Sea-breeze Front Research Articles

A modeling study of convection initiation prior to the merger of a sea-breeze front and a gust front

Convection initiation (CI) prior to the merger of a sea-breeze front (SBF) with a gust front (GF) in North China is investigated using a real-data Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulation with a high resolution of 444.4m. The overall evolution of the GF and SBF is well reproduced by the simulation. The GF was produced by the decaying convective storm over northern Beijing, while the SBF came from the Bohai Sea. Several convective cells were generated between the two fronts even though they were still about 25–30km far away from each other. During the development of these cells, the low-level convergence and conditional instability averaged within the intermediate area between the two fronts were enhanced significantly, both of which favored the initiation of convection.Vertical momentum budgets were conducted in the intermediate area as well as along the backward trajectories of parcels within a selected convective cell. The vertical acceleration was decomposed into dynamic and buoyant components, respectively. The diagnostic results showed that the dynamic acceleration dominated in the low level, while buoyant acceleration became evident only when the parcel reached a high altitude above 2km. Therefore the dynamic forcing appeared to be more relevant to CI. The dynamic acceleration was further decomposed into four terms based on anelastic approximation. The positive dynamic acceleration was mainly caused by fluid extension associated with the low-level convergence, while fluid twisting in the vertical contributed negatively to the dynamic acceleration. The other two terms related to horizontal curvature and height variation of density were negligibly small.

Spatial Variability of the Background Diurnal Cycle of Deep Convection around the GoAmazon2014/5 Field Campaign Sites

AbstractThe isolation of the Amazon rain forest makes it challenging to observe precipitation forming there, but it also creates a natural laboratory to study anthropogenic impacts on clouds and precipitation in an otherwise pristine environment. Observations were collected upwind and downwind of Manaus, Brazil, during the “Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon 2014–2015” experiment (GoAmazon2014/5). Besides aircraft, most of the observations were point measurements made in a spatially heterogeneous environment, making it hard to distinguish anthropogenic signals from naturally occurring spatial variability. In this study, 15 years of satellite data are used to examine the spatial and temporal variability of deep convection around the GoAmazon2014/5 sites using cold cloud tops (infrared brightness temperatures colder than 240 K) as a proxy for deep convection. During the rainy season, convection associated with the inland propagation of the previous day’s sea-breeze front is in phase with the diurnal cycle of deep convection near Manaus but is out of phase a few hundred kilometers to the east and west. Convergence between the river breezes and the easterly trade winds generates afternoon convection up to 10% more frequently (on average ~4 mm day−1 more intense rainfall) at the GoAmazon2014/5 sites east of the Negro River (T0e, T0t/k, and T1) relative to the T3 site, which was located west of the river. In general, the annual and diurnal cycles of precipitation during 2014 were similar to climatological values that are based on satellite data from 2000 to 2013.

A characterisation of sea-breeze events in the eastern Cantabrian coast (Spain) from observational data and WRF simulations

The behaviour of the sea breeze along the north coast of Spain is investigated using observations of two topographically contrasting sites together with simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. An objective and systematic selection method is used to detect sea-breeze days from a database of two summer months. The direction and intensity of the sea breeze are significantly affected by the topography of the area; indeed, the estimated sea-breeze intensity shows an opposite relationship with the cross-shore temperature gradient for both sites. WRF simulations reproduce the onset of the sea breeze, but some characteristics are not adequately simulated: they generally overestimate the wind speed, smooth the temperature evolution and they do not represent the correct interaction with the terrain-induced flows. Additionally, four sensitivity experiments are performed with the WRF model varying the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) scheme, as well as the grid analysis nudging for an anomalous case study which is incorrectly filtered. As the two simulations considering nudging reproduce an unreal (not observed) sea breeze, this day turns out to be of great interest: it allows to evaluate the influence of the passage of the sea-breeze front (SBF) in other variables mainly related to turbulence. Furthermore, the best model scores are obtained for the PBL scheme that does not use a TKE closure.

A Numerical Study of Sea Breeze and Spatiotemporal Variation in the Coastal Atmospheric Boundary Layer at Hainan Island, China

Numerical simulations of sea breezes and the coastal atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) at Hainan Island, China during summer and winter are discussed. The different behaviour of sea breezes and the ABL on the leeward and windward sides of the island are examined, and it is found that offshore flows are more likely to create a strong sea-breeze signature, whereas the process of sea-breeze development under onshore flows is difficult to capture. At the location where the sea-breeze signal is remarkable, the height of the coastal ABL displays an abnormal decrease, corresponding to a transitional point from a continental ABL to a thermal internal boundary layer (TIBL) formed under sea-breeze conditions. This is corroborated by the sudden increase in the water vapour mixing ratio and/or wind speed, indicating the arrival of the sea breeze. Regarding the spatial distribution, the TIBL height decreases abruptly just ahead of the sea-breeze front, and above the cold air mass. When the sea-breeze front occurs with a raised head, a cold air mass is separated from the sea-breeze flow and penetrates inland. This separation is attributed to the interaction between the sea breeze and valley breeze, while the dry airflow entraining to the sea-breeze flow may also partially contribute to this air mass separation.

Influence of Synoptic Sea-Breeze Fronts on the Urban Heat Island Intensity in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas

AbstractWhen assessed using the difference between urban and rural air temperatures, the urban heat island (UHI) is most prominent during the nighttime. Typically, nocturnal UHI intensity is maintained throughout the night. The UHI intensity over Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW), Texas, however, experienced frequent “collapses” (sudden decreases) around midnight during August 2011, while the region was experiencing an intense heat wave. Observational and modeling studies were conducted to understand this unique phenomenon. Sea-breeze passage was found to be ultimately responsible for the collapses of the nocturnal UHI. Sea-breeze circulation developed along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico during the daytime. During the nighttime, the sea-breeze circulation was advected inland (as far as ~400 km) by the low-level jet-enhanced southerly flow, maintaining the characteristics of sea-breeze fronts, including the enhanced wind shear and vertical mixing. Ahead of the front, surface radiative cooling enhanced the near-surface temperature inversion in rural areas through the night with calm winds. During the frontal passage (around midnight at DFW), the enhanced vertical mixing at the leading edge of the fronts brought warmer air to the surface, leading to rural surface warming events. In contrast, urban effects led to a nearly neutral urban boundary layer. The enhanced mechanical mixing associated with sea-breeze fronts, therefore, did not increase urban surface temperature. The different responses to the sea-breeze frontal passages between rural (warming) and urban areas (no warming) led to the collapse of the UHI. The inland penetration of sea-breeze fronts at such large distances from the coast and their effects on UHI have not been documented in the literature.

Sensitivity of Simulated Sea Breezes to Initial Conditions in Complex Coastal Regions

AbstractMesoscale simulations of sea breezes are sensitive to the analysis product used to initialize the simulations, primarily due to the representation of the coastline and the coastal sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the analyses. The use of spatially coarse initial conditions, relative to the horizontal resolution of the mesoscale model grid, can introduce errors in the representation of coastal SSTs, in part due to the incorrect designation of the land surface. As a result, portions of the coastal ocean are initialized with land surface temperature values and vice versa. The diurnal variation of the sea surface is typically smaller than over land on meso- and synoptic-scale time scales. Therefore, it is common practice to retain a temporally static SST in numerical simulations, causing initial SST errors to persist through the duration of the simulation. These SST errors influence horizontal coastal temperature and humidity gradients and thereby the development of the sea-breeze circulations.The authors developed a technique to modify the initial surface conditions created from a reanalysis product [North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR)] for simulations of two sea-breeze events over the New England coast to more accurately represent the finescale structure of the coastline and the spatial representation of the coastal land surface and SST. Using this technique, the coastal SST (2-m temperature) RMSE is reduced from as much as 25°–1°C (7°–1°C), contributing to a more accurate propagation of the sea-breeze front. Techniques described in this work may be important for mesoscale simulations and forecasts of other coastal phenomena.

Interaction Between Two Distinct Mesoscale Circulations During Summer in the Coastal Region of Eastern USA

The interaction of two phenomena, a sea-breeze front and a thermally-driven local circulation, is investigated during the summer season. The sea-breeze circulation in the coastal Carolinas (USA) can be quite strong and the sea-breeze front often propagates well inland. The Sandhills, an area of sandy soils, is oriented roughly parallel to the coast and is located approximately 180 km inland. Differential heating is a strong driving force for convective development in this coastal region and the Sandhills front develops from the thermally-driven circulation caused by the differential heating of differing soil types. The sea-breeze and the Sandhills circulations have been previously studied independently, however, the interaction of these two phenomena is not well known. A combination of remote sensing, in situ observations, and numerical simulations is used to examine the interaction of these two fronts with remote sensing and in situ observations revealing the differential heating that occurs along the Sandhills region. Radar reflectivity is used to identify the two frontal features that converge and result in enhanced convection. A modelling simulation reveals the vertical structure of the frontal features, their propagation, and interaction, highlighting the interaction of the two fronts that results in enhanced convection between the Sandhills and the coast. Over the Sandhills region, differential heating triggers convective storms. Radar reflectivity and numerical simulation indicate the outflows from these convective storms to produce a shallow Sandhills front that in turn propagates toward the coast. As the two opposing fronts, the Sandhills front and the sea-breeze front, converge and interact, intense convection occurs resulting in additional storms.

Application of HF Radar in Hazard Management

A review is given of the impact that HF radars are having on the management of coastal hazards. Maps of surface currents can be produced every 10–20 minutes which, in real time, improve navigation safety in restricted areas commonly found near ports and harbours. The time sequence of surface current maps enables Lagrangian tracking of small parcels of surface water, which enables hazard mitigation in managing suspended sediments in dredging, in emergency situations where flotsam and other drifting items need to be found, and in pollution control. The surface current measurement capability is used to assist tsunami warnings as shown by the phased-array data from Chile following the Great Tohoku Earthquake in 2011. The newly launched Tsunami Warning Center in Oman includes a network of phased-array HF radars to provide real-time tsunami monitoring. Wind direction maps can be used to locate the position of cold fronts in the open ocean and to monitor the timing and strength of sea-breeze fronts in key locations.

Severe Weather Caused by Heat Island and Sea Breeze Effects in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo, Brazil

The Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) is one of the most populated regions of the planet with one of the largest impervious regions as well. This research work aims to characterize MASP heat island (HI) effect and its interaction with the local sea breeze (SB) inflow in rainfall amounts and deep convection. The combined SB-HI produces direct circulation over the MASP and produces severe weather and socioeconomic impacts. All SB-HI episodes between 2005 and 2008 are identified and analyzed with surface and upper air measurements, weather radar, and satellite data. The current work indicates that intense SB-HI episodes are related to air and dew point temperatures above 30°C and 20°C, respectively, right after the passage of the SB front over MASP. Results indicate that the precipitation related to SB-HI episodes is up to 600 mm or about four times higher than that in rural or less urbanized areas in its surroundings. Measurements indicate that 74% of SB-HI episodes are related to NW winds in earlier afternoon hours. Moving cold fronts in southern Brazil tend to intensify the SB-HI circulation in MASP. A conceptual model of these patterns is presented in this paper.

Assimilating high-resolution winds from a Doppler lidar using an ensemble Kalman filter with lateral boundary adjustment

Monitoring severe weather, including wind shear and clear air turbulence, is important for aviation safety. To provide accurate information for nowcasts and very short-range forecasts up to an hour, a rapid-update prediction system has been developed, with a particular focus on lateral boundary adjustment (LBA) using the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF). Due to the small forecast domain, limited-area forecasts are dominated by the lateral boundary conditions from coarse-resolution global forecasts. To effectively extend the forecast lead time for the small domain, a new LBA scheme using the LETKF has been developed and assessed with three sea-breeze front cases. Observing system simulation experiments for high-resolution winds from a simulated Doppler lidar were performed with the Japan Meteorological Agency Nonhydrostatic Mesoscale Model at a horizontal resolution of 400 m and 15-minute update cycle. The results indicate that the LBA improved the forecast significantly. In particular, the 1-hour wind-speed forecast with the LBA is as accurate as the 15-minute forecast without the LBA. The assimilation of Doppler lidar high-resolution wind data with the LBA is a promising approach for very short-range forecasts up to an hour with a small domain, such as for aviation weather.

An observational study of the summer Mediterranean Sea breeze front penetration into the complex topography of the Jordan Rift Valley

The Mediterranean summer sea breeze front (SBF) climatic features of penetration into the complex topography of the Jordan Rift Valley (JRV) were investigated. It was shown that the SBF penetration into the JRV occurs in a well-defined chronological order from north to south. One exception to this general rule is the breeze penetration of Sdom, which occurs after it has penetrated the Arava which is located further south, probably due to the micro-climatic effect of the Dead Sea. It was also noted that the breeze increases the local specific humidity as it reaches the JRV in spite of significant temperature increases. The temperature reaches its daily peak 2 to 3 h later in the southern valley compared to the northern valley and is suggested to be due to the later SBF penetration and the valley structure. The pre-SBF line features in the JRV are described.

Role of synoptic- and meso-scales on the evolution of the boundary-layer wind profile over a coastal region: the near-coast diurnal acceleration

The contributions of synoptic- and meso-scales to the boundary layer wind profile evolution in a coastal environment are examined. The analysis is based on observations of the wind profile within the first 200 m of the atmosphere continuously recorded during a 10 year period (2001–2010) at the 213-m meteorological tower at the Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR, The Netherlands). The analysis is supported by a numerical experiment based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model performed at high horizontal resolution of 2 km and spanning the complete observational period (10 years). Results indicate that WRF is able to reproduce the inter-annual wind variability but with a tendency to be too geostrophic. At seasonal scales, we find a differentiated behavior between Winter and Summer seasons with the Spring and Autumn transition periods more similar to the Summer and Winter modes, respectively. The winter momentum budget shows a weak intradiurnal variability. The synoptic scale controls the shape of the near surface wind profile that is characterized by weaker and more ageostrophic winds near the surface than at higher altitudes within the planetary boundary layer (PBL) as a result of the frictional turning. In turn, during summer, mesoscale circulations associated with the differential heating of land and sea become important. As a result, the PBL winds show a stronger intradiurnal component that is characterized by an oscillation of the near surface winds around the geostrophic direction with the maximum departure in the afternoon. Although also driven by thermal land-sea differences, this mesoscale component is not associated with the classical concept of a sea-breeze front. It originates from the thermal expansion of the boundary layer over land and primarily differs from the sea-breeze in its propagation speed resulting in a wind rotation far ahead of any coastal front. We refer to it as the near-coast diurnal acceleration (NCDA). The contribution of the NCDA depends on the specific orientation of the coast (NE-SW at CESAR). Our findings stress the importance of evaluating and understanding the performance of mesoscale models with multi-year observational/simulated data sets in order to provide a statistically robust characterization of the limitations of surface layer and boundary-layer parameterizations and thus compensate for the scarceness of upper level wind observations.

Atypical occlusion process caused by the merger of a sea-breeze front and gust front

An atypical occlusion process that occurred in North China on 14 July 2011 is studied based on both observations and a real-data Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulation. The results show that this atypical occlusion process was significantly different from the traditional, synoptic-scale occlusion process that occurs within extratropical cyclones. It was caused by the merger of two cold-type mesoscale fronts. One of the fronts developed from the gust front of convective storms, while the other was a sea-breeze front. As the two fronts moved towards each other, the warm air between them was squeezed and separated from the surface. An atypical occluded front was formed when the two fronts merged, with the warm air forced aloft. This kind of occlusion is termed a “merger” process, different from the well-known “catch-up” and “wrap-up” processes. Moreover, local convection was found to be enhanced during the merger process, with severe convective weather produced in the merger area.

Numerical study of the evolution of a sea-breeze front under two environmental flows

The evolution of a sea-breeze front (SBF) in parallel and offshore environmental flows was investigated by using high-resolution simulations of two SBF cases from the Bohai Bay region, China. The results show that the combination of a distinct vertical wind shear caused by the sea-breeze circulation with a neutral or slightly stable atmospheric stratification associated with the thermal inner boundary layer promoted the occurrence and maintenance of a Kelvin-Helmholtz billow (KHB). In a parallel environmental flow, the SBF evolved into a few connected segments because of the inhomogeneity of the sea-breeze direction and intensity as it penetrated inland. A significant upward vertical motion occurred at the two ends of the SBF segment owing to the sea-breeze convergence and was accelerated by the KHB. The KHB made a notable contribution to the intensity at the ends of the segment, whereas the intensity at the middle segment was primarily attributed to the convergence between the sea breeze and the parallel flow. In the offshore environmental flow, the clockwise rotation of the offshore flow varying with time increased the downstream convergence of the interface between the sea breeze and the offshore flow and pushed the downstream convergence zone to an orientation consistent with the offshore flow. The air parcels ascending from the downstream part of the SBF were continuously lifted by the downstream convergence zone during their advection, leading to a significant downstream development of the SBF. The significant upward vertical motion caused by the sea-breeze convergence behind the upstream end of the SBF was shifted to the upstream end of the SBF by the KHB, which enhanced the intensity of the upstream end of the SBF.

Large-eddy simulation of sea breeze at an idealized peninsular site

A high-resolution large-eddy simulation (LES) has been performed to simulate a sea-breeze circulation over an idealized peninsular domain. The simulation is forced with the surface latent/sensible heat fluxes and the large-scale horizontal pressure gradient that are obtained from a mesoscale simulation. This methodology allows the investigation of the physical phenomena that are peculiar for a sea-breeze circulation and that generally require spatial resolution approximately equal to 100m or less. Here, small-scale dynamical effects associated to these phenomena, i.e. the interaction between the sea-breeze front with the convective turbulence generated over-land, the formation of the zero-velocity layer, and the development of the Kelvin–Helmholtz billows, are investigated. Results from the present numerical study have revealed the formation of a zero-velocity layer that is initially near the ground then it rises to define a well-marked sea-breeze depth. Scaling analysis applied to the LES output fields reveals that during the phase of inland penetration the scaling laws for sea-breeze strength and depth have both a proportionality coefficient equal to 0.15.

Studying geometric structures in meso-scale flows

Geometric shapes of coherent structures such as ramp or cliff like signals, step changes and waves, are commonly observed in meteorological temporal series and dominate the turbulent energy and mass exchange between the atmospheric surface layer and the layers above, and also relate with low-dimensional chaotic systems. In this work a simple linear technique to extract geometrical shapes has been applied at a dataset which was obtained at a location experiencing a number of different mesoscale modes. It was found that the temperature field appears much better organized than the wind field, and that cliff-ramp structures are dominant in the temperature time series. The occurrence of structural shapes was related with the dominant flow patterns and the status of the flow field. Temperature positive cliff-ramps and ramp-cliffs appear mainly during night time and under weak flow field, while temperature step and sine structures do not show a clear preference for the period of day, flow or temperature pattern. Uniformly stable, weak flow conditions dominate across all the wind speed structures. A detailed analysis of the flow field during two case studies revealed that structural shapes might be part of larger flow structures, such as a sea-breeze front or down-slope winds. During stagnant conditions structural shapes that were associated with deceleration of the flow were observed, whilst during ventilation conditions shapes related with the acceleration of the flow.

The Chuva Project: How Does Convection Vary across Brazil?

CHUVA, meaning “rain” in Portuguese, is the acronym for the Cloud Processes of the Main Precipitation Systems in Brazil: A Contribution to Cloud-Resolving Modeling and to the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM). The CHUVA project has conducted five field campaigns; the sixth and last campaign will be held in Manaus in 2014. The primary scientific objective of CHUVA is to contribute to the understanding of cloud processes, which represent one of the least understood components of the weather and climate system. The five CHUVA campaigns were designed to investigate specific tropical weather regimes. The first two experiments, in Alcantara and Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil, focused on warm clouds. The third campaign, which was conducted in Belém, was dedicated to tropical squall lines that often form along the sea-breeze front. The fourth campaign was in the Vale do Paraiba of southeastern Brazil, which is a region with intense lightning activity. In addition to contributing to the understanding of cloud process evolution from storms to thunderstorms, this fourth campaign also provided a high-fidelity total lightning proxy dataset for the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R program. The fifth campaign was carried out in Santa Maria, in southern Brazil, a region of intense hailstorms associated with frequent mesoscale convective complexes. This campaign employed a multimodel high-resolution ensemble experiment. The data collected from contrasting precipitation regimes in tropical continental regions allow the various cloud processes in diverse environments to be compared. Some examples of these previous experiments are presented to illustrate the variability of convection across the tropics.

High Resolution HIRLAM Simulations of the Role of Low-Level Sea-Breeze Convergence in Initiating Deep Moist Convection in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula

We present a numerical investigation of a non-forecast sea-breeze-initiated thunderstorm that occurred unexpectedly in the eastern complex area of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) on 7 August 2008. A high horizontal (2.5-km grid spacing) and vertical (60 sigma levels) resolution set-up of the hydrostatic HIRLAM model is used to simulate the evolution of isolated convection associated with sea breezes. The convective inhibition, convective available potential energy, vertical velocity, wind and precipitation fields are examined here in order to analyze the role of low-level sea-breeze convergence and sea-breeze front development in initiating intense convective activity (heavy rainfall, hail and gusty winds) under weakly defined synoptic disturbances. We observe that convective inhibition layers are eroded by sea-breeze frontal zones, increasing the convective available potential energy due to the enhanced vertical motion, forcing parcels to lift to the level of free convection. We show that the location of thunderstorms along the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula is partly controlled by the impact of sea-breeze fronts on modulating the diurnal spatio-temporal evolution of convective inhibition, convective available potential energy and updrafts.

The diel cycle of water vapor in west Greenland

AbstractWe present a study of the dynamics of small‐scale (~100 km) atmospheric circulation in west Greenland which is dominated by interactions of marine and continental air masses. Water vapor concentration and isotopic ratios measured continuously over a 25 day period in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland were used to monitor the convergence of easterly katabatic winds and westerly sea breezes that form a front between the dry, isotopically depleted, glacial air mass and the moist, isotopically enriched, marine air mass. During the latter 16 days of the measurement period, an interval with no large‐scale synoptic interference, the inland penetration of the sea breeze controlled the largest day‐to‐day humidity and vapor isotopic variations. Kangerlussuaq experienced sea breezes in the afternoon on 9 days, consistent with the long‐term average of such occurrences on 56% of days in July and August. The inland position of the sea breeze front is controlled by the katabatic wind strength, which is stronger during times of reduced cloud coverage and/or higher‐pressure gradient between the coast and the Greenland ice sheet. The position and movement of the front will likely respond to changes in the general atmospheric circulation and regional radiation balance resulting from global warming, which will, in turn, impact the local hydrological cycle and ecosystem processes.

Aerosol-cloud-land surface interactions within tropical sea breeze convection

In this study, the influence of aerosols, surface roughness length, soil moisture, and synergistic interactions among these factors on tropical convective rainfall focused along a sea breeze front are explored within idealized cloud-resolving modeling simulations using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). The idealized RAMS domain setup is representative of the coastal Cameroon rainforest in equatorial Africa. In order to assess the potential sensitivity of sea breeze convection to increasing anthropogenic activity and deforestation occurring in such regions, 27 total simulations are performed in which combinations of enhanced aerosol concentrations, reduced surface roughness length, and reduced soil moisture are included. Both enhanced aerosols and reduced soil moisture are found to individually reduce the precipitation due to reductions in downwelling shortwave radiation and surface latent heat fluxes, respectively, while perturbations to the roughness length do not have a large impact on the precipitation. The largest soil moisture perturbations dominate the precipitation changes due to reduced low-level moisture available to the convection, but if the soil moisture perturbation is more moderate, synergistic interactions between soil moisture and aerosols enhance the sea breeze precipitation. This is found to result from evening convection that forms ahead of the sea breeze only when both effects are present. Interactions between the resulting gust fronts and the sea breeze front locally enhance convergence and therefore the rainfall. The results of this study underscore the importance of considering the aerosol-cloud-land surface system responses to perturbations in aerosol loading and land surface characteristics.