Numerical Simulations of the Impacts of Mountain on Oasis Effects in Arid Central Asia
The oases in the mountain-basin systems of Central Asia are extremely fragile. Investigating oasis effects and oasis-desert interactions is important for understanding the ecological stability of oases. However, previous studies have been performed only in oasis-desert environments and have not cons...
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MDPI AG
2017-11-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/11/212 |
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| author | Miao Zhang Geping Luo Rafiq Hamdi Yuan Qiu Xinxin Wang Philippe De Maeyer Alishir Kurban |
| author_facet | Miao Zhang Geping Luo Rafiq Hamdi Yuan Qiu Xinxin Wang Philippe De Maeyer Alishir Kurban |
| author_sort | Miao Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The oases in the mountain-basin systems of Central Asia are extremely fragile. Investigating oasis effects and oasis-desert interactions is important for understanding the ecological stability of oases. However, previous studies have been performed only in oasis-desert environments and have not considered the impacts of mountains. In this study, oasis effects were explored in the context of mountain effects in the northern Tianshan Mountains (NTM) using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Four numerical simulations are performed. The def simulation uses the default terrestrial datasets provided by the WRF model. The mod simulation uses actual terrestrial datasets from satellite products. The non-oasis simulation is a scenario simulation in which oasis areas are replaced by desert conditions, while all other conditions are the same as the mod simulation. Finally, the non-mountain simulation is a scenario simulation in which the elevation values of all grids are set to a constant value of 300 m, while all other conditions are the same as in the mod simulation. The mod simulation agrees well with near-surface measurements of temperature, relative humidity and latent heat flux. The Tianshan Mountains exert a cooling and wetting effects in the NTM region. The oasis breeze circulation (OBC) between oases and the deserts is counteracted by the stronger background circulation. Thus, the self-supporting mechanism of oases originating from the OBC plays a limited role in maintaining the ecological stability of oases in this mountain-basin system. However, the mountain wind causes the “cold-wet’’ island effects of the oases to extend into the oasis-desert transition zone at night, which is beneficial for plants in the transition region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:46:01Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:46:01Z |
| publishDate | 2017-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-937b14afdfce49e88d2752e7464b6d172022-12-22T00:54:27ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332017-11-0181121210.3390/atmos8110212atmos8110212Numerical Simulations of the Impacts of Mountain on Oasis Effects in Arid Central AsiaMiao Zhang0Geping Luo1Rafiq Hamdi2Yuan Qiu3Xinxin Wang4Philippe De Maeyer5Alishir Kurban6State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi 830011, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi 830011, ChinaRoyal Meteorological Institute, Avenue Circulaire 3, B-1180 Brussels, BelgiumState Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi 830011, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi 830011, ChinaDepartment of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, S8, B-9000 Ghent, BelgiumState Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi 830011, ChinaThe oases in the mountain-basin systems of Central Asia are extremely fragile. Investigating oasis effects and oasis-desert interactions is important for understanding the ecological stability of oases. However, previous studies have been performed only in oasis-desert environments and have not considered the impacts of mountains. In this study, oasis effects were explored in the context of mountain effects in the northern Tianshan Mountains (NTM) using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Four numerical simulations are performed. The def simulation uses the default terrestrial datasets provided by the WRF model. The mod simulation uses actual terrestrial datasets from satellite products. The non-oasis simulation is a scenario simulation in which oasis areas are replaced by desert conditions, while all other conditions are the same as the mod simulation. Finally, the non-mountain simulation is a scenario simulation in which the elevation values of all grids are set to a constant value of 300 m, while all other conditions are the same as in the mod simulation. The mod simulation agrees well with near-surface measurements of temperature, relative humidity and latent heat flux. The Tianshan Mountains exert a cooling and wetting effects in the NTM region. The oasis breeze circulation (OBC) between oases and the deserts is counteracted by the stronger background circulation. Thus, the self-supporting mechanism of oases originating from the OBC plays a limited role in maintaining the ecological stability of oases in this mountain-basin system. However, the mountain wind causes the “cold-wet’’ island effects of the oases to extend into the oasis-desert transition zone at night, which is beneficial for plants in the transition region.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/11/212oasis effectsmountain-basin systemoasis breeze circulationmountain-valley windWRFCentral Asia arid area |
| spellingShingle | Miao Zhang Geping Luo Rafiq Hamdi Yuan Qiu Xinxin Wang Philippe De Maeyer Alishir Kurban Numerical Simulations of the Impacts of Mountain on Oasis Effects in Arid Central Asia Atmosphere oasis effects mountain-basin system oasis breeze circulation mountain-valley wind WRF Central Asia arid area |
| title | Numerical Simulations of the Impacts of Mountain on Oasis Effects in Arid Central Asia |
| title_full | Numerical Simulations of the Impacts of Mountain on Oasis Effects in Arid Central Asia |
| title_fullStr | Numerical Simulations of the Impacts of Mountain on Oasis Effects in Arid Central Asia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Numerical Simulations of the Impacts of Mountain on Oasis Effects in Arid Central Asia |
| title_short | Numerical Simulations of the Impacts of Mountain on Oasis Effects in Arid Central Asia |
| title_sort | numerical simulations of the impacts of mountain on oasis effects in arid central asia |
| topic | oasis effects mountain-basin system oasis breeze circulation mountain-valley wind WRF Central Asia arid area |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/11/212 |
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