Areal Parameters of the Sea Breeze and Its Vertical Structure in the Boston Basin

Abstract

The sea breeze is a mesoscale wind whose frequency of occurrence is 40?50 times annually in the Boston Basin. Boston's sea breeze is among the best developed of all midlatitude sites studied. The complexity of site conditions and an urban concentration alter the characteristics of the sea breeze with inland penetration. Vertical temperature and dew point data have provided the first detailed look at the changes effected in Boston's atmosphere by this local wind. The data have also revealed that Boston's sea breeze is not always a moist flow of marine air but that the moisture content of the air is directly related to the regional wind speed and direction prior to onset of the sea breeze. Transformations of the vertical characteristics of the atmosphere suggest subtle but serious geographic and environmental variations in the spatial distribution of atmospheric contaminants.