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Sea Breeze: Causes, Diagram and Effects

Bongdap Nansel Nanzip April 29, 2020
Contents

What is a sea breeze?

Causes of sea breeze
Sea breeze front
Effects of sea breeze
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What is a sea breeze?

A sea breeze is a very cool moisture-laden that blows from the sea during
the day towards the land where it is low-pressure. A sea breeze is a very
gentle breeze whose velocity reaches its maximum in the daytime; this
ranges between 6-50 km per hour in the afternoon. It is important here to
take note of the low-pressure condition of the land which is caused by the
heating effect of the sun. During the day time, the land gets heated up more
quickly than the sea. The heated air expands becomes lighter and rises
thereby creating a region of low-pressure. At this time, the sea remains
comparatively cooler with higher pressure, therefore the sea breeze
automatically blows from the sea to replace the warm rising air on the land.
Causes of sea breeze
The sea breeze is caused by differences in air pressure created due to the
differential heating of land and sea surface area by solar radiation. Also, see
here for land and sea breezes.Water has a greater heat capacity when
compared to land, this means that land absorbs and emits radiation more
efficiently and faster.Since solar radiation penetrates several meters of a
body of water, it warms the water very slowly. However, only the upper
surface of the land which is few centimetres are heated, and warming occurs
as quickly as possible as the result of the solar heating. Most especially
during clear summer days, the surface of the land gets heated quickly,
making the surrounding air near the surface to become warm and at the
same time decreasing its density. As a result, the air begins rising over the
land, lowering the atmospheric pressure near the surface relative to the
pressure at the same altitude over the water surface. The rising air increases
the pressure over the land relative to that above the water at altitudes of
approximately 100200 m. The rising air over the land surface is replaced by
cooler air from over the water surface. This air is also replaced by subsiding
air from somewhat higher layers of the atmosphere over the water. Air from
the higher-pressure zone several hundred meters above the surface then
flows from over the land surface out over the water, completing a circular or
cellular flow. This phenomenon usually takes place as a result of the
presence of high pressure in the sea during the day and low pressure in the
land during the day. The sea breeze and land breeze are more localized than
prevailing winds, hence they are referred to as local winds. Because land
absorbs solar radiation far more quickly than water, a sea breeze is a
common wind along with the coastal environment. However, a prevailing
wind plays an important role in determining the shape and shore relative
location of the sea breeze. The prevailing wind determines whether or not a
sea breeze will be detectable on land (a very strong offshore prevailing wind
will obstruct the sea breeze from approaching the coast, and at the same
time exerts an influence on its behavior.

The sea breeze and land breeze occur where there are large water bodies or
coastal areas, Sea breeze takes place during the day, during this time, the
land is warmer than the water while the land breeze takes place during the
night. Wind usually blows from areas of high pressure to areas of low
pressure. The result of the wind affects land and sea, hence, leading to the
sea breeze and land breeze.
The land breeze and sea breeze system are very shallow with an average
depth of 1-2 km. Over the lakes, the height of circulation is much less. In
warm tropical areas, where there is intense solar heating throughout the
year, stronger and regular breezes occur more compared to higher latitudes.

Sea breeze front

The temperatures of the coastal areas on a regular basis are determined by
sea breezes. If an offshore flow exists when a sea breeze forms, then there
will be a region where the two opposing surface winds meet and are forced
to ascend; this region is called a sea breeze front. In other words, a sea-
breeze front is a weather front formed as a result of a sea breeze, it is also
known as a convergence zone. This happens when the cold air from the sea
meets the warmer air from the land and creates a boundary like a shallow
cold front, if there is enough moisture in the atmosphere, this front can
produce cumulus clouds and precipitation, and if the air is unstable, the
front can sometimes trigger thunderstorms. The intensity of the sea breeze
fronts varies especially alongshore direction, even along nearly
homogeneous coasts.

Sea breezes typically impact the land within some tens of kilometres of the
coastline. They consistently occur in coastal areas throughout the world and
are responsible for the changes in a coastal climate, hence coastal climate
may become several degrees cooler in summer than the nearby inland areas
and may experience higher levels of precipitation too. Even though sea
breezes affect all coastal locations to a large extent, there are locations
where the effect is larger, often because of the geometry of the coastline.
For instance, Islands or a relatively thin peninsula of Florida can cause sea
breezes from opposing sides that will converge and greatly influence the
occurrence of precipitation. Peninsula winds blow easterly (from the east)
from the Atlantic Ocean and westerly (from the west) from the Gulf of
Mexico. This makes the sea breezes to converge towards the central part of
the peninsula.The air moves upward and forms clouds, precipitation, and
triggers thunderstorms. However, the local climates of Florida and the East
Coast are greatly influenced by the sea breezes. Sometimes, when the sea
breezes are not so powerful and do not converge on the inland over Florida,
forest fires can be triggered especially when there is no relief from
 precipitation and the proper conditions exist due to the sea breezes. Sea and
land breezes that occur in association with larger lakes are called the lake
and land breeze

Effects of sea breeze

Sea breeze brings relief from oppressive hot weather
It can trigger thunderstorms especially when the air carries moisture
and it unstable.
It brings changes to local air quality
It allows moisture in the air

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