Study on Physical Mechanism of Influence on Atmospheric Boundary Layer Depth in the Arid Regions of Northwest China

Using the sounding data of wind, temperature, and humidity in the boundary layer and micrometeorological data on the earth's surface observed in the same period in Dunhuang arid region of Northwest China,this paper researches characteristics of potential temperature, wind, and humidity profiles, confirms the structure and depth of thermodynamic boundary layer in Dunhuang region, and analyzses the relationship of depth of thermodynamic boundary layer with surface radiation, buoyancy flux as well as wind speed and wind direction shear in the boundary layer. The results show that the maximum depth of diurnal convective boundary layer is basically above 2000 m during the observational period, many times even in excess of 3000 m and sometimes up to 4000 m; the depth of nocturnal stable boundary layer basically maintains within a range of 1000-1500 m. As a whole, the depth of atmospheric boundary layer is obviously bigger than those results observed in other regions before. By analyzing, a preliminary judgement is that the depth of atmospheric thermodynamic boundary layer in Dunhuang region may relate to local especial radiation characteristics, surface properties (soil moisture content and heat capacity) as well as wind velocity shear of boundary layer, and these properties have formed strong buoyancy flux and dynamic forcing in a local region which are fundamental causes for producing a super deep atmospheric boundary layer.