A Modeling study of Seabreeze fronts along a complex Coastline

The North Carolina coast is a viable economic region due to agro and aquacultural businesses, tourism, and property development. Additionally, there is an increasing interest due to environmental concerns in this region. For these reasons, a climatological data base is needed to understand the regional ecodynamics. A principle driver of the regional meteorology for the coast is the occurrence of frequent seabreeze fronts. These fronts affect the long-term climate, severe weather, precipitation distribution, and short-term recreational activities in the region in addition to being a mode of watershed pollutant transport. The effect of the sea breeze front can be seen in the climatological precipitation distribution in the coastal region. Observations indicate that additional factors such as coastline shape, synoptic wind direction, and land use patterns may also influence the coastal climate. Effect of these features is examined using a high-resolution non-hydrostatic atmospheric modeling system: Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS) with a series of sensitivity studies. This study includes variation of land use patterns such as roughness, soil type, and vegetation parameters. Results from the numerical simulations will be compared with climatological observations.