Comparisons between Mesoscale Model Terrain Sensitivity Studies and Doppler Lidar Measurements of the Sea Breeze at Monterey Bay

A NOAA/Environmental Technology Laboratory Doppler lidar measured the life cycle of the landand seabreeze system at Monterey Bay, California, in 1987, during the Land–Sea Breeze Experiment (LASBEX). On days with offshore synoptic flow, the transition to onshore flow (the sea breeze) was a distinct process easily detected by lidar. Finescale lidar measurements showed the reversal from offshore to onshore flow near the coast, its gradual vertical and horizontal expansion, and a dual structure to the sea-breeze flow in its early formative stages. Initially, a shallow (,500 m) sea breeze formed that later became embedded in a weaker onshore flow that was ;1 km deep. Eventually these two flows blended together to form a mature sea breeze