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Rainfall and Sea‐Breeze Circulation over South‐Western France
Author(s) -
Planchon O.,
Cautenet S.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0088(199704)17:5<535::aid-joc150>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - mesoscale meteorology , climatology , sea breeze , precipitation , spatial distribution , temperate climate , geology , circulation (fluid dynamics) , atmospheric circulation , geography , meteorology , botany , remote sensing , biology , physics , thermodynamics
South‐western France (Aquitaine region) has an oceanic temperate climate but some climatic peculiarities (irregular patterns in isohyets) are observed along a narrow coastal belt. The spatial distribution of winter and summer precipitation shows a ‘rainy strip’ located around 20 to 40 km inland. Three features allow an explanation of this distribution: synoptic flow, sea‐breeze and heterogeneous land roughness (presence of the Forêt des Landes). To take into account the impact of these features, numerical simulations are examined using a three‐dimensional mesoscale model. The occurrence of the forest increases the possibility of precipitation during irregular patterns in isohyets. © 1997 by the Royal Meteorological Society. Int. J. Climatol. 17: 535–549, 1997.