Changes in local climatic factors under different oasis-town configurations in an arid region: a case study of Hami Oasis

Investigating oasis effects of different oasis-town configurations is key to understanding the ecological stability of the oasis. However, previous studies have not considered the impacts of oasis–town configurations on oasis effects. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used to conduct a series of 1-km-resolution simulations of the Hami Oasis, Xinjiang of China, to examine how different oasis–town configurations influenced the oasis effects. The actual landscape and four hypothetical landscapes were considered. Results indicated that the WRF model effectively reproduced the trends of the surface temperature, 2-m air temperature, 2-m relative humidity, and 10-m wind speed. It was also found that the effects of the town on the oasis were substantially greater when the former was located at the center of the oasis, rather than on the margin. At 850 hPa, the center of the temperature field was downstream from that of the wind field, whereas both coincided at lower levels. When the size of the town was doubled, the convergence center over the town weakened the strength of the divergent low-level winds from the oasis. This facilitated the infiltration of dry air from the surrounding desert into the oasis, which is detrimental to the healthy development of the oasis. Placing a town at the margin of the oasis is therefore advantageous to the development of the cold island, whereas a town at the center of the oasis is beneficial to the comfort of the residents.