SEA BREEZE EFFECTS ON NEARSHORE COASTAL PROCESSES

[摘要] The sea breeze, created by the diurnal solar heating and cooling cycle, is a well known meteorological phenomenon and occurs globally on a regular basis with varying intensity. The impact of the sea breeze system on nearshore coastal processes and sediment budget has received very little attention. In this paper, field data collected from two micro-tidal coastal regions: south-western Australia and Sri Lanka, are presented to illustrate the importance of the sea breeze system in these regions. It is shown that the rapidly changing wave climate, generated by the sea breeze, increases the cross-shore and longshore currents and sediment suspension on the beach. This results in an increase of the longshore sediment flux by up to a factor of 100. The effects of the sea breeze may be present up to 10 hours after the cessation of the sea breeze. The sea breeze system plays a major role in the coastal sediment budget in these regions.

[学科分类] 建筑学

[关键词] coastal processes;sea breeze