To provide guidance for the use of reanalysis data in the Central Taklimakan Desert (CTD), five reanalysis products are evaluated based on the radiosonde data obtained from two field experiments during summer for the first time in the CTD, including the European Center for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis version 5 (ERA5), ECMWF Reanalysis‐Interim (ERA‐Interim), Japanese 55‐years Reanalysis (JRA55), Modern‐Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA2), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction‐Department of Energy Reanalysis version 2 (NCEP2). The results show that reanalysis temperature (T), specific humidity (Q), geopotential height (GPH), and wind field (U and V components) are consistent with the radiosonde observations in terms of the vertical distribution. In general, ERA5 has the best performance in the CTD during the study period, followed closely by ERA‐Interim. However, NCEP2 produces the largest error. The errors of all the reanalysis data show significant diurnal variations, and the diurnal variations differ from each other. Moreover, the results indicate that the reanalysis datasets have the largest deviation at 850 hPa (near the ground), which means that in the desert region complex interactions may exist between the land surface and the atmosphere. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the description of complex interactions between land and atmosphere over the moving‐sand desert region in the numerical models.

To investigate the features of the extremely deep atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over the Taklimakan Desert (TD) and its influence, this paper utilizes sounding data obtained from a month‐long intensive field campaign carried out in July 2016 over the TD to study the structure of the 5,000‐m‐depth ABL over the desert and the features of its temporal and spatial variations. The differences and causes of the regional circulation are analyzed for both the deep ABL and shallow ABL over the TD. We show that (1) deep ABLs occurred frequently in the hinterland and the surrounding areas of the TD in July 2016. The numbers of days when the ABL height reached 4,000 m at Tazhong, Minfeng, Korla, Ruoqiang, and Kashgar are 8, 9, 5, 4, and 2, respectively, and the numbers of days when the ABL height exceeded 3,000 m at the above locations are 20, 22, 13, 15, and 5, respectively. (2) The ABL height reached 5,000 m over the TD on 1 July 2016. The diurnal variation of the ABL appears in such a manner that it develops and intensifies gradually from southeast to northwest direction. The middle of the desert witnesses large values of ABL heights. The ABL height in the desert is obviously higher than those in the surrounding oases and in the northern part of Xinjiang. (3) On 1 July 2016, a deep ABL process is accompanied by a strong easterly low‐level jet on the following night, which triggers significant air accumulation and dynamic convergence in the lower‐level atmosphere over the middle and west of the TD, thus intensifying the divergence and anticyclonic circulation at the 500‐hPa middle‐level atmosphere. (4) The influence of the deep ABL process on 1 July on the regional circulation mainly occurs below 400 hPa, while its influence is relatively small above 400 hPa. This type of influence is also regional, as it mainly occurs over the TD and its surrounding areas. This study enriches the understanding of the deep ABL process over the TD and its influence.

A special topography and ultra-high atmospheric boundary layer conditions in the Tarim Basin (TB) lead to the unique spatial–temporal distribution characteristics of dust aerosols. A typical dust storm with persistent floating dust over the TB from 27 April to 1 May 2015 was used to investigate the characteristics of the dust radiative effect using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). Based on reasonable evaluations involving in situ sounding observations, as well as remotely sensed MODIS observations of meteorology, dust aerosols, and the ultra-high atmospheric boundary layer, the simulation characterized the complete characteristics of the dust direct radiative effect (DDRE) during the dust storm outbreak stage and persistent floating dust stage over the TB. During the daytime, the shortwave (SW) radiative effect heated the atmosphere and cooled the land surface (SUR), whereas the longwave (LW) radiative effect had the opposite effect on the TB. Regarding low-level dust, the LW radiative effect was greater than the SW DDRE in the atmosphere, while for high-level dust the situation was reversed. During the nighttime, the LW DDRE at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), at the SUR, and in the atmosphere was less than that during the daytime, when the DDRE at the SUR was the most significant. In contrast to the daytime, the near-surface dust aerosols exerted an LW warming effect in the atmosphere during the nighttime; however, the dust LW radiative effect had a cooling effect from above a 100 m altitude until the top of the dust layer. In contrast, the DDRE heating rate peaked at the top of the dust layer within the TB. The event-averaged net DDRE was 0.53, −5.90, and 6.43 W m⁻² at the TOA, at the SUR, and in the atmosphere over the TB, respectively. The dust SW radiative effect was stronger than the dust L4W radiative effect over the TB at the SUR and in the atmosphere. Moreover, the DDRE at the TOA was weaker than that at the SUR. Overall, the study revealed noteworthy radiative effect features of dust aerosols during typical dust storms with persistent floating dust over the TB.

In order to conduct real-time quantitative monitoring of dust storms, Ka-band millimeter wave radar (MMWR) was utilized for the consecutive detection of dust storms over the Taklimakan Desert from April to June 2018. The retrievals of the reflectivity factor, dust spectrum distribution and dust mass concentration were carried out with the power spectrum data detected by MMWR for three dust storm processes. The analysis shows that: The probability density distribution of dust conforms to the lognormal distribution. During the dust storm processes, the effective detection height of the reflectivity factor was within 2000 m and the range of the reflectivity factors was between $-25\mathrm{dBZ}$ and $25\mathrm{dBZ}$ . During the floating dust period, the effective height of the dust spectrum distribution was lower than 300 m and the values of dust mass concentration were less than 31.62 $\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{g}·{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ , at a height of 200 m. Furthermore, during the blowing sand stage, the effective height of the dust spectrum distribution was normally lower than 600 m and the values of dust mass concentration were mainly less than $316.23\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{g}·{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ , at a height of 200 m. During the dust storm period, the effective height of the dust spectrum distribution exceeded 1000 m; when the height was 100 m, the values of dust mass concentration were between $1220\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{g}·{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}\mathrm{and}\mathrm{42,146}\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{g}·{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ and the average mass concentration was $9287\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{g}·{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ ; whereas, the values of dust mass concentration were between $2\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{g}·{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}\mathrm{and}820\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{g}·{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ when the height was 1200 m and the average mass concentration was $24\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{g}·{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ . The relationship between the reflectivity factor Z and the dust mass concentration M is defined as $Z=651.6M^{0.796}$ . Compared with the observational data from Grimm180 particle detector, the data of the retrieved dust mass concentration are basically accurate and this retrieved method proves to be feasible. Thus, the MMWR cans be used as a new device for quantitative monitoring of dust storms.

In this study, 1‐month continuous radiosonde observational data were applied to present the low‐altitude vertical structures and their evolutions over the Central Taklimakan Desert (CTD). The primary focus is to highlight the vertical structures near the ground with the high‐resolution (10 m in height and 6 hr in time) radiosonde data. One of the unique features evident in our results is an obvious diurnal transition in lower layers near the ground due to strong surface heating or cooling. Unlike a traditional vertical structure in the boundary layer observed over a nondesert surface, both superadiabatic and inversion layers are distinct during the day. More specifically, the superadiabatic layer is obvious in the daytime because of strong solar radiation over the desert, and the superadiabatic can reach up to 0.2 km. In contrast, an apparent inversion layer forms in the nighttime due to the surface cooling. It is found that the surface forcing mainly dominates the structures in the boundary layer. At last, the vertical structures from the observations are compared with those from the ERA‐Interim and MERRA2 reanalysis data sets. The results indicate that both reanalysis products can provide similar vertical profile patterns and diurnal variations. However, the diurnal transitions of temperature and wind profiles over the CTD are underestimated severely by both reanalysis data. Besides, the reanalysis data sets completely miss the superadiabatic near the ground in the daytime.

Although realistic representation of the convective boundary layer (CBL) in the desert region in Northwest China is important for weather forecasts and climate simulations, evaluations of the performance of various planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes in simulating the CBL in the region are rare. In this study, the performance of a scale-aware PBL scheme newly implemented into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model in simulating the CBL in the Taklimakan desert is evaluated based on a comparison with both the WRF-LES simulations and observations, with the focus on scale dependencies of the simulations compared to the conventional PBL scheme. A series of simulations are performed with a scale-aware PBL scheme (Shin-Hong) and the conventional PBL scheme (YSU) for a deep CBL observed at Tazhong station in the central Taklimakan on 1 July 2016. The CBL was over 5000 m deep with wider and deeper rolls than in a shallow boundary layer. The results showed that the vertical structure simulated with the Shin-Hong scheme was closer to that in both the WRF-LES (large-eddy-simulation) and observations than that simulated with the YSU. The simulation with the scale-aware scheme reproduced cellular rolls similar to those in the WRF-LES, while the conventional PBL scheme struggled to trigger intense convective cells rather than cellular rolls. The results strongly suggest that the scale-aware nonlocal PBL scheme can be used to adequately reproduce the scale and evolution of the observed rolls in the deep CBL in Taklimakan desert at subkilometer resolutions.