Temperature inversions over the inland Indochina revealed by GAME-T enhanced rawinsonde observations

Abstract

Detailed structures and variability of lower tropospheric temperature inversions are investigated, using two sets of highresolution (50 m in height and 3 hours in time) rawinsonde data obtained by the GAME-T enhanced rawinsonde observations conducted over the inland Indochina Peninsula in March 1997 and January 2000. In both observation periods, the strong inversions were observed at 3-4 km height. The causes of variations in their occurrence time and height are discussed by comparing them with meteorological conditions. Five processes are found to be responsible for the inversion variations: 1) cold-air advection accompanied by a cold-surge event, 2) cloud-top radiative cooling, 3) adiabatic heating due to subsidence, 4) shallow convection at or near the observation site, and 5) diurnal heating process due to boundary-layer growth. © 2010, the Meteorological Society of Japan.