Abstract
In this study, a new two-step identification method is proposed to detect and characterize three types of sea breezes (pure, corkscrew and backdoor) over the U.S. Northeast coast from a year-long WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) simulation. The results suggest that the proposed detection method can identify the three different types of sea breezes in the model simulation. Key sea breeze features, such as the calm zone associated with pure sea breezes and coastal jets associated with corkscrew sea breezes, are evident in the sea breeze composite imagery. In addition, the simulated sea breeze events indicate a seasonal transition from pure to corkscrew sea breeze between March and August as the land-sea thermal contrast increases. Furthermore, the location and extension of the sea breeze front are different for each type of sea breeze, suggesting that the coastal impact of sea breeze varies with sea breeze type. From the wind energy perspective, the power production associated with a 10 megawatts offshore wind turbine would produce approximately 3 to 4 times more electrical power during a corkscrew sea breeze event than the other two types of sea breezes. This highlights the importance of identifying the correct type of sea breeze in numerical weather/wind energy forecasting.
Highlights
Offshore wind began to be harnessed as a renewable energy source in the early 1990’s, and has been experiencing a rapid growth ever since due to its high wind resource potential and virtually unlimited installation areas over the ocean (Boyle. 2004; Esteban et al, 2011; Costoya et al 2020)
Key sea breeze features, such as the calm zone associated with pure sea breezes and coastal jets associated with corkscrew sea breezes, are evident in the sea breeze composite imagery
The results indicate that the proposed sea breeze identification method can detect and characterize sea breeze events from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulation
Summary
Offshore wind began to be harnessed as a renewable energy source in the early 1990’s, and has been experiencing a rapid growth ever since due to its high wind resource potential and virtually unlimited installation areas over the ocean (Boyle. 2004; Esteban et al, 2011; Costoya et al 2020). As many offshore wind farms will be constructed in the foreseeable future, it is essential to identify the meteorological research needs that are critical for the sustainability and growth of U.S offshore wind energy Both Archer et al 2014 and the Offshore Wind Workshop from DOE 2019) addressed this issue and pointed out an essential need to accurately capture the dynamic coastal processes from both observational and modeling perspectives as they represent a significant source of the uncertainty in the offshore wind resource assessment. One of such costal processes is the sea breeze, which is defined as a local circulation induced by a thermal contrast between the land and sea (Simpson, 1994; Miller et al 2003). More attention has been given to classifying the different types of sea breezes (Miller et al 2003; Steele et al 2013; 2015) based on the orientation of the prevailing wind (PW) with respect to the coastline
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