Breeze?
Posted by Otis
Breeze? May 18, 2007 03:05AM |
IP/Host: ---.proxy.aol.com Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 38 |
Re: Breeze? May 18, 2007 09:53AM |
IP/Host: ---.otenet.gr Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 187 |
Sea Breezes...Yes, you'll get a breeze.
Ok, the science bit. If you're interested. Being into photography, I've also learned over the years about weather systems.
The Sea Breeze.
Sea breezes usually develop this way. As the day dawns, coastal skies are cloudless or nearly cloudless, and the wind induced by large-scale weather patterns is light. As the sun rises, increased solar energy heats the surface of the earth which, in turn, heats the lowest layers of the atmosphere. At sea, however, the radiant energy received is rapidly dispersed by a combination of turbulent mixing due to winds, waves, currents and the capacity of the water to absorb great quantities of heat with only slight alteration of its temperature. Thus, the air over land warms faster than that over the sea surface. Since warmer air is lighter air, the pressure over land becomes less than that over water. A few hours after sunrise, the pressure gradient will have built up sufficiently to allow the sea breeze to begin moving inland.
The opposite happens at night as the land cools quicker than the sea, the winds change direction and you get what's called a land breeze.
The ancient Greeks were the first to write extensively of the sea-land breeze rhythm. Homer, in the Odyssey, related that both Odysseus and Telemachus set sail after dark to take advantage of the land breeze blowing out to sea. Plutarch spoke of the Athenian commander Themistocles using the onset of the sea breeze, which produced rough seas in the Bay of Salamis, to defeat the Persian fleet. Persian ships could not be maneuvered in the rough seas as well as the smaller ones that were used by the Greeks, thus giving the Greeks the decisive tactical advantage.
So, there you go. There's the nerdy explination. Basically, warm days, calm weather, land and water together you'll get a sea breeze.
Cheers,
Nic!
Ok, the science bit. If you're interested. Being into photography, I've also learned over the years about weather systems.
The Sea Breeze.
Sea breezes usually develop this way. As the day dawns, coastal skies are cloudless or nearly cloudless, and the wind induced by large-scale weather patterns is light. As the sun rises, increased solar energy heats the surface of the earth which, in turn, heats the lowest layers of the atmosphere. At sea, however, the radiant energy received is rapidly dispersed by a combination of turbulent mixing due to winds, waves, currents and the capacity of the water to absorb great quantities of heat with only slight alteration of its temperature. Thus, the air over land warms faster than that over the sea surface. Since warmer air is lighter air, the pressure over land becomes less than that over water. A few hours after sunrise, the pressure gradient will have built up sufficiently to allow the sea breeze to begin moving inland.
The opposite happens at night as the land cools quicker than the sea, the winds change direction and you get what's called a land breeze.
The ancient Greeks were the first to write extensively of the sea-land breeze rhythm. Homer, in the Odyssey, related that both Odysseus and Telemachus set sail after dark to take advantage of the land breeze blowing out to sea. Plutarch spoke of the Athenian commander Themistocles using the onset of the sea breeze, which produced rough seas in the Bay of Salamis, to defeat the Persian fleet. Persian ships could not be maneuvered in the rough seas as well as the smaller ones that were used by the Greeks, thus giving the Greeks the decisive tactical advantage.
So, there you go. There's the nerdy explination. Basically, warm days, calm weather, land and water together you'll get a sea breeze.
Cheers,
Nic!
Re: Breeze? May 18, 2007 10:13AM |
IP/Host: 194.202.239.--- Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 110 |
Re: Breeze? May 18, 2007 04:00PM |
IP/Host: ---.proxy.aol.com Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 38 |
Re: Breeze? May 18, 2007 04:04PM |
IP/Host: ---.otenet.gr Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 187 |
Re: Breeze? May 18, 2007 04:09PM |
IP/Host: ---.proxy.aol.com Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 38 |
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