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The variations in the sea breeze are examined both diurnally and interannually along the panhandle of Florida during the boreal summer season. A climatology of sea breeze cross sections is calculated eight times daily between the years 1979 and 2001 to examine diurnal differences. The cross sections are created using very high resolution dynamically downscaled analyses from the NCEP-DOE (R2) and the ECMWF ERA-40 for the southeast U.S. The high resolution downscaled product is validated with other independent observations to show fidelity. Results from these diurnal analyses show that the sea breeze and precipitation peak at 4:00 p.m. The interannual variability of the sea breeze is examined with respect to the Atlantic Warm Pool (AWP). Composites consisting of Climate Prediction Center (CPC) precipitation observations are created based on the size of the AWP. These composites show that the strongest low-frequency signal is a negative anomaly along the panhandle. Therefore, model composite cross sections are primarily along the 30.5°N latitude. The cause of the negative anomaly is related to the subtropical high, which undergoes an eastward shift and a decrease in intensity for large AWP years. These changes in the subtropical high lead to a more cyclonic large-scale low-level flow for large AWP years as Sverdrup vorticity balance indicates. This study finds that this synoptic flow pattern will suppress the sea breeze circulation and lessen precipitation amounts over the panhandle region.
Bermuda High, Atlantic Warm Pool, Sverdrup Vorticity Balance, interannual variations
Date of Defense
April 28, 2011.
Submitted Note
A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science.
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references.
Advisory Committee
Vasubandhu Misra, Professor Directing Thesis; James J. O’Brien, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Henry Fuelberg, Committee Member; Mark Bourassa, Committee Member.
Publisher
Florida State University
Identifier
FSU_migr_etd-2367
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