Changes in wind speed under heat waves enhance urban heat islands in the Beijing Metropolitan Area

The interaction between urban heat islands (UHIs) and heat waves (HWs) is studied using measurements collected at two towers in the Beijing, China, metropolitan area and an analytical model. Measurements show that 1) the positive interaction between UHIs and HWs not only exists at the surface but also persists to higher levels (up to ~70 m) and 2) the urban wind speed is enhanced by HWs during daytime but reduced during nighttime as compared with its rural counterpart. A steady-state advection–diffusion model coupled to the surface energy balance equation is then employed to understand the implication of changes in wind speed on UHIs, which reveals that the observed changes in wind speed positively contribute to the interaction between UHIs and HWs in both daytime and nighttime. The vertical structure of the positive interaction between UHIs and HWs is thus likely an outcome resulting from a combination of changes in the surface energy balance and wind profile

Decipher the sensitivity of urban canopy air temperature to anthropogenic heat flux with a forcing-feedback framework

The sensitivity of urban canopy air temperature (Ta) to anthropogenic heat flux (QAH) is known to vary with space and time, but the key factors controlling such spatiotemporal variabilities remain elusive. To quantify the contributions of different physical processes to the magnitude and variability of ∆Ta/∆QAH (where ∆ represents a change), we develop a forcing-feedback framework based on the energy budget of air within the urban canopy layer and apply it to diagnosing ∆Ta/∆QAH simulated by the Community Land Model Urban (CLMU) over the contiguous United States (CONUS). In summer, the median ∆Ta/∆QAH is around 0.01 K (W m-2)-1over CONUS. Besides the direct effect of QAH on Ta, there are important feedbacks through changes in the surface temperature, the atmosphere-canopy air heat conductance (ca), and the surface-canopy air heat conductance. The positive and negative feedbacks nearly cancel each other and ∆Ta/∆QAH is mostly controlled by the direct effect in summer. In winter, ∆Ta/∆QAH becomes stronger, with the median value increased by about 20% due to weakened negative feedback associated with ca. The spatial and temporal (both seasonal and diurnal) of ∆Ta/∆QAH and the nonlinear response of ∆Ta to ∆QAH are strongly related to the variability of ca, highlighting the importance of correctly parameterizing convective heat transfer in urban canopy models

Contrasting responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to heat waves explain synergies between urban heat islands and heat waves

Heat waves (HWs) are projected to become more frequent and last longer over most land areas in the late 21st century, which raises serious public health concerns. Urban residents face higher health risks due to synergies between HWs and urban heat islands (UHIs) (i.e., UHIs are higher under HW conditions). However, the responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to HWs are still largely unknown. This study analyzes observations from two flux towers in Beijing, China and reveals significant differences between the responses of urban and rural (cropland) ecosystems to HWs. It is found that UHIs increase significantly during HWs, especially during the nighttime, implying synergies between HWs and UHIs. Results indicate that the urban site receives more incoming shortwave radiation and longwave radiation due to HWs as compared to the rural site, resulting in a larger radiative energy input into the urban surface energy budget. Changes in turbulent heat fluxes also diverge strongly for the urban site and the rural site: latent heat fluxes increase more significantly at the rural site due to abundant available water, while sensible heat fluxes and possibly heat storage increase more at the urban site. These comparisons suggest that the contrasting responses of urban and rural surface energy budgets to HWs are responsible for the synergies between HWs and UHIs. As a result, urban mitigation and adaption strategies such as the use of green roofs and white roofs are needed in order to mitigate the impact of these synergies

Reduced MLH3 Expression in the Syndrome of Gan-Shen Yin Deficiency in Patients with Different Diseases

Traditional Chinese medicine formulates treatment according to body constitution (BC) differentiation. Different constitutions have specific metabolic characteristics and different susceptibility to certain diseases. This study aimed to assess the characteristic genes of gan-shen Yin deficiency constitution in different diseases. Fifty primary liver cancer (PLC) patients, 94 hypertension (HBP) patients, and 100 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients were enrolled and classified into gan-shen Yin deficiency group and non-gan-shen Yin deficiency group according to the body constitution questionnaire to assess the clinical manifestation of patients. The mRNA expressions of 17 genes in PLC patients with gan-shen Yin deficiency were different from those without gan-shen Yin deficiency. However, considering all patients with PLC, HBP, and DM, only MLH3 was significantly lower in gan-shen Yin deficiency group than that in non-gen-shen Yin deficiency. By ROC analysis, the relationship between MLH3 and gan-shen Yin deficiency constitution was confirmed. Treatment of MLH3 (−/− and −/+) mice with Liuweidihuang wan, classical prescriptions for Yin deficiency, partly ameliorates the body constitution of Yin deficiency in MLH3 (−/+) mice, but not in MLH3 (−/−) mice. MLH3 might be one of material bases of gan-shen Yin deficiency constitution

RAINFALL AND EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION OF TROPICAL CYCLONES: SIMULATION, PREDICTION, AND PROJECTION

Rainfall and associated flood hazards are one of the major threats of tropical cyclones (TCs) to coastal and inland regions. The interaction of TCs with extratropical systems can lead to enhanced precipitation over enlarged areas through extratropical transition (ET). To achieve a comprehensive understanding of rainfall and ET associated with TCs, this thesis conducts weather-scale analyses by focusing on individual storms and climate-scale analyses by focusing on seasonal predictability and changing properties of climatology under global warming. The temporal and spatial rainfall evolution of individual storms, including Hurricane Irene (2011), Hurricane Hanna (2008), and Hurricane Sandy (2012), is explored using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model and a variety of hydrometeorological datasets. ET and Orographic mechanism are two key players in the rainfall distribution of Irene over regions experiencing most severe flooding. The change of TC rainfall under global warming is explored with the Forecast-oriented Low Ocean Resolution (FLOR) climate model under representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario. Despite decreased TC frequency, FLOR projects increased landfalling TC rainfall over most regions of eastern United States, highlighting the risk of increased flood hazards. Increased storm rain rate is an important player of increased landfalling TC rainfall. A higher atmospheric resolution version of FLOR (HiFLOR) model projects increased TC rainfall at global scales. The increase of TC intensity and environmental water vapor content scaled by the Clausius-Clapeyron relation are two key factors that explain the projected increase of TC rainfall. Analyses on the simulation, prediction, and projection of the ET activity with FLOR are conducted in the North Atlantic. FLOR model exhibits good skills in simulating many aspects of present-day ET climatology. The 21st-century-projection under RCP4.5 scenario demonstrates the dominant role of ET events on the projected increase of TC frequency in the eastern North Atlantic, highlighting increased exposure of the northeastern United States and Western Europe to storm hazards. Retrospective seasonal forecast experiments demonstrate the skill of HiFLOR in predicting basinwide and regional ET frequency. This skill, however, is not seen in the seasonal prediction of ET rate. More work on the property of signal-to-noise ratio of ET rate is needed

Extreme rainfall from Hurricane Harvey (2017): Empirical intercomparisons of WRF simulations and polarimetric radar fields

We examine extreme rainfall from Hurricane Harvey (2017) based on empirical analyses from polarimetric radar observations as well as high-resolution model simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). Spatial and temporal structures of extreme rainfall from Hurricane Harvey were characterized using a dense network of rain gauges and high-resolution radar rainfall fields. Numerical simulations using two different microphysical parameterizations, the WRF 6-class single-moment (WSM6) scheme and Morrison double-moment scheme, were employed, together with an additional simulation using the hail version of the Morrison microphysical scheme. Extreme rainfall from Hurricane Harvey is closely tied to the structure and evolution of outer rainbands. Intercomparisons of the simulated and observed polarimetric radar variables show contrasts and similarities of different microphysical schemes in representing critical microphysical processes for extreme rainfall. All three WRF simulations overestimate the frequency of larger rain drops, but exhibit comparable signatures of specific differential phase to observations. The WSM6 simulation shows strong convection that leads to the largest coverage of convective rainfall over outer rainbands of all three WRF simulations. We highlight the capabilities of atmospheric model simulations and improved quantitative rainfall estimates in characterizing key features of extreme rainfall from landfalling TCs as well as critical storm ingredients that produce them

Projection of Landfalling–Tropical Cyclone Rainfall in the Eastern United States under Anthropogenic Warming

Landfalling–tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall is an important element of inland flood hazards in the eastern United States. The projection of landfalling-TC rainfall under anthropogenic warming provides insight into future flood risks. This study examines the frequency of landfalling TCs and associated rainfall using the GFDL Forecast-Oriented Low Ocean Resolution (FLOR) climate model through comparisons with observed TC track and rainfall over the July–November 1979–2005 seasons. The projection of landfalling-TC frequency and rainfall under the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario for the late twenty-first century is explored, including an assessment of the impacts of extratropical transition (ET). In most regions of the southeastern United States, competition between increased storm rain rate and decreased storm frequency dominates the change of annual TC rainfall, and rainfall from ET and non-ET storms. In the northeastern United States, a prominent feature is the striking increase of ET-storm frequency but with tropical characteristics (i.e., prior to the ET phase), a key element of increased rainfall. The storm-centered rainfall composite analyses show the greatest increase at a radius of a few hundred kilometers from the storm centers. Over both ocean and land, the increase of rainfall within 500 km from the storm center exceeds the Clausius–Clapeyron scaling for TC-phase storms. Similar results are found in the front-left quadrant of ET-phase storms. Future work involving explorations of multiple models (e.g., higher atmospheric resolution version of the FLOR model) for TC-rainfall projection is expected to add more robustness to projection results