A linear model for the sea breeze circulation relevant for the tropical regions

Abstract

A new linear model for the sea breeze circulation that includes Coriolis effect, crucial for the tropical region, and a non-zero background wind speed is derived from the mesoscale equations. Earlier studies of Rotunno (J Atmos Sci 40(8):1999–2009, 1983) and Qian et al. (J Atmos Sci 66(6):1749, 2009) considered these effects separately. These two models can be obtained as special cases from the proposed model. The basic set of equations are first non-dimensionalised and the solutions to this new system are obtained using Fourier transform followed by a judicious application of the Sommerfeld radiation condition. Unlike in earlier studies on this topic, solution for the wind velocity along the coast line is also obtained and is shown to vanish in the absence of the Coriolis effect. These solutions are then changed to their respective dimensional form to obtain the solutions for the proposed model. Boundedness of these solutions are established theoretically, something not pursued so far in the literature of sea breeze equations. These solutions are then studied quantitatively as functions of three physical parameters, viz. latitude, coastal width and the background wind speed.