Fennec - The Saharan Climate System

耳廓狐 - 撒哈拉气候系统

基本信息

批准号：
NE/G017166/1
负责人：
Douglas Parker
金额：
$ 115.81万
依托单位：
University of Leeds
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2010
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2010 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FG017166%2F1
关键词：
Fennec Saharan Climate System

项目摘要

The central Sahara has one of the most extreme climates on Earth. During the northern summer months, a large low pressure system caused by intense sunshine develops over a huge, largely uninhabited expanse of northern Mali, southern Algeria and eastern Mauritania. Temperatures in the high 40s are normal and uplift of dry air through more than 6000m of the atmosphere is routine in what is thought to be the deepest such layer on the planet. This large zone is also where the thickest layer of dust anywhere in the Earth's atmosphere is to be found. Although the central Sahara is extremely remote, it turns out to be vitally important to the world's weather and climate. The large low pressure system drives the West African Monsoon and the dry, dusty air layers are closely related to the tropical cyclones which form over the Atlantic Ocean. Likewise, the dusty air has a strong influence on the way the atmosphere is heated, a process which is poorly understood. It is not surprising that the models we use to predict weather and climate and which are a crucial tool for understanding how the atmosphere works, all have problems in dealing with the central Sahara. Insights into how the climate system works, improving the models and therefore the predictions have all been held back in the case of the Sahara by a lack of measurements of the atmosphere and the processes that make dust and extreme weather. This will always be the case until a team goes to the central Sahara and makes these measurements. A key part of this proposal aims to do just that. We want to set up an array of special instruments, at the surface in two carefully chosen places in the central Sahara, which will monitor the winds, temperatures, dust and so on for an entire year. We will add to this collection for a shorter period of even more intense measurements during the core summer month of June. We plan also to fly a instruments attached to an aeroplane overhead the surface array and across the desert so that we can get an idea of the structure of the atmosphere and how it changes through the day. To find out how dust storms work, we will leave 10 weather stations at places where we think dust storms happen frequently. Satellites play an essential role in measuring weather and climate and are especially useful in remote places. The best available information from satellites will help to quantify how weather and climate works in the Sahara. We also expect to improve the way the satellites are able to make their measurements too. Because models are so important to understanding and predicting weather, we will make heavy use of them in this work. We want to know how well the models work over the Sahara and what can be done to improve them. We are especially interested in seeing whether the models work better if we allow them to deal with small parts of the climate system or whether we can still represent extreme places in the Sahara by ignoring these details in the models.

撒哈拉中部是地球上最极端的气候之一。在北部夏季，由于强烈的阳光造成的巨大低压系统在北马里北部，阿尔及利亚南部和毛里塔尼亚东部的巨大，无人居住的地方发展。 40s的高温是正常的，并且通过超过6000m大气的干燥空气是常规的，这是地球上最深的这样的层。这个大区域也是地球大气中最厚的灰尘层的地方。尽管撒哈拉中部非常遥远，但事实证明这对世界的天气和气候至关重要。大型低压系统驱动西非季风，干燥的，尘土飞扬的空气层与在大西洋上形成的热带气旋密切相关。同样，尘土飞扬的空气对大气的加热方式也有很大的影响，这一过程知之甚少。毫不奇怪，我们用来预测天气和气候的模型，哪些是了解大气如何工作的关键工具，所有这些工具都在与撒哈拉中部打交道时都有问题。在撒哈拉沙漠的情况下，由于缺乏对大气的测量以及使尘埃和极端天气的过程的测量，对气候系统的工作原理，改善模型的工作方式，改善模型的洞察力。在团队前往撒哈拉中部并进行这些测量之前，情况将永远如此。该提案的关键部分旨在这样做。我们想在撒哈拉中部的两个精心挑选的地方放置一系列特殊乐器，这些乐器将监视整整一年的风，温度，灰尘等。在六月的核心夏季月份，我们将在更短的时间内添加更短的测量。我们还计划将附着在飞机上的乐器飞到表面阵列上并越过沙漠，以便我们可以了解大气的结构以及一天的变化。为了了解沙尘暴的工作原理，我们将在我们认为尘土暴风雨经常发生的地方留下10个气象站。卫星在测量天气和气候中起着至关重要的作用，并且在偏远的地方特别有用。来自卫星的最佳可用信息将有助于量化撒哈拉沙漠中天气和气候的运作方式。我们还希望改善卫星能够进行测量的方式。由于模型对于理解和预测天气非常重要，因此我们将在这项工作中大量使用它们。我们想知道这些模型对撒哈拉沙漠的运作效果如何，以及如何改善它们。如果我们允许它们处理气候系统的一小部分，或者是否仍然可以通过忽略模型中的这些细节，我们仍然可以看模型是否效果更好，或者是否仍然可以代表撒哈拉的极端位置，我们特别有兴趣查看模型是否效果更好。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（10）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Dust detection from ground-based observations in the summer global dust maximum: Results from Fennec 2011 and 2012 and implications for modeling and field observations

夏季全球沙尘暴最大值期间地面观测的沙尘检测：2011 年和 2012 年 Fennec 的结果以及对建模和现场观测的影响

DOI：
10.1002/2014jd022655
发表时间：
2015
期刊：
Atmospheres
影响因子：
0
作者：
Allen C
通讯作者：
Allen C

An automated dust detection using SEVIRI: A multiyear climatology of summertime dustiness in the central and western Sahara

DOI：
10.1029/2011jd016845
发表时间：
2012-04-25
期刊：
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
影响因子：
4.4
作者：
Ashpole, Ian;Washington, Richard
通讯作者：
Washington, Richard

Intraseasonal variability and atmospheric controls on daily dust occurrence frequency over the central and western Sahara during the boreal summer

北半球夏季期间撒哈拉中西部每日沙尘发生频率的季节内变化和大气控制

DOI：
10.1002/2013jd020267
发表时间：
2013
期刊：
Atmospheres
影响因子：
0
作者：
Ashpole I
通讯作者：
Ashpole I

The Harmattan over West Africa: nocturnal structure and frontogenesis

西非上空的哈马坦：夜间结构和锋生

DOI：
10.1002/qj.2036
发表时间：
2012
期刊：
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
影响因子：
8.9
作者：
Burton R
通讯作者：
Burton R

Aircraft-based observations and high-resolution simulations of an Icelandic dust storm

DOI：
10.5194/acp-12-10649-2012
发表时间：
2012-11
期刊：
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
影响因子：
6.3
作者：
A. Blechschmidt;J. Kristjánsson;H. Ólafsson;J. Burkhart;Ø. Hodnebrog;P. Rosenberg
通讯作者：
A. Blechschmidt;J. Kristjánsson;H. Ólafsson;J. Burkhart;Ø. Hodnebrog;P. Rosenberg