Sea breeze front identification on the northeastern coast of Brazil and its implications for meteorological conditions in the Sergipe region

Max Anjos,António Lopes

doi:10.1007/s00704-018-2732-x

Abstract

The common idea that the sea breeze is a phenomenon that is always beneficial to the thermal from point of view is questioned in this study, since the sea breeze front (SBF) development is related with warmer days in the Sergipe region, located in the northeastern coast of Brazil. For this reason, the first climatology of the SBF and its potential implications on meteorological conditions were presented by using remote sensing (GOES-13 satellite image) and surface meteorological data. Results showed daily performance of the SBF: onset at 12:00 UTC and cessation at 19:00 UTC corresponding to a duration of 7 h, mean strength of 3.6 ms−1, and maximum inland penetration of 94 km from coast. In addition, we also observed SBF passage is related with an average increase in solar radiation (84 W m−2), temperature (1 °C), and a decrease in relative humidity (10%) and dew point temperature (1 °C). We hypothesize that, in certain circumstances, the SBF development is not beneficial for human thermal comfort in the Sergipe region.

Highlights

Sea breeze is considered a fundamental atmospheric phenomenon for many coastal regions due to its influence on local weather and climate
The synoptic analysis for this study period shows, on the surface level, that South Atlantic Subtropical Anticyclone (SASA) is located over Southeastern Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 4a, c) and a Upper Tropospheric Cyclonic Vortices (UTCV) is positioned over the northeastern portion of Brazil during a sea breeze front (SBF) day and a nonSBF day (Fig. 4b, d)
Remote sensing using the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-13 satellite images combined with meteorological data has proved to be a powerful method to identify the SBF and to analyze its implications on meteorological conditions in the Sergipe region, which may serve as a reference for other coastal regions

Summary

Introduction

Sea breeze is considered a fundamental atmospheric phenomenon for many coastal regions due to its influence on local weather and climate. Besides diurnal changes of wind speed and direction, the sea breeze is usually accompanied by a humidity rise and a temperature drop, which are associated with the heat transported through the sea’s cool air (Atkinson 1981; Simpson 1994). Several studies have shown that the sea breeze can be associated with adverse meteorological conditions, such as complex situations for air pollution by transport and dispersion processes

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion