Evaluation of Five Reanalysis Products With Radiosonde Observations Over the Central Taklimakan Desert During Summer

To provide guidance for the use of reanalysis data in the Central Taklimakan Desert (CTD), five reanalysis products are evaluated based on the radiosonde data obtained from two field experiments during summer for the first time in the CTD, including the European Center for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis version 5 (ERA5), ECMWF Reanalysis‐Interim (ERA‐Interim), Japanese 55‐years Reanalysis (JRA55), Modern‐Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA2), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction‐Department of Energy Reanalysis version 2 (NCEP2). The results show that reanalysis temperature (T), specific humidity (Q), geopotential height (GPH), and wind field (U and V components) are consistent with the radiosonde observations in terms of the vertical distribution. In general, ERA5 has the best performance in the CTD during the study period, followed closely by ERA‐Interim. However, NCEP2 produces the largest error. The errors of all the reanalysis data show significant diurnal variations, and the diurnal variations differ from each other. Moreover, the results indicate that the reanalysis datasets have the largest deviation at 850 hPa (near the ground), which means that in the desert region complex interactions may exist between the land surface and the atmosphere. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the description of complex interactions between land and atmosphere over the moving‐sand desert region in the numerical models. Key Points Five reanalysis products are evaluated based on the radiosonde data obtained from the Central Taklimakan Desert (CTD) The ERA5 reanalysis product has the best performance over the CTD, compared to other datasets The largest deviation at 850 hPa (near the ground) means complicated interactions may exist between the land surface and the atmosphere in the desert region