A Numerical Study of the Effect of a Coastal Irregularity on the Sea Breeze

Abstract

The modification of the sea breeze circulation by irregular coastlines is examined by integrating a three-dimensional nonlinear numerical sea breeze model with a large bay incorporated into the surface boundary conditions. The results show that the presence of a bay produces a landward distortion of the sea breeze convergence zone and that within the zone there develop definite extrema of vertical motion, the positions of which are closely related to the bay. Furthermore, the intensity of convergence and upward motion within the zone are distributed asymmetrically with respect to the bay. This is a result of the Coriolis acceleration and the bay-induced component of the pressure-gradient force acting in concert on one side of the bay and in opposition on the other.