ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Atmospheric Science
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1627881
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Meteorology Numerical Modeling Using Remote Sensing Observations and Artificial Intelligence TechniquesView all 9 articles
The Study of Thermodynamic Mechanisms of Advection-cooled Sea Fogs for Two Cases Based on the WRF Model
Provisionally accepted
- 1Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
- 2nanjing univerisity of information science and technology, nanjing, China
- 3China Meteorological Administration Training Centre, beijing, China
- 4Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, chongqing, China
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This study investigates the different thermodynamic mechanisms of two persistent sea fog events: one along the coast of Zhejiang Province (March 27 to April 2, 2018) and another in the Qiongzhou Strait (January 20 to 26, 2021) based on numerical simulations with the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model. Besides, data from the MICAPS site, ERA reanalysis, and radiance data from the FY-4A satellite are also applied. The characteristics of synoptic background, mesoscale system structure, and thermodynamic field are analyzed to investigate the mechanisms underlying the formation of advection-cooled sea fog. Results indicate that both events are driven by advection cooling but differ in their thermodynamic characteristics. The sea fog in Zhejiang is primarily driven by warm and moist advection, characterized by lower sea surface temperature (SST), a significant sea-air temperature (SAT) gradient, a low inversion layer (below 850 hPa), and moderate atmospheric stability. In contrast, the sea fog in the Qiongzhou Strait features a deeper and more stable atmospheric structure, with warm advection persisting down to 950 hPa, and the presence of a discontinuous inversion layer at higher levels, resulting in a more pronounced thermodynamic stability. Additionally, by evaluating the visibility algorithms, it is found that the FSL algorithm, based on relative humidity, is more accurate than the SW99 algorithm, which relies on cloud-water mixing ratio, in forecasting the extent of fog coverage. However, both algorithms have limitations in quantitatively predicting visibility. The study reveals the response mechanism of sea fog under different weather backgrounds, and provides a thermodynamic-dynamic synergistic diagnostic framework for regional fog forecasting.
Keywords: sea fog1, advection cooling fog2, Numerical Simulation3, visibility algorithm4, sea fog satellite observation5
Received: 13 May 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ye, Shen, fei, sun, shu, wan and chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Feifei Shen, nanjing univerisity of information science and technology, nanjing, China
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