Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 8.16
Schematic representation of a sea breeze when
the geostrophic wind is light. Breezes can extend inland over
100 km under favourable conditions.
direction, compensating for the surface land or sea breeze. Even large lakes can show a
breeze system of this nature. In tropical areas the strength and reliability of the sea breeze
bring a welcome freshness to the climate of the coastal margin and its effects can extend
up to a couple of hundred kilometres inland.
KEY POINTS
1
The atmospheric processes of radiation, convection, evaporation and advection interact
with themselves and with the variable nature of the ground to produce a mosaic of
microclimates. Distinctive effects can be found at a wide variety of scales in
increasing size from the microclimate of a single leaf, through crops, forest, valley
slopes, urban areas and sea-land breezes. They are the product of the variable
interaction between the energy exchanges and the ground surface.
2
In most cases there is no firm boundary between scales: the micro and local climates
form part of a continuum or spectrum from smallest to largest. Certainly within the
larger scales like urban climates there would be innumerable microclimates resulting
from surface modification. This diversity makes their investigation fascinating.
3
Equally it presents problems of explanation and interpretation, as it is physically
impossible to measure the wide variety of possible microclimates and it is easy for so-
called understanding to degenerate into a series of case studies. A final understanding
(if there is such a thing!) will come only when we appreciate the interactions and links
between the myriad atmospheric processes and surface conditions.
