Turbulence structure of sea breeze front and its implication in air pollution transport — Application of k-? turbulence model —

A k- turbulence model was applied to a numerical simulation of sea breeze. The dynamical behaviors of eddy diffusivity, turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate, associated with moving sea breeze front, were predicted and analyzed. Results demonstrated, for example, difference of the turbulence structure between thermal internal boundary layer and inland mixed layer, and the double maxima structures of turbulence-related quantities in their vertical profiles just behind sea breeze front. The properties of the computed sea breeze front agreed qualitatively with those of a gravity current in unstable environment, observed by Simpson et al. (1977). Furthermore, the possibility that air pollutants released in the sea breeze layer might be trapped within small circulating flow at the sea breeze front, and move with it was shown in an advection simulation of hypothetical fluid particles using flows obtained.