The Diurnal Variations of GPS PWV near Poyang Lake in China during Midsummer

Abstract EN

With the 1 h-averaged data of atmospheric precipitable water vapor (PWV) for 2015–2018 retrieved from 18 ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS) observation stations near Poyang Lake (PL), China, the diurnal variations of the PWV during midsummer (July-August) are studied by the harmonic method.

Results show that significant diurnal variations of PWV are found at the 18 GPS stations.

The harmonics with 24 h cycle (diurnal cycle) over PL (i.e., Duchang and Poyang) and Nanchang city only have about 50% (or even smaller than 50%) of variance contribution with the amplitude of about 0.2 mm, while above 70% (or even 80%) of variance contribution occurs elsewhere around PL, with the amplitude of about 0.9 mm.

The harmonics with diurnal cycles in most stations peak from afternoon to evening (i.e., 1200-2000 LST), but one exception is Duchang site, where the diurnal cycle peaks in the morning (i.e., 1000 LST).

Moreover, the harmonics with 12 h cycle (semidiurnal cycle) have the relatively uniform amplitude of about 0.2 mm, but their variance contributions show uneven distribution, with the contributions of about or above 50% in PL and Nanchang city (the semidiurnal cycles peak about 0000 LST or 1200 LST) and below 30% (or even 10%) in other areas.

The preliminary diagnosis analysis shows that the diurnal variation of the low-level (below 850 hPa) air temperature (increasing after the sunrise, decreasing after the sunset, and peaking around 1400-1800 LST) may be responsible for the diurnal cycle.

Moreover, in PL (Duchang and Poyang) and Nanchang city, the effects (heating or cooling) of lake and urban, the diurnal variation of the 10 m wind over PL, and the acceleration of PL on overlying air also contributed to the diurnal variation of PWV.