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2018-10-11 manager number of times read

Introduction

Pingliang Land Surface Process & Sever Weather Research Station (“Pingliang Station” for short), formerly known as "Pingliang Lightning & Hail Research Station", is located at Baimiao of Pingliang city, Gansu Province (106 ° 41' E ,35 ° 34 ' N, 1630 a.s.l) about eight kilometers from the downtown. It is located in the east foothill of the famous Liupanshan Mountains and the upper stream of Jing river of the Loess Plateau. Pingliang station leads one of the six special observation networks of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, i.e. the Land Surface Process Observation Network (LASON). The observation, experiment and research activities focus on the land-atmosphere interactions over the Loess Plateau and its relationship with the occurrence and development of the severe weather. Research subjects include land-atmosphere interaction and atmospheric boundary layer, lightning physics and detection technology, radar meteorology and weather modification. The scientific objects are: 1) to solve the scientific problems related to the land surface processes and severe weather in the Loess Plateau and their interactions; 2) to develop new technologies and methods for the detection, early warning and prevention of severe weather such as thunderstorms and hail; 3) to achieve a breakthrough in the theory or understanding of key processes of land-surface interactions and severe weather; 4) to achieve breakthroughs in monitoring and warning technologies of severe weather such as thunderstorm and hail.

Geophysical location

Pingliang Land Surface Process & Sever Weather Research Station (“Pingliang Station” for short) is located at Baimiao mesa of Pingliang city, Gansu Province (106 ° 41' E, 35 ° 34 ' N, 1630 a.s.l) about eight kilometers from the downtown. It is located in the east foothill of the famous Liupanshan Mountains and the upper stream of Jing river of the Loess Plateau. Baimiao mesa is a typical loess mesa in Pingliang area. It has a long structure with a width of several kilometers to more than 10 kilometers and a length of more than 40 kilometers.

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Pingliang station is located in the loess plateau hinterland which consists of diverse landscapes including the loess mesa, lowland, gully, hill, loess ridge, continuous knoll, dry gulch, flat ground, loess terrace and other land surface types. The station is located in a semiarid climate zone, at the edge of the East Asian summer monsoon affected area. The northward and westward extension of the East Asian summer monsoon is blocked by the Liupanshan mountains and makes the area prone to disastrous weather such as hailstorms and thunderstorms and an ideal area for monitoring and studying the formation mechanism and detection technology of hailstorms and thunderstorms.

Research

Research subjects include land-atmosphere interaction and atmospheric boundary layer, lightning physics and detection technology, radar meteorology and weather modification. Observations include climate change, micrometeorological process, surface radiation balance, energy and water fluxes, precipitation, soil temperature and moisture, atmospheric boundary layer profiling and convection weather process.

1.     Land-atmosphere interaction and atmospheric boundary layer

 Field observations, satellite remote sensing and numerical simulations are used to obtain the land-surface parameters, understand the land-atmosphere energy and water exchange processes and atmospheric boundary layer turbulence characteristics over complex terrain, and improve land-surface models to reveal the relationship between land-atmosphere exchange process and the occurrence and development of disastrous weather over complex terrain.

2.     Lightning physics and detection technology

The three-dimensional lightning detection technology will be improved and developed to track thunderstorms and study lightning characteristics, the three-dimensional spatiotemporal evolution of lightning discharge and the charge structure of thunderstorms will be investigated to reveal the charging processes of thunderstorms, lightning initiation and transmission mechanisms.

3.     Radar meteorology and weather modification

The dual-channel polarimetric Doppler radar is used to study the content of cloud liquid water, estimate regional precipitation, identify hail cloud and guide weather modification, to develop new technologies and methods for the detection, early warning and prevention of severe convection weather such as thunderstorm and hail.


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