Author(s)

Darko Koracin, Vlad Isakov & Dale F. Leipper

Abstract

Land-sea breezes are an important component of coastal atmospheric dynamics and forcing of ocean currents. We have performed a numerical experiment focusing on local circulations including land-sea breezes in the Monterey Bay area located at the central California coast. The dates 22-23 July 1996, characterized by an undisturbed synoptic situation with low and variable winds favorable for development of local circulations, were selected for a case study. A non-hydrostatic version of the MM5 model with a horizontal resolution of 3 km was used to simulate atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics for the case study. Simulation results showed that the westerly onshore flow was reinforced during the day by the pressure perturbation field over the land. A reversal of the pressure gradient during the night decreas

Keywords