Preliminary analysis of summer meteorological fields in Shennongjia and its surrounding areas

Using the hourly data observed by automatic mountain stations in June，July and August of 2010—2011 in Shennongjia and its surrounding areas, the characteristics of precipitation, temperature, wind field etc. are analyzed. The analysis shows that the precipitation hours increased with increasing altitude. Diurnal variation curves of the precipitation hours on the northeast and southeast slopes had a single peak. The peak appeared during the period between afternoon and the early evening. Diurnal variation of the precipitation hours on the southwest slope was small. The maximum surface air temperature on the southwest slope appeared later. The summer prevailing wind directions between 2010 and 2011 had good consistency over most of the stations. The local wind field was affected greatly by the terrain and had clear daily variation that was probably caused by the mountain and valley breeze. Moisture had greater differences between day and night on the stations with higher elevations than on the stations with lower elevations. At the Songbai weather station, the most frequent wind direction was northwest and the moisture was largely reduced in the nighttime, while the most frequent wind direction was southeast and the moisture increased in the daytime. This could be one of reasons of increased precipitation hours after noon at the Songbai station.