The impact of urbanization on the monthly averaged diurnal cycle in October 2004 in the Pearl River Delta region
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in southern China has experienced rapid urbanization and dramatic economic growth in last 25 years. Using identical observed meteorology for lateral boundary conditions, two one-month simulations were conducted: one using the original United States Geological Survey (USGS) 24-category land cover data (namely NU) and the other using the urban land cover data from 2004 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite images (namely HU) as lower boundary conditions in a mesoscale model.