Abstract
The Quiberon 2006 experiment was launched to document the onset and development of land and sea breezes over a semi-circular coastal bay propitious to inshore sailing competitions. The measurements were taken during the 2 weeks of 16–28 June 2006. Micrometeorological variables were recorded at three shore sites around the bay using turbulence sensors on 10–30-m high masts, on four instrumented catamarans at selected sites within the bay, and at a fourth shore site with a Sodar. Synoptic data and local measurements are analyzed here from the point of view of both micrometeorologists and competition skippers, testing in particular the empirical rules of breeze veering and backing according to the wind direction with respect to the coastline orientation at the mesoscale (the quadrant theory). Our analysis focuses on the patterns of lower-altitude wind direction and speed around the bay and over the water basin, and the temporal variations during the periods of the breeze onset, establishment and thermal reinforcement. In offshore synoptic-flow conditions (quadrants 1 and 2), the clockwise rotation of the surface flow had a very large amplitude, reaching up to 360\(^{\circ }\). The breeze strength was negatively correlated to that of the synoptic wind speed. In conditions of onshore synoptic flow from the west (quadrant 3) at an angle to the mainland coast but perpendicular to the Quiberon peninsula, the rotation of the flow was backwards in the early morning and clockwise during the day with a moderate amplitude (40\(^{\circ }\)–50\(^{\circ }\)) around the synoptic wind direction. As the surface wind speed was much larger than the synoptic wind speed, such a case we have designated as a “synoptic breeze”. The breeze onset was shown to fail several times under the influence of weak non-thermal events, e.g., the passage of an occluded front or clouds or an excess of convection. Finally, several local-scale influences of the complex coastal shape appeared in our measurements, e.g., wind fanning in the lee of the isthmus and airflow skirting around the peninsula forehand.
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the help of Météo France forecasters at the local stations (Vannes, Lorient) and the regional centre in Rennes, as well as of the scientists of CSTB-Nantes for the use of their sodar. We thank the Quiberon National Sailing School (Ecole Nationale de Voile et de Sports Nautiques), the Saint Philibert sailing club (Ecole de Voile Océane), and the municipality of Saint-Pierre Quiberon for their warm hospitality and logistic support. Special thanks go to Jean-Michel Kobus for his role in the project organization, to Nicolas Drouin, Claire De Nomazy and Paul Iachkine for their participation in the experimental campaign, to Alexander (Lex) van Eijk for his careful proofreading, and to an unknown reviewer for numerous positive recommendations. We will not forget Olivier Quillard, who recently passed away. The synoptic data were issued from the “surface analyses France North-West” of Meteo France (http://meteocentre.com/analysis/map-surface.php?, accessed on 4 May 2017). The background of Fig. 2a is a map from Géoportail and that of Fig 2b originates from the French national hydrographical service. Trade names and companies are given for the benefit of the reader and do not imply any endorsement of the product or company by the authors.
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Mestayer, P.G., Calmet, I., Herlédant, O. et al. A Coastal Bay Summer Breeze Study, Part 1: Results of the Quiberon 2006 Experimental Campaign. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 167, 1–26 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-017-0314-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-017-0314-6