DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.30598826
title: A Numerical Case Study on the Urbanization Effect on a Heavy Precipitation Event in the Arid Region City of Urumqi, NW China

description: A Numerical Case Study on the Urbanization Effect on a Heavy Precipitation Event in the Arid Region City of Urumqi, NW ChinaDescription of the data and file structure<b>Overview</b>This dataset contains WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model simulation results for two experiments:<b>Urban experiment</b>​ (with urban surface parameterization)<b>No-Urban experiment</b>​ (without urban surface parameterization)The simulations were conducted for June 9, 2015, from 07:00 to 13: UTC, over the third domain (d03) which covers the Urumqi area.<b>Experiments</b><b>Urban</b>​ (prefix <code>urban-</code>): Control experiment with urban surface processes.<b>No-Urban</b>​ (prefix <code>nourban-</code>): Sensitivity experiment without urban surface processes.<b>Data Structure</b>The data is stored in NetCDF format, which is a self-describing, machine-independent data format. Each file contains one variable for the entire simulation period (07:00-13:00) with a 3-minute output interval.<b>Variables</b>The dataset includes the following variables:<b>4-Dimensional Variables (time, bottom_top, south_north, west_east)</b>These variables are available at multiple vertical levels and over the entire grid.<code>U</code>: X-component of wind (m s⁻¹)<code>V</code>: Y-component of wind (m s⁻¹)<code>QVAPOR</code>: Water vapor mixing ratio (kg kg⁻¹)Note: The vertical dimension (bottom_top) has been reduced to 10 levels for the 4-D variables to minimize file size.<b>3-Dimensional Variables (time, south_north, west_east)</b>These variables are available at the surface or as 2D fields.<code>U10</code>: 10-m U wind component (m s⁻¹)<code>V10</code>: 10-m V wind component (m s⁻¹)<code>T2</code>: 2-m temperature (K)<code>TSK</code>: Surface skin temperature (K)<code>HFX</code>: Surface sensible heat flux (W m⁻²)<code>LH</code>: Surface latent heat flux (W m⁻²)<code>GRDFX</code>: Ground heat flux (W m⁻²)<code>PRECIPITATION</code>: Precipitation rate (mm)<code>MDBZ</code>: Maximum reflectivity (dBZ)<b>Thermodynamic Variables</b><code>THETA</code>: Potential temperature (K) [4-D]<code>ETHETA</code>: Equivalent potential temperature (K) [4-D]<b>File Naming Convention</b>Files are named as follows:<code>[experiment]-[variable]_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc</code>Example:<code>urban-u_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc</code>(Urban experiment, U wind component)<code>nourban-qvapor_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc</code>(No-Urban experiment, water vapor mixing ratio)<b>Observations</b>Additionally, a CSV file with ground-based automatic weather stations in the Urumqi urban area is provided for validation.Files and variablesFile: ground-based_automatic_weather_stations_in_the_Urumqi_urban_area.csv<b>Description:</b>VariablesStation_Name: Name of the weather stationStation_Id_C: China Meteorological Administration station IDYear: Observation year (2015)Mon: Observation month (6)Day: Observation day (9)Hour: Observation hour (LST)Lat: Station latitude (degrees north)Lon: Station longitude (degrees east)PRE_1h: 1-hour precipitation accumulation (mm)File: urban-grdflx_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Ground heat flux (GRDFLX) for Urban experiment，Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-hfx_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Sensible heat flux (HFX) for Urban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-lh_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Latent heat flux (LH) for Urban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-mdbz_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Maximum radar reflectivity (MDBZ) for Urban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-precipitation_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Precipitation rate for Urban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-etheta_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Equivalent potential temperature (θe) for NoUrban experiment - full 4D field,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-qvapor_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Water vapor mixing ratio (QVAPOR) for Urban experiment - full 4D field,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015<b>Surface Variables</b>File: nourban-grdflx_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Ground heat flux (GRDFLX) for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-hfx_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Sensible heat flux (HFX) for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-lh_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Latent heat flux (LH) for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-mdbz_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Maximum radar reflectivity (MDBZ) for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-precipitation_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Precipitation rate for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-t2_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> 2-meter temperature (T2) for Urban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-qvapor__d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Water vapor mixing ratio (QVAPOR) for NoUrban experiment - full 4D field,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-theta_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Potential temperature (θ) for Urban experiment - full 4D field,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-thetae_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Equivalent potential temperature (θe) for Urban experiment - full 4D field,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-tsk_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Skin temperature (TSK) for Urban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-t2_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> 2-meter temperature (T2) for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-u10_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> 10-meter eastward wind component (U10) for Urban experiment - surface level,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-u__d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Eastward wind component (U) for Urban experiment - full 4D field,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-theta_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Potential temperature (θ) for NoUrban experiment - full 4D field,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-tsk_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Skin temperature (TSK) for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-v_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Northward wind component (V) for Urban experiment - full 4D field (time × vertical levels × south_north × west_east),Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: urban-v10_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> 10-meter northward wind component (V10) for Urban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-u_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> 10-meter northward wind component (V10) for Urban experiment - surface level,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-u10_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> 10-meter eastward wind component (U10) for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-v_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> Northward wind component (V) for NoUrban experiment - full 4D field,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015File: nourban-v10_d03_20150609_0700-1300.nc<b>Description:</b> 10-meter northward wind component (V10) for NoUrban experiment,Time Period: 07:00-13:00 UTC, June 9, 2015Code/software<b>Data Processing Software</b>The data provided in this dataset were processed using **NCAR Command Language (NCL)**​ version <b>6.6.1</b>. NCL is a specialized scripting language designed for scientific data analysis and visualization in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences.<b>NCL Configuration Used:</b><b>Version</b>: NCL 6.6.1<b>Platform</b>: Linux/Unix environment<b>Key Loaded Packages</b>:gsn_code.ncl- Graphics and visualization routinesgsn_csm.ncl- Climate and meteorology-specific plottingwrff_user.ncl- WRF-specific data processing functionscontributed.ncl- Additional utility functionsload "$NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/nclscripts/csm/gsn_code.ncl"load "$NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/nclscripts/csm/gsn_csm.ncl"load "$NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/nclscripts/wrf/WRFUserARW.ncl"load "$NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/nclscripts/csm/contributed.ncl"<b>Data Processing Workflow</b><b>1. Data Extraction and Subsetting</b>Used NCL's wrf_user_getvar()function to extract specific variables from WRF output filesApplied temporal subsetting to select the 07:00-13:00 UTC time periodFor 4D variables (U, V, QVAPOR, theta, etheta), extracted only the first 10 vertical levels to reduce file sizeMaintained full horizontal resolution for all variables<b>2. Variable Processing</b><b>Wind Components</b>: Extracted both 3D (U, V) and 2D surface (U10, V10) components<b>Thermodynamic Variables</b>: Processed temperature (T2), skin temperature (TSK), and moisture (QVAPOR) fields<b>Flux Variables</b>: Computed surface energy balance components (HFX, LH, GRDFLX)<b>Precipitation and Radar</b>: Extracted precipitation rates and maximum reflectivity<b>3. Experimental Comparison</b>Processed both Urban (control) and NoUrban (sensitivity) experiments separatelyMaintained identical processing pipelines for both experiments to ensure consistencyApplied the same temporal and spatial subsetting criteria to both datasetsAccess informationOther publicly accessible locations of the data:This specific dataset (WRF Urban/NoUrban simulations for Urumqi) is currently only available through this submission. There are no other publicly accessible locations hosting this particular dataset at this time.Data was derived from the following sources: