DETECTION AND ANALYSIS OF SEA BREEZE AND SEA BREEZE ENHANCED RAINFALL: A STUDY OF THE FLORIDA AND DELMARVA PENINSULAS by Daniel P. Moore A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geography Summer 2019 © 2019 Daniel P. Moore All Rights Reserved DETECTION AND ANALYSIS OF SEA BREEZE AND SEA BREEZE ENHANCED RAINFALL: A STUDY OF THE FLORIDA AND DELMARVA PENINSULAS by Daniel P. Moore Approved: __________________________________________________________ Dana E. Veron, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: __________________________________________________________ Delphis F. Levia, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of Geography Approved: __________________________________________________________ Estella Atekwana, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Earth Ocean & Environment Approved: __________________________________________________________ Douglas J. Doren, Ph.D. Interim Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Dean of the Graduate College ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dana E. Veron, PhD for her constant support and encouragement. My thesis committee for sharing their wealth of knowledge and expertise. The Delaware Environmental Observing System, Florida Automated Weather Network, National Data Buoy Center, National Center for Environmental Prediction, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection all for providing data to make this thesis possible. The folks at Unidata, namely Sean Arms, PhD. and Ryan May, PhD., for maintaining (and upgrading) their servers to ensure I had consistent access to the radar data archive. The Department of Energy Grant DESC0016605 and the University of Delaware Department of Geography for funding my education. This thesis is dedicated to: My friends and family, who have been with me every step of the way. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. xviii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Questions ................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background ............................................................................................... 3 1.3 Importance of SBC and SBC-Related Precipitation .................................. 4 1.3.1 Hydrology of Coastal Regions ...................................................... 4 1.3.2 Air Pollution .................................................................................. 5 1.3.3 Wind Power ................................................................................... 6 1.3.4 Disaster Response and Recovery ................................................... 7 1.4 Sea Breeze Detection ................................................................................. 8 1.4.1 Station Detection ........................................................................... 8 1.4.2 Radar Detection ............................................................................. 9 1.5 Precipitation Detection and Characterization .......................................... 11 1.5.1 Precipitation Gauge ..................................................................... 12 1.5.2 Radar 13 1.5.3 Satellite & Multi-Sensor Products ............................................... 14 1.6 Relating SBC to Precipitation ................................................................. 15 1.7 Land Surface Heterogeneities and Sea Breeze Enhanced Precipitation .. 17 1.7.1 Soil Moisture ............................................................................... 17 1.7.2 Urbanization ................................................................................ 18 1.7.3 Coastline Orientation and Curvature ........................................... 19 1.7.4 Large Bodies of Water ................................................................. 20 1.8 Introduction Summary ............................................................................. 21 iv FIGURES ......................................................................................................... 23 2 AUTOMATED DETECTION ALGORITHM FOR SEA BREEZE FRONTS USING GROUND-BASED RADAR .............................................. 33 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 34 2.1.1 Sea Breeze Detection ................................................................... 35 2.2 Methods and Materials ............................................................................ 37 2.2.1 NEXRAD Data Access ................................................................ 39 2.2.2 Formatting Raw Data .................................................................. 39 2.2.3 Individual Radar Scan Analysis .................................................. 42 2.2.4 Precipitation Detection ................................................................ 43 2.2.5 Radar Detection of the Sea Breeze Front .................................... 43 2.2.6 Station Detection of Sea Breeze Front ........................................ 48 2.3 Case Studies ............................................................................................ 49 2.3.1 3 July 2012 .................................................................................. 49 2.3.2 30 July 2017 ................................................................................ 50 2.4 SBC Analysis .......................................................................................... 51 2.4.1 Frequency .................................................................................... 51 2.4.2 Onset Time and Duration ............................................................ 52 2.4.3 Location 53 2.4.4 SBC Associated with Precipitation ............................................. 54 2.5 Discussion ............................................................................................... 56 2.5.1 Sea Breeze Analysis .................................................................... 56 2.5.2 Future Work ................................................................................. 60 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 61 TABLES ........................................................................................................... 63 FIGURES ......................................................................................................... 64 3 A CHARACTERIZATION OF SEA BREEZE ENHANCED RAINFALL IN SOUTH FLORIDA ..................................................................................... 94 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 95 3.2 Methods and Materials ............................................................................ 97 v 3.2.1 Observational Data ...................................................................... 97 3.2.2 Sea Breeze Characterization ...................................................... 101 3.2.3 Environmental Characterization ................................................ 103 3.2.4 Precipitation analysis ................................................................. 105 3.2.5 Agricultural Land Case Study ................................................... 107 3.3 Results ................................................................................................... 108 3.3.1 Observed sea breeze characteristics .......................................... 108 3.3.2 Effect of large-scale wind on sea breeze ................................... 111 3.3.3 Rainfall characteristics .............................................................. 113 3.3.4 Agricultural Land Case Study ................................................... 115 3.4 Discussion ............................................................................................. 116 3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 120 TABLES ......................................................................................................... 122 FIGURES ....................................................................................................... 129 SUPPLEMENTAL FIGURES ....................................................................... 141 4 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 152 4.1 Summary ............................................................................................... 152 4.2 Future Research ..................................................................................... 153 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 155 Appendix ANALYSIS OF SURFACE WATER TEMPERATURES IN SOUTH FLORIDA ....................................................................................................... 167 FIGURES 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