Temperature, comfort and pollution levels during heat waves and the role of sea breeze

Papanastasiou, Dimitris; Melas, Dimitrios; Bartzanas, Thomas; Kittas, C.

doi:10.1007/s00484-009-0281-9

Cited by 73 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In general, over land observations are more prevalent than observations over the coastal ocean. Consequently, there have been many onshore implications and studies of the sea breeze, ranging from coastal/inland air quality (Pielke, 1991;Ratcliff et al, 1996) including low-level ozone (Lalas et al, 1983), forest fires (Rothermel, 1983), nuclear power plant concerns (Venkatesan et al, 2002), beach recreation (De Freitas, 1990), and heat waves (Papanastasiou et al, 2010). The offshore component of the sea breeze, in contrast, has received less attention due to the relative paucity of observations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sea Breeze Sensitivity to Coastal Upwelling and Synoptic Flow Using Lagrangian Methods

et al. 2018

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Sea breezes occur nearly daily in the U.S. Mid‐Atlantic summer during high electricity demand periods, and thus have important implications for the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind energy industry. The sea breeze's offshore component is poorly understood and ill defined relative to its onshore counterpart. Here a new Lagrangian method not yet readily used to study the sea breeze, relative dispersion, was validated and applied to a validated Weather Research and Forecasting model in the U.S. Mid‐Atlantic. This Lagrangian method is used to characterize the onshore convergent and offshore divergent sea breeze extents and intensities, and test their sensitivities to both atmospheric synoptic flow and oceanic coastal upwelling, another common summer season regional phenomenon. It was found that offshore‐directed synoptic flow impacted the sea breeze onshore extent more than offshore extent, and that coastal upwelling did not significantly impact sea breeze onshore or offshore extent for these carefully selected case studies. Upwelling, however, produced an earlier sea breeze onset (~5 hr), and a shallower, sharper, and more intense offshore/onshore sea breeze during strong offshore synoptic flow, consistent with past studies. The offshore side of the sea breeze cell—with stronger intensity during upwelling—crossed the New Jersey Wind Energy Area at ~1900 UTC, regardless of synoptic wind or upwelling conditions. Results overall are consistent with dynamic linear sea breeze theory. Uncertain projected trends in coastal upwelling/sea breezes in a warming world highlight the importance of continued study of coastal air‐sea interactions for improved offshore wind energy assessment and prediction.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sea Breeze Sensitivity to Coastal Upwelling and Synoptic Flow Using Lagrangian Methods

et al. 2018

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“…Kolokotsa et al (2009) reports that in Hania (Greece), which is a coastal medium sized city, the UHI intensity during summer is evident and persistent and the outdoor comfort conditions deteriorate when moving from the rural regions to the city center following closely the UHI intensity. Papanastasiou et al (2010a) studied the prevailing environmental conditions during two heat wave events in the mediumsized city Volos (Greece) and found that the nocturnal comfort levels were determined mainly by the UHI effect, the intensity of which reached up to 8°C.…”

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confidence: 99%

Climatology of Discomfort Index and Air Quality Index in a Large Urban Mediterranean Agglomeration

Poupkou

Nastos

Melas

et al. 2011

Water Air Soil Pollut

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The paper studies the climatology of the Discomfort Index (DI) and the Common Air Quality Index (CAQI) in a large Mediterranean urban center (Greater Thessaloniki Area), examines the relations between the indices and the climatic conditions in the study area and investigates the linkage between the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and the enhanced discomfort and poor air quality in the city center. Discomfort conditions are more enhanced during July and August. Atmospheric conditions when the population suffers discomfort and feels severe stress are found mainly in the summer season hours with total frequency that can be up to about 4% in a month. Throughout the year, air quality conditions are unhealthier in the stations of urban characterization. Very high daily CAQI values are more frequent during the cold period (about 14%) than during the warm period (1-2%) of the year in the urban stations. Daily DI≥24°C could be more associated to increased temperature than relative humidity and is strongly related to high and very high CAQI values. During summer, when daily CAQI is ≥76, the feeling of discomfort is the most probable. Consequently, a strong synergy between discomfort and bad air quality exists in summertime. High and very high CAQI values and the discomfort feeling by the majority of the population are related to stagnant atmospheric conditions. During summer season, the poor air quality and the unfavorable comfort conditions for the majority of the population in the city center are associated with the greater frequency of a more intense UHI effect. The above phenomenon is more pronounced during nighttime than daytime.

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“…The evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in coastal areas is influenced by the sea breeze (SB) circulation, which is dominant during the warmest months of the year when the synoptic forcing is quiescent and the insolation important. In particular, the SB has been widely investigated due to its influence on the diffusion of pollutants (Borge et al, 2008;Clappier et al, 2000;Papanastasiou, Melas & Lissaridis 2010), the generation of wind energy offshore (Archer et al, 2014;Seroka et al, 2018;Steele et al, 2013), convection and precipitation (Azorín-Molina et al, 2014;Comin et al, 2015), the transport and recirculation of relevant gases (Ahmadov et al, 2007;Gangoiti et al, 2001;Hernádez-Ceballos et al, 2015;Zahorowski et al, 2008), and the forecasting of maximum temperatures in coastal regions during hot spells (Meir et al, 2013;Papanastasiou, Melas, Bartzanas et al, 2010). Around 40% of the population lives within 100 km of the coast (SEDAC, 2019); therefore, the understanding and adequate representation of the SB in mesoscale numerical models are highly relevant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing the Synoptic‐, Meso‐ and Local‐ Scale Involved in Sea Breeze Formation and Frontal Characteristics

et al. 2020

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Sea breeze (SB) frontal passages, the relevant factors influencing their formation and their interaction with local turbulence, are analyzed. To proceed, numerical simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are compared with a comprehensive observational database from the Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research site, spanning a 10‐year period (January 2001 to December 2010). The fine horizontal resolution of 2 km and the replication of the observational vertical levels allow for a more precise comparison. An algorithm based on objective and strict criteria was applied to both observations and simulations to select the SB events. By carrying out a filter‐by‐filter comparison, we find that the simulated large‐scale conditions show a good rate of coincidence with the reanalysis (69%). Small biases in the large‐scale wind direction, however, induce important deviations in the surface‐wind evolution. Regarding mesoscale forcings, the land‐sea temperature gradient is overestimated in average up to 4 K, producing stronger SB fronts in WRF. The analysis of the SB characteristics and impacts is carried out by classifying the events into three boundary‐layer regimes (convective, transition, and stable) based on the value of the sensible‐heat flux at the SB onset. The stronger SB in the model leads to enhanced turbulence particularly in the convective and transition regimes: The friction velocity, for instance, is overstated by around 50% at the SB onset. In addition, the arrival of the SB front enhances the stable stratification and gives rise to faster afternoon and evening transitions compared with situations solely driven by local atmospheric turbulence.

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Temperature, comfort and pollution levels during heat waves and the role of sea breeze

Cited by 73 publications

References 30 publications

Sea Breeze Sensitivity to Coastal Upwelling and Synoptic Flow Using Lagrangian Methods

Sea Breeze Sensitivity to Coastal Upwelling and Synoptic Flow Using Lagrangian Methods

Climatology of Discomfort Index and Air Quality Index in a Large Urban Mediterranean Agglomeration

Analyzing the Synoptic‐, Meso‐ and Local‐ Scale Involved in Sea Breeze Formation and Frontal Characteristics

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