Comparisons between Mesoscale Model Terrain Sensitivity Studies and Doppler Lidar Measurements of the Sea Breeze at Monterey Bay

Abstract

A NOAA/Environmental Technology Laboratory Doppler lidar measured the life cycle of the land- and sea-breeze system at Monterey Bay, California, in 1987, during the Land–Sea Breeze Experiment (LASBEX). On days with offshore synoptic flow, the transition to onshore flow (the sea breeze) was a distinct process easily detected by lidar. Finescale lidar measurements showed the reversal from offshore to onshore flow near the coast, its gradual vertical and horizontal expansion, and a dual structure to the sea-breeze flow in its early formative stages. Initially, a shallow (<500 m) sea breeze formed that later became embedded in a weaker onshore flow that was ∼1 km deep. Eventually these two flows blended together to form a mature sea breeze about 1 km deep. Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) two-dimensional simulations successfully simulated this dual structure of the sea-breeze flow when both the coastal mountain range just east of Monterey Bay and the Sierra Nevada range, peaking 300 km eas... Abstract A NOAA/Environmental Technology Laboratory Doppler lidar measured the life cycle of the land- and sea-breeze system at Monterey Bay, California, in 1987, during the Land–Sea Breeze Experiment (LASBEX). On days with offshore synoptic flow, the transition to onshore flow (the sea breeze) was a distinct process easily detected by lidar. Finescale lidar measurements showed the reversal from offshore to onshore flow near the coast, its gradual vertical and horizontal expansion, and a dual structure to the sea-breeze flow in its early formative stages. Initially, a shallow (<500 m) sea breeze formed that later became embedded in a weaker onshore flow that was ∼1 km deep. Eventually these two flows blended together to form a mature sea breeze about 1 km deep. Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) two-dimensional simulations successfully simulated this dual structure of the sea-breeze flow when both the coastal mountain range just east of Monterey Bay and the Sierra Nevada range, peaking 300 km eas...