[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

Detailed and reliable spatiotemporal characterizations of turbine hub height wind fields over coastal and offshore regions are becoming imperative for the global wind energy industry. Contemporary wind resource assessment frameworks incorporate diverse multiscale prognostic models (commonly known as mesoscale models) to dynamically downscale global-scale atmospheric fields to regional-scale (i.e., spatial and temporal resolutions of a few kilometers and a few minutes, respectively). These high-resolution model solutions aim at depicting the expected wind behavior (e.g., wind shear, wind veering and topographically induced flow accelerations) at a particular location. Coastal and offshore regions considered viable for wind power production are also known to possess complex atmospheric flow phenomena (including, but not limited to, coastal low-level jets (LLJs), internal boundary layers and land breeze–sea breeze circulations). Unfortunately, the capabilities of the new-generation mesoscale models in realistically capturing these diverse flow phenomena are not well documented in the literature. To partially fill this knowledge gap, in this paper, we have evaluated the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting model, a state-of-the-art mesoscale model, in simulating a series of coastal LLJs. Using observational data sources we explore the importance of coastal LLJs for offshore wind resource estimation along with the capacity to which they can be numerically simulated. We observe model solutions to demonstrate strong sensitivities with respect to planetary boundary layer parameterization and initialization conditions. These sensitivities are found to be responsible for variability in AEP estimates by a factor of two. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Mesoscale modeling of coastal low‐level jets: implications for offshore wind resource estimation

Using 6-year data collected in a high-resolution network of 19 stations in the province of Alicante (Spain), the characteristics of sea breezes for the period 2000–2005 were studied This study attempts to develop a multi-year climatology of sea breeze flows focusing on a Western Mediterranean coastal site We used half-hourly meteorological records from a reference station in Alicante and sea surface temperature measurements at Albufereta beach to identify past sea breeze episodes, on the basis of an objective selection technique A total of 475 sea breeze events during the 6-year period were identified and the following parameters were determined: mean time of onset, mean wind speed and direction at the time of onset, mean time of cessation, mean temporal dimension (duration), mean maximum velocity, mean time of maximum velocity and mean wind path of the sea breeze The mean onset and cessation times are 0940 UTC and 2009 UTC (local standard time = UTC + 0100 h, or + 0200 h with daylight-saving time), respectively, with a mean duration of 1029 h The mean wind speed at the time of the passage of sea breeze fronts is low (207 m s−1), but sea breeze gust intensities range from 36 to 116 m s−1 and they generally occur during 1200–1300 UTC Southerly and southeasterly onset flows dominate in winter, whereas more easterly onsets occur in spring and summer The mean inland directed wind path of the sea breezes is 977 km with noteworthy differences throughout the year; a case study showed onshore wind peaks of 111 m s−1, 50-km inland of the Vinalopo river valley in the late afternoon The spatial and temporal change in wind speed and direction were also analysed, using multi-year wind hodographs for the 19 stations and eight well-defined synoptic patterns favouring the development of sea breezes Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society

https://cdn.knmi.nl/system/data_center_publications/files/000/050/589/original/ijc_azorin_tijm_2009.pdf?1432898539

A multi-year study of sea breezes in a Mediterranean coastal site: Alicante (Spain)

In November of 1999, four permanent surface stations were installed in the vicinity of the surface ozone monitoring station on the summit of the Cerro Tololo (2200 m MSL) in Chile at 30°S. These stations were used to study the atmospheric flow conditions, which are important for the interpretation of the ozone measurements at Cerro Tololo. In addition, radiosonde ascents were performed in March of 2000 near the coast and about 60 km inland. Different wind regimes were distinguished. Above 4 km MSL, large-scale westerly winds prevailed, while northerly winds were observed in a band along the coastline between 2- and 4-km-MSL height. The upper boundary of the northerly wind regime corresponded to the mean height of the Andes mountain range. This wind regime resulted from the westerly winds being blocked and forced to flow in parallel to the Andes (when Froude number is less than 1). The phenomenon was also confirmed by model simulations. Seasonally varying, thermally induced valley winds and a sea ...

https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/1520-0450(2002)041%3C0953%3AMWRICA%3E2.0.CO%3B2

Mesoscale Wind Regimes in Chile at 30°S

The inflow of relatively cold and stably stratified air from the Atlantic Ocean into western Mauritania and into the southwestern part of the Saharan heat low is studied using the mesoscale COSMO model. This model was used to provide operational forecasts for the GERBILS field campaign, which was conducted by the Met Office in West Africa in June 2007. The forecasts were validated against airborne measurements as well as satellite imagery and were found to represent the main synoptic features of the region accurately.



A complex mesoscale feature in western Mauritania, which we call the Atlantic Inflow, was identified in the COSMO model output. The main component of the Atlantic Inflow is the sea breeze and associated front. The sea breeze interacts with larger-scale, higher-altitude fluctuations in the thermal and humidity advection. During the day the balance between horizontal advection of cool maritime air and turbulence in the convective boundary layer over land results in a stationary sea breeze front at the coast. Once turbulence dies down in the evening, the sea breeze front penetrates inland. Above the sea breeze layer, thermal advection in the Saharan Atmospheric Boundary Layer (SABL) also controls the structure of the Atlantic Inflow. A marked baroclinic zone was observed, in which the temperature and humidity made a relatively smooth transition from values typical of the Atlantic air to values characteristic of the SABL. Budget calculations showed that, through its cooling and occasional moistening at low levels, the Atlantic Inflow has an important impact on the regional heat and moisture budgets. Copyright © Royal Meteorological Society and Crown Copyright, 2009

The Atlantic inflow to the Saharan heat low: observations and modelling

Sea breezes and low-level jet (LLJ) streams are studied in the region between the Eastern Castilla-La Mancha and the Mediterranean coast of southeastern Spain. The simplified concept of two-dimensional terrain and meteorological conditions explains the spatially and diurnally varying wind system consistently. The changes, as a function of time, height and distance to the coast, of temperature, pressure and wind as well as of certain observed phenomena, such as LLJs and strongly baroclinic zones, result from the response of the mesoscale flow to differential heating. Wind changes are generally found to be consistent with mesoscale changes in geostrophic winds as estimated from station pressure measurements. The LLJs mark the penetration depth of the sea breeze during daytime, where a baroclinic zone develops at the transition between continental air masses and marine air masses, typically at a distance of 150 km from the coast. The analysis is based on aerological data and ground-based measurements from the European Field Experiment in a Desertification Threatened Area (EFEDA) experiments in 1991 and 1994 as well as on 3-hourly data from three synoptic stations of the Spanish meteorological network for April–October in 1991 and 1994. After corrections were made for instrument errors and atmospheric tides, diurnal pressure variations document vertically integrated mass fluxes perpendicular to the coast. Amplitudes of diurnal pressure and temperature changes scatter significantly and are largest in midsummer. They are weakly correlated and pressure amplitudes remain large in spring and autumn when diurnal temperature changes are reduced. With about 6 h delay to the regular development of onshore winds at the coast during daytime, pronounced wind peaks are observed over the eastern plateau at Albacete and Barrax in the late afternoon. Case studies show that they are accompanied by development of baroclinically driven LLJs, whereas winds at Tomelloso, 220-km inland, show less pronounced diurnal changes and are beyond the normal penetration distance of sea breezes. Copyright © 2000 Royal Meteorological Society

Pablo Palacio‐Sese

Papers

Sea breezes and coastal jets in southeastern Spain