[1] The sea breeze system (SBS) occurs at coastal locations throughout the world and consists of many spatially and temporally nested phenomena. Cool marine air propagates inland when a cross-shore mesoscale (2–2000 km) pressure gradient is created by daytime differential heating. The circulation is also characterized by rising currents at the sea breeze front and diffuse sinking currents well out to sea and is usually closed by seaward flow aloft. Coastal impacts include relief from oppressive hot weather, development of thunderstorms, and changes in air quality. This paper provides a review of SBS research extending back 2500 years but focuses primarily on recent discoveries. We address SBS forcing mechanisms, structure and related phenomena, life cycle, forecasting, and impacts on air quality.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2003RG000124

Sea breeze: Structure, forecasting, and impacts

Hourly wind speed and direction data from 12 coastline stations on Sardinia, Italy, are analysed in order to characterize sea breezes in the region A set of criteria based on the diurnal reversal of wind direction, and the thermal gradient necessary to drive the circulation, is used to identify sea breeze days Statistics are presented that describe the occurrence, duration, and strength of the sea breezes On a stationwide basis, sea breezes are most frequent in the summer months (May–August), when they appear on more than one-third of the days Sea breeze occurrence and duration are the greatest for the stations on the east coast of the island The all-station average sea breeze duration reaches a maximum of about 9 h in June The strength of the sea breezes is roughly 3 m s−1 during summer months on average over all stations in the sample

An analysis of mean daily hodographs for the stations in the sample shows clearly the onshore–offshore nature of the sea breeze circulation, and the response of the sea breezes to the local coastline Sea breezes are shown to develop simultaneously on all coasts of the island under appropriate synoptic conditions Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society

The climatology of sea breezes on Sardinia

Study of wind field under sea breeze conditions; an application of WRF model

The aims of this paper are to investigate the characteristics of the sea breeze that is developing in Volos area, a medium sized coastal city in central Greece, and to study the influence of sea breeze on concentration levels of ozone and PM10, during the period 2001–2005. The identification of sea breeze days is based on a set of strict, objective criteria, which include the wind direction and its diurnal reversal, the wind direction difference between the surface winds and the winds in the free atmosphere and the thermal contrast between the sea and the land surface. The statistical analysis reveals that sea breeze is developing in 85.6% of days from May until July, with maximum frequency of occurrence 89% in June. Its most frequent onset and cessation time periods are 09:00–11:00 and 20:00–22:00 LST respectively and its usual duration is approximately 10 h. The average maximum strength is 2.6 m/s, usually between 14:00 and 17:00 LST, while the maximum observed value equals 5.9 m/s. Studying the variation of ozone and PM10 levels during the cold and the warm period of the year (October–April and May–September respectively), it is concluded that sea breeze development is associated with an increase of the concentration of both pollutants. This increase is more pronounced during the cold period and is attributed to unfavourable meteorological conditions. Copyright © 2008 Royal Meteorological Society

Climatology and impact on air quality of sea breeze in an urban coastal environment

[1] This study focuses on observations of the sea and land breeze circulations in the southern Arabian Gulf. During the summer months, the Indian monsoon creates light northwesterly winds over the Arabian Gulf, allowing for the formation of thermally driven circulations. Observations from a network of stations are used to develop a wind climatology for the Arabian Gulf region. Characteristics of the sea and land breeze circulations, such as onset time, duration, and horizontal and vertical extent are described. The dense network of surface stations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) allows for a fine-scale observational study in this region. It is found that the sea breeze occurs during all seasons of the year in this region. It occurs in the late afternoon and continues through the evening. A land breeze sets in during the night. Surface offshore winds in the land breeze are strong probably due to drainage flow down the inland hills.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2007JD009710

A climatological study of the sea and land breezes in the Arabian Gulf region

A numerical mesoscale model is used to study the wind field and the boundary layer structure of the island of Sardinia during typical summer conditions The numerical model is three-dimensional and employs a higherorder turbulence closure scheme The model simulations were performed for summer conditions characterized by weak synoptic forcing from the northwest and clear skies These conditions favor the development of thermal circulations, the most significant of which are the sea-breeze systems The nighttime wind patterns generally are dominated by topography, which leads to the development of strong drainage flow On the other hand, as revealed in the simulated wind field, at midday the wind has an onshore component at virtually every coastline The well-organized sea-breeze systems interact to produce convergence zones Another interesting feature is the development of a cyclonic eddy pattern during late-afternoon hours The model results are compared with observations taken at a network of near-surface wind stations and rawinsonde profiles from the Cagliari airport Available observations agreed relatively well with model predictions

Anna-Maria Sempreviva

Papers

An Investigation of the Boundary Layer Dynamics of Sardinia Island under Sea-Breeze Conditions