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Volume 56 Supplement 2

Special Issue: Special section for IUGG workshop: Lithospheric Structure of a Supercontinent:Gondwana

Fog observations with a millimeter-wave scanning radar at Miyoshi basin, Japan

Earth, Planets and Space volume 56, pages 259–268 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

A special fog observation campaign was conducted in the Miyoshi basin, Hiroshima prefecture, Japan during the period November 7–15, 2000. We observed the spatial distributions of fogs and their movements using a millimeter-wave scanning radar. This is the first time that the distribution of basin fogs associated with fog development and decay processes has been examined. Echo intensity observed with the radar, which is mainly associated with fog particle size, was almost under −23 dBZ at levels below 200 m in height. The horizontal distribution of echo intensity changed with time. Namely, weak echoes were observed over nearly all observation areas at first, and then the echoes gradually became stronger as the fogs developed, although the echoes were weaker at higher levels. After sunrise, the echoes decayed. During the developing periods, the occurrence ratio of the echo intensity between −38 and −23 dBZ increased from the lower height, while the ratio decreased from the higher levels during the decay periods. This feature in the developing period is consistent with the results of optical measurements but the feature in the decaying period is inconsistent. It is suggested that this inconsistency is due to the difference in sensitivity between the two measurement approaches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radio Science Center for Space and Atmosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan

    Michihiro Teshiba, Hiroyuki Hashiguchi, Akihisa Uematsu & Shoichiro Fukao

  2. Communication Systems Center, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, 8-1-1 Tsukaguchi-honmachi, Amagasaki, 661-8661, Japan

    Hisamichi Tanaka & Yasunobu Ohmori

Authors
  1. Michihiro Teshiba
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  2. Hiroyuki Hashiguchi
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  3. Akihisa Uematsu
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  4. Hisamichi Tanaka
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  5. Yasunobu Ohmori
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  6. Shoichiro Fukao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michihiro Teshiba.

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Teshiba, M., Hashiguchi, H., Uematsu, A. et al. Fog observations with a millimeter-wave scanning radar at Miyoshi basin, Japan. Earth Planet Sp 56, 259–268 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353408

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353408

Key words

  • Fog
  • remote sensing
  • millimeter-wave radar
  • mesoscale meteorology
  • boundary layer meteorology