A numerical model for estimation of the diurnal fluctuation of the inversion height due to a sea breeze

Vertical profiles of temperature, measured over the sea in the summer near the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean, show significant diurnal fluctuation in the height of the marine inversion. During the day, the inversion moved down and during the night it moved up. The fluctuation was about 250 m. Numerical simulations of the daily fluctuation in the height of the inversion during the summer day shows the following: Over the sea, during daytime, the inversion base sinks 250 m, and during the night, it rises back to its original height. The developing sea breeze during the day causes the air over the sea to move downward adiabatically. At night, the inversion rises mainly due to advection of cool stratified air (including an inversion at 480 m) from a long distance over the sea. Such diurnal fluctuations are observed 100 km off shore. This scale is determined by the scale of the sea breeze. Comparison of some of the model vertical profiles with the temperature profiles measured over the sea show a similar diurnal oscillation. The amplitude of the oscillation is the same.