Estudio observacional y simulaciones numéricas de brisas marinas en la costa de Málaga

Abstract

Sea breezes are thermally-driven flows that develop on the mesoscale, influencing the thermal regime, diffusion of pollutants and convection triggering at coastal areas. Sea breezes on the coast of Malaga are analysed in this study. Firstly, an observational characterisation of the sea breeze is carried out, analysing observational data from three proximate stations during the summer 2022. The arrival of the sea breeze results in an increase in specific humidity and wind speed, and contributes to moderate the temperature increase at daytime. However, some differences can be identified between the three sites, showing the complexity of the area. Secondly, a sea breeze event of interest is analysed by means of a high-resolution numerical simulation with the WRF model. The output surface wind field shows complex surface wind circulations appearing in the area that can explain the remarkable temperature gradients found in observations. The results show the contribution of high-resolution numerical simulations to the identification of the underlying physical processes.