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Links between observed micro-meteorological variability and land-use patterns in the highveld priority area of South Africa |
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| Authors: | Igor Esau Philbert Luhunga George Djolov C J de W Rautenbach Sergej Zilitinkevich |
| Institution: | 1. Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, G.C. Rieber Climate Institute, Thormohlensgt. 47, 5006, Bergen, Norway 2. Centre for Climate Dynamics (SKD), Bergen, Norway 3. Department of Radiophysics, University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 4. Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa 5. Finnish Meteorological Institute, Erik Palmenin aukio 1, PL 503, 00101, Helsinki, Finland 6. Division of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland |
| Abstract: | Links between spatial and temporal variability of Planetary Boundary Layer meteorological quantities and existing land-use patterns are still poorly understood due to the non-linearity of air–land interaction processes. This study describes the results of a statistical analysis of meteorological observations collected by a network of ten Automatic Weather Stations. The stations were in operation in the highveld priority area of the Republic of South Africa during 2008–2010. The analysis revealed localization, enhancement and homogenization in the inter-station variability of observed meteorological quantities (temperature, relative humidity and wind speed) over diurnal and seasonal cycles. Enhancement of the meteorological spatial variability was found on a broad range of scales from 20 to 50?km during morning hours and in the dry winter season. These spatial scales are comparable to scales of observed land-use heterogeneity, which suggests links between atmospheric variability and land-use patterns through excitation of horizontal meso-scale circulations. Convective motions homogenized and synchronized meteorological variability during afternoon hours in the winter seasons, and during large parts of the day during the moist summer season. The analysis also revealed that turbulent convection overwhelms horizontal meso-scale circulations in the study area during extensive parts of the annual cycle. |
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