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Interaction of the sea breeze with a river breeze in an area of complex coastal heating

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Abstract

A three-dimensional finite-element mesoscale model is used to study the interaction of two different but related mesoscale phenomena in an area having a complex pattern of surface heating. The model simulations have been compared with temperature and wind fields observed on a typical fall day during the Kennedy Space Center Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment on the east coast of Florida.

Numerical results and observations both show that the meso-β scale flow field is significantly modified from the conventional coastal-flow patterns by the smaller meso-γ scale irregular geographic features in this area. A local river breeze is observed to develop around the Indian River almost the same time as the Atlantic sea breeze. A comparison of the sea and the river breezes shows a large difference in their horizontal circulations but only slight differences in their vertical scales. The sea breeze intensifies more rapidly than the river breeze, so that a lag of 1 to 1.5 h exists between their most developed stages. The river breeze is relatively stationary, whereas the sea breeze propagates inland, with an eventual merger of the two circulations occurring about 6–8 h after their onset.

Different synoptic wind regimes create different flow structures. Well-defined sea- and river-breeze circulations become established under calm, weak offshore, and weak alongshore synoptic-wind conditions. Maximum vertical velocities occur in the sea-breeze front (river-breeze front) in the cases of calm (offshore winds). The sea breeze and the river breeze are weaker when the synoptic winds are stronger.

Finally, the results from numerical experiments designed to isolate the rivers' effect indicate that the convergence in the sea-breeze front is suppressed when it passes over the cooler surface of the rivers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University, 50011, Ames, IW, USA

    Shiyuan Zhong & Eugene S. Takle

  2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, 94550, Livermore, CA, USA

    John M. Leone Jr.

Authors
  1. Shiyuan Zhong
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  2. John M. Leone Jr.
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  3. Eugene S. Takle
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Additional information

Journal Paper No. J-14150 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, Project No. 2779

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Zhong, S., Leone, J.M. & Takle, E.S. Interaction of the sea breeze with a river breeze in an area of complex coastal heating. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 56, 101–139 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00119964

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