{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,6]],"date-time":"2026-06-06T00:05:16Z","timestamp":1780704316115,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,21]],"date-time":"2020-05-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1590019200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2017YFC0212600"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017YFC0212600"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The turbulent mixing and dispersion of air pollutants is strongly dependent on the vertical structure of the wind, which constitutes one of the major challenges affecting the determination of boundary layer height (BLH). Here, an adaptive method is proposed to estimate BLH from measurements of radar wind profilers (RWPs) in Beijing (BJ), Nanjing (NJ), Chongqing (CQ), and Wulumuqi (WQ), China, during the summer of 2019. Validation against simultaneous BLH estimates from radiosondes (RSs) yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.66, indicating that the method can be used to derive BLH from RWPs. Diurnal variations of BLH and the ventilation coefficient (VC) at four sites were then examined. A distinct diurnal cycle of BLH was observed over all four cities; BLH gradually increased from sunset, reached a maximum in the afternoon, and then dropped sharply after sunset. The maximum hourly average BLH (1.426 \u00b1 0.46 km) occurred in WQ, consistent with the maximum hourly mean VC larger than 5000 m2\/s observed there. By comparison, the diurnal variation of VC was not strong, with values ranging between 2000 and 3000 m2\/s, likely owing to the high-humidity environment. Furthermore, surface sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, and dry mass of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter \u22642.5 \u00b5m (PM2.5) concentrations were found to somehow affect the vertical structure of wind and thermodynamic features, leading to a difference between RS and RWP BLH estimates. This indicates that the atmospheric environment can affect BLH estimates using RWP data. The BLH results from RWPs were better in some specific cases. These findings show great potential of RWP measurements in air quality research, and will provide key data references for policy-making toward emission reductions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs12101657","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,21]],"date-time":"2020-05-21T11:31:18Z","timestamp":1590060678000},"page":"1657","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Boundary Layer Height as Estimated from Radar Wind Profilers in Four Cities in China: Relative Contributions from Aerosols and Surface Features"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Boming","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianping","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Gong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yifan","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0938-4202","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shikuan","family":"Jin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"209","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1011513603066","article-title":"Numerical investigation of the effects of boundary-layer evolution on the predictions of ozone and the efficacy of emission control options in the northeastern United States","volume":"1","author":"Ku","year":"2001","journal-title":"Environ. Fluid Mech."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12667","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-15-12667-2015","article-title":"Impact of emission controls on air quality in Beijing during APEC 2014: Lidar ceilometer observations","volume":"15","author":"Tang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1016\/0012-8252(94)90026-4","article-title":"The atmospheric boundary layer","volume":"37","author":"Garratt","year":"1994","journal-title":"Earth-Sci. Rev."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stull, R.B. (1988). An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology, Springer Science & Business Media.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-009-3027-8"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, W., Mao, F., Gong, W., Pan, Z., and Du, L. (2016). Evaluating the governing factors of variability in nocturnal boundary layer height based on elastic lidar in Wuhan. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph13111071"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"140","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosenv.2018.01.054","article-title":"Determination of boundary layer top on the basis of the characteristics of atmospheric particles","volume":"178","author":"Liu","year":"2018","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1001","DOI":"10.1016\/S1352-2310(99)00349-0","article-title":"Review and intercomparison of operational methods for the determination of the mixing height","volume":"7","author":"Seibert","year":"2000","journal-title":"Atmos. Environ."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2459","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-16-2459-2016","article-title":"Mixing layer height and its implications for air pollution over Beijing, China","volume":"16","author":"Tang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3724\/SP.J.1248.2014.001","article-title":"Analysis of China\u2019s haze days in the winter half-year and the climatic background during 1961\u20132012","volume":"5","author":"Song","year":"2014","journal-title":"Adv. Clim. Chang. Res."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nair, V.S., Moorthy, K.K., Alappattu, D.P., Kunhikrishnan, P.K., George, S., Nair, P.R., and Niranjan, K. (2007). Wintertime aerosol characteristics over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP): Impacts of local boundary layer processes and long-range transport. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 112.","DOI":"10.1029\/2006JD008099"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3097","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-17-3097-2017","article-title":"Classification of summertime synoptic patterns in Beijing and their associations with boundary layer structure affecting aerosol pollution","volume":"17","author":"Miao","year":"2017","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1175\/MWR-D-12-00106.1","article-title":"Objectively determined fair-weather CBL depths in the ARW-WRF model and their comparison to CASES-97 observations","volume":"141","author":"LeMone","year":"2013","journal-title":"Mon. Weather Rev."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2709","DOI":"10.1175\/MWR-D-13-00358.1","article-title":"Objectively determined fair-weather NBL features in ARW-WRF and their comparison to CASES-97 observations","volume":"142","author":"LeMone","year":"2014","journal-title":"Mon. Weather Rev."},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"170","article-title":"Stratospheric tropospheric wind profiling radars in the Australian network","volume":"70","author":"Dolman","year":"2018","journal-title":"EarthPlanets Space"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1545","DOI":"10.1175\/JTECH-D-14-00155.1","article-title":"Estimating planetary boundary layer heights from NOAA profiler network wind profiler data","volume":"32","author":"Molod","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1085","DOI":"10.2151\/jmsj.84.1085","article-title":"Characteristics and performance of the operational wind profiler network of the Japan Meteorological Agency","volume":"84","author":"Ishihara","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Meteorol. Soc. Jpn."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1016\/S1464-1909(00)00239-2","article-title":"Development of COST 76 wind profiler network in Europe","volume":"3","author":"Nash","year":"2001","journal-title":"Phys. Chem. Earth Part. B"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, B., Ma, Y., Guo, J., Gong, W., Zhang, Y., Mao, F., Li, J., Guo, X., and Shi, Y. (2019). Boundary layer heights as derived from ground-based Radar wind profiler in Beijing. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens.","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2019.2918301"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Singh, N., Solanki, R., Ojha, N., Janssen, R.H., Pozzer, A., and Dhaka, S.K. (2016). Boundary layer evolution over the central Himalayas from radio wind profiler and model simulations. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16.","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-2016-101"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1566","DOI":"10.1175\/JTECH-D-12-00116.1","article-title":"Determination of planetary boundary layer height on short spatial and temporal scales: A demonstration of the covariance wavelet transform in ground-based wind profiler and lidar measurements","volume":"30","author":"Compton","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1397","DOI":"10.1175\/2008JTECHA981.1","article-title":"Convective boundary layer depth estimation from wind profilers: Statistical comparison between an automated algorithm and expert estimations","volume":"25","author":"Bianco","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1179","DOI":"10.1029\/RS004i012p01179","article-title":"Atmospheric structure and radar backscattering in clear air","volume":"4","author":"Ottersten","year":"1969","journal-title":"Radio Sci."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"375","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00706797","article-title":"Boundary-layer depth and entrainment zone characterization with a boundary-layer profiler","volume":"68","author":"Angevine","year":"1994","journal-title":"Bound.-Layer Meteorol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1233","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0450(2000)039<1233:BLHAEZ>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Boundary layer height and entrainment zone thickness measured by lidars and wind-profiling radars","volume":"39","author":"Cohn","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Appl. Meteorol."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1745","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0426(2002)019<1745:CBLDIM>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Convective boundary layer depth: Improved measurement by Doppler radar wind profiler using fuzzy logic methods","volume":"19","author":"Bianco","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0426(1994)011<0042:IRAST>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Improved radio acoustic sounding techniques","volume":"11","author":"Angevine","year":"1994","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1007\/s00376-010-9170-8","article-title":"Intercomparison of humidity and temperature sensors: GTS1, Vaisala RS80, and CFH","volume":"28","author":"Bian","year":"2011","journal-title":"Adv. Atmos. Sci."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2643","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0442(1997)010<2643:AWVOC>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Atmospheric water vapor over China","volume":"10","author":"Zhai","year":"1997","journal-title":"J. Clim."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apr.2018.06.007","article-title":"The relationship between black carbon and atmospheric boundary layer height","volume":"10","author":"Liu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Atmos. Pollut. Res."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104959","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosres.2020.104959","article-title":"The characteristics and sources of the aerosols within the nocturnal residual layer over Wuhan, China","volume":"241","author":"Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Atmos. Res."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"94","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envpol.2016.11.043","article-title":"Impact of diurnal variability and meteorological factors on the PM2.5-AOD relationship: Implications for PM2.5 remote sensing","volume":"221","author":"Guo","year":"2017","journal-title":"Environ. Pollut."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2289","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0477(1994)075<2289:UWPANT>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"UHF wind profilers: A new tool for diagnosing tropical convective cloud systems","volume":"75","author":"Gage","year":"1994","journal-title":"Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"996","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0426(1995)012<0996:COPCIT>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Classification of precipitating clouds in the tropics using 915-MHz wind profilers","volume":"12","author":"Williams","year":"1995","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"887","DOI":"10.1029\/2019EA000620","article-title":"On the relationship between aerosol and boundary layer height in summer in China under different thermodynamic conditions","volume":"6","author":"Lou","year":"2019","journal-title":"Earth Space Sci."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1451","DOI":"10.1175\/JCLI-D-17-0231.1","article-title":"On the summertime planetary boundary layer with different thermodynamic stability in China: A radiosonde perspective","volume":"31","author":"Zhang","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Clim."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6080","DOI":"10.1029\/2019GL082666","article-title":"Shift in the temporal trend of boundary layer height trend in China using long-term (1979\u20132016) radiosonde data","volume":"46","author":"Guo","year":"2019","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13309","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-16-13309-2016","article-title":"The climatology of planetary boundary layer height in China derived from radiosonde and reanalysis data","volume":"16","author":"Guo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5419","DOI":"10.1175\/JCLI-D-16-0758.1","article-title":"The modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications, version 2 (MERRA-2)","volume":"30","author":"Gelaro","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Clim."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"GMAO (2019, June 15). MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_flx_Nx: 2d, 1-Hourly, Time-Averaged, Single-Level, Assimilation, Surface Flux Diagnostics V5.12.4. Available online: https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=MERRA-2+tavg1_2d_flx_Nx%3A+2d%2C+1-hourly%2C+time-averaged%2C+singlelevel%2C+assimilation%2C+surface+flux+diagnostics+V5.12.4.+GES+DISC&btnG."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"784","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0442(1995)008<0784:COTSGP>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"Climatology of the simulated Great Plains low-level jet and its contribution to the continental moisture budget of the United States","volume":"8","author":"Helfand","year":"1995","journal-title":"J. Clim."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"495","DOI":"10.1017\/S0022112009992461","article-title":"Radial boundary layer structure and Nusselt number in Rayleigh\u2013B\u00e9nard convection","volume":"643","author":"Stevens","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Fluid Mech."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2435","DOI":"10.1002\/qj.49712455113","article-title":"Retrieval of ageostrophic wind from a radiosounding network and a single ST radar","volume":"124","author":"Petitdidier","year":"1998","journal-title":"Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1175\/2009JAMC2168.1","article-title":"Stable boundary layer depth from high-resolution measurements of the mean wind profile","volume":"49","author":"Pichugina","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1307","DOI":"10.1175\/2008JTECHA988.1","article-title":"Horizontal-velocity and variance measurements in the stable boundary layer using Doppler lidar: Sensitivity to averaging procedures","volume":"25","author":"Pichugina","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1736","DOI":"10.1175\/JAM2160.1","article-title":"Evaluating formulations of stable boundary layer height","volume":"43","author":"Vickers","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Appl. Meteorol."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00119415","article-title":"A climatological study of the nocturnal planetary boundary layer","volume":"54","author":"Kurzeja","year":"1991","journal-title":"Bound. -Layer Meteorol."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1052","DOI":"10.1175\/1520-0469(2000)057<1052:ALESSO>2.0.CO;2","article-title":"A large eddy simulation study of a quasi-steady, stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer","volume":"57","author":"Curry","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Atmos. Sci."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02430331","article-title":"Evaluation and model impacts of alternative boundary-layer height formulations","volume":"81","author":"Vogelezang","year":"1996","journal-title":"Bound.-Lay. Meteorol."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, B., Guo, J., Gong, W., Shi, L., Zhang, Y., and Ma, Y. (2020). Characteristics and performance of vertical winds as observed by the radar wind profiler network of China. Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., in review.","DOI":"10.5194\/amt-2020-75"},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9531","DOI":"10.5194\/acp-19-9531-2019","article-title":"Mixing layer transport flux of particulate matter in Beijing, China","volume":"19","author":"Liu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Atmos. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3350","DOI":"10.1029\/2018JD029848","article-title":"Surface Meteorological Conditions and Boundary Layer Height Variations During an Air Pollution Episode in Nanjing, China","volume":"124","author":"Yin","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Atmos."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6207","DOI":"10.1029\/2018JD030102","article-title":"Annual Cycle of Planetary Boundary Layer Heights Estimated From Wind Profiler Network Data","volume":"124","author":"Molod","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Atmos."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Seidel, D.J., Ao, C.O., and Li, K. (2010). Estimating climatological planetary boundary layer heights from radiosonde observations: Comparison of methods and uncertainty analysis. J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 115.","DOI":"10.1029\/2009JD013680"},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"156","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apr.2017.08.004","article-title":"Study of continuous air pollution in winter over Wuhan based on ground-based and satellite observations","volume":"9","author":"Liu","year":"2018","journal-title":"Atmos. Pollut. Res."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/12\/10\/1657\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:31:17Z","timestamp":1760175077000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/12\/10\/1657"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,21]]},"references-count":54,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5]]}},"alternative-id":["rs12101657"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs12101657","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,21]]}}}