Properties of the Sea Breeze Front as Shown by a Numerical Model

Abstract

A simple model of the sea breeze is integrated numerically. If the total beat input into the air is kept constant, the speed of the sea breeze front is found to be independent of the vertical distribution of the temperature change, the stability of the atmosphere, and the Coriolis parameter. The speed V of the front is shown to increase as the square root of the vertically integrated change in the buoyancy of the air. This is a type of Froude-number relationship with V2=k?ohg(??/?0)dz. After about a half-pendulum day, this front decreases in intensity and becomes slower. The addition of drag and diffusion significantly alters the velocity and temperature structure of the sea breeze but only decreases slightly the speed of the front.