Temperature inversion and mixing height: critical indicators for air pollution in hot arid climate

Ali Al-Hemoud (), Mane Al-Sudairawi, Mufreh Al-Rashidi, Weam Behbehani and Ahmed Al-Khayat
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Ali Al-Hemoud: Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Mane Al-Sudairawi: Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Mufreh Al-Rashidi: Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Weam Behbehani: Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Ahmed Al-Khayat: Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2019, vol. 97, issue 1, No 8, 139-155

Abstract: Abstract Boundary layer temperature inversion and mixing heights are important parameters in understanding the atmospheric dispersion of air pollution. Surface and elevated inversions were analyzed within the planetary boundary layer over Kuwait, a coastal urban city situated in a typical hot, arid climate. Temperature inversions constitute a natural hazard by trapping smog emitted from pollution sources. Temperature inversions were measured by the Meteorological Temperature Profiler version (MTP-5H) using a scanning microwave radiometer over the course of a complete year (2013). Remote continuous measurements (4 min interval) of temperature profiles were collected (total readings = 130,986). Daytime and nocturnal temperature inversion variations were presented. The effects of five atmospheric parameters, namely ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, and precipitation on the surface and elevated inversion, were presented. In general, there was a significant correlation between surface and elevated inversions with four meteorological parameters (p value ≤ .01). Results show a weak correlation between the inversions analyzed by MTP-5H and the MH modeled by the WRF.

Keywords: Temperature inversion; Mixing height hazard; Boundary layer; MTP-5H; Kuwait; Arid climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-019-03631-2

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