A Preliminary Study on the Application of Remotely Sensed SST in Locating Evaporation Duct Height

摘要

Refractivity happens due to stratification in the lower boundary layer over oceans due to variability of moisture, temperature, wind and sea surface temperature which collectively may lead to generate evaporation duct. The evaporation duct has a significant impact on the spread of electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere over oceans both from the meteorological and military point of view. This ducting sometimes supports normal propagation of radar signals and sometimes may cause distortion and attenuation of signals depending on the height of evaporation duct. This leads to over-estimation and under-estimation of rainfall by weather radar meteorologically and for other targets militarily. The aim of this study was not only to locate evaporation duct height but also to check the efficiency of Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) and Babin's model so that results may be used in applying correction measures for precise identification of targets by radar. In this study by utilizing the high vertical resolution of WRF for the simulation of different meteorological parameters, the Babin's method was used for calculating the evaporation duct height over South China Sea for the two months, April and July. Very clear duct heights were calculated at different areas over sea in different time domains. Study reveals that maximum height existed in the month of April although July was rich with different EDHs in different regions in contrast to April. It was found that in most of the cases EDH was higher or maximum when relative humidity was comparatively lower and air temperature and wind speed were comparatively higher. This study paves a way for futuristic study of evaporation duct monitoring and forecasting by assimilation of remote sensing data especially through that of Geostationary satellites by incorporating verification measures from radar.