Effect of a cold, dry air incursion on atmospheric boundary layer processes over a high-altitude lake in the Tibetan Plateau

High-altitude lakes are frequently exposed to extreme meteorological conditions, but the surface and atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) processes have received little attention under specific weather conditions. This study used the multi-source field data, re-analysis and remote sensing data to investigate the varying patterns and driving forces of the convective boundary layer (CBL) height over Ngoring Lake in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) before and after the cold air incursion. Daily cumulative surface heat flux and buoyancy flux over the land were markedly larger than those over the lake on a clear summer day, but an opposite pattern was observed accompanied by the cold air incursion. CBLs determined by the potential temperature thinned (depth < 100 m) over the lake in the daytime and thickened (400-600 m) at night on a clear day. Along with the arrival of the cold air, CBL rapidly thickened to 2280 m over the lake, exceeded than the maximum value at adjacent Madoi station. Cold air dramatically cooled the middle-upper atmosphere but the temperature of the lower atmosphere cooled down slowly, partly due to a sharp increase of sensible heat flux over the lake, both of which linked up to weaken the potential temperature gradient. Moreover, increasing wind speed and vertical wind shear further facilitated the buoyancy flux to exert higher heat convection efficiency. All of these factors acted together to cause the rapid growth of CBL over the lake. This investigation provided a more in-depth knowledge of boundary layer dynamics in the lake-rich region of the TP.