Progress in sea fog observations over the Yellow Sea

ZHANG Deqiang; WANG Xuan; XU Jing; HUANG Jian; SHEN Xiaojing; LIU Quan; ZHANG Gen; XING Rui; WANG Xuehua

doi:10.19513/j.cnki.hyqxxb.20250509001

Abstract：Sea fog is a phenomenon of water vapor condensation in the atmospheric boundary layer over oceanic or coastal regions.Due to its low visibility,it has a significant impact on maritime transportation,port operations and other activities.This article systematically reviews the research progress of the sea fog observations in the Yellow Sea,focusing on the analysis from two dimensions:fixed-point observation and large-scale observation.The study indicates that the Yellow Sea fog predominantly occurs in spring and summer(April-July),with its formation closely linked to low-level temperature inversions,high-humidity conditions and specific weather patterns;modern observation techniques such as millimeter-wave radar have markedly enhanced the detection accuracy of boundary layer structures,yet the systematic observations of microphysical and chemical characteristics remain inadequate.Satellite remote sensing technology enables large-scale sea fog monitoring through methods like the dual-channel difference approach and multi-band thresholding,while the integration of AI technology has further improved recognition accuracy.However,the spectral similarity between low clouds and sea fog remains a technical bottleneck.This paper also presents a dedicated observation experiment on the microphysical and chemical properties of the Yellow Sea fog,which preliminarily reveals the scavenging effect of sea fog on aerosols.Future research should strengthen three-dimensional collaborative observations,deepen studies on mechanisms of the interaction between microphysical processes and aerosols,and promote the in-depth integration of multi-source data with AI technology to enhance sea fog monitoring and forecasting capabilities.