SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE IN A SMALL MIDWESTERN CITY

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Abstract
Location, timing, and intensities of urban atmospheric moisture anomalies in the relatively small city of Lawrence, Kansas are mapped, explained, and compared with previously studied cities. Forty-five urban-rural dew point distributions were obtained during mornings, afternoons, and evenings in August, September, and October. A meteorologically-equipped auto was used to traverse an 88.5-km route through the major land uses in the city and surrounding countryside. Rural dew points exceeded urban values much more frequently than the reverse. On several dates, a reversal of the urban-rural dew point relationship occurred; in the afternoon, rural dew points were greater than urban values, but at night urban values exceeded those in rural areas. Lowest values often corresponded with the most developed sections of the city, and the central business district exerted the most consistent influence on dew points. Greatest gradients developed on the periphery of the developed area. Pattern complexity was generally at a maximum in the afternoon and was least complex during morning hours. Results compare and contrast with previous urban-rural humidity studies.

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