Northwest China” carried out in Dunhuang of Gansu Province from May to June 2000; Characteristics of the atmospheric humidity over desert and Gobi near oasis in the Northwest China Arid Region are analyzed. According to the difference of the characteristics in different wind directions, the impacts of oasis on atmospheric hydrological cycle over desert and Gobi near it are revealed. The relation of atmosphere inverse humidity and negative water vapor flux to wind direction and atmospheric stability is studied. It shows that distribution of the atmosphere inverse humidity is inconsistent with that of the negative water vapor flux; sometimes 1-hour-average value demonstrates the characteristic of counter-gradient transfer. And the diurnal variation of distribution of the counter-gradient transfer and the effect of atmospheric stability on the counter-gradient transfer are also given.

Keywords

Desert or Gobi; Hydrologic Cycle;Atmospheric Inverse Humidity; Negative Water Vapor Flux; Counter-Gradient Transfer

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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