Semiarid Coastal Ecosystems—Atmospheric Interactions: A Seasonal Analysis of Turbulence and Stability
Coastal lagoons play an essential role in the energy balance and heat exchange to the atmosphere. Furthermore, at mesoscale Monsoon systems and at local scales, sea breeze influences surface processes; however, there is a lack of information on such processes in arid and semiarid regions. We aimed t...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Lidia Irene Benítez-Valenzuela Zulia M. Sánchez-Mejía Enrico A. Yepez |
| author_facet | Lidia Irene Benítez-Valenzuela Zulia M. Sánchez-Mejía Enrico A. Yepez |
| author_sort | Lidia Irene Benítez-Valenzuela |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Coastal lagoons play an essential role in the energy balance and heat exchange to the atmosphere. Furthermore, at mesoscale Monsoon systems and at local scales, sea breeze influences surface processes; however, there is a lack of information on such processes in arid and semiarid regions. We aimed to characterize the atmospheric conditions during sea and land breeze in different seasons and analyze at different temporal scales the variation of atmospheric stability, turbulent fluxes, lifting condensation level, and atmospheric boundary layer height. The study site is a subtropical semiarid coastal lagoon, Estero El Soldado, located in Northwestern Mexico (27°57.248′ N, 110°58.350′ W). Measurements were performed from January 2019 to September 2020 with an Eddy Covariance system (EC) and micrometeorological instruments over the water surface. Results show that there is a strong seasonality that enhances sea–land breeze dominance; sea breeze was 83% more frequent during the Monsoon, and the land breeze was 55% more frequent in the Post-Monsoon. Specific humidity (23.32 ± 3.84 g kg<sup>−1</sup>, <i>q</i>), potential temperature (307 ± 2.98 K, θ<sub>p</sub>), latent heat (135 W m<sup>−2</sup>, LE), and turbulent kinetic energy (0.81 m<sup>2</sup> s<sup>−2</sup>, TKE) were significantly higher during the Monsoon season at sea breeze events. Atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and lifting condensation level (LCL) were higher in the Pre-Monsoon season (3250 ± 71 m and 1142 ± 565 m, respectively). During the Monsoon, surface conditions lead to lower LCL (~800 m) due to the amount of water vapor (<i>q</i> = 23.3 g kg<sup>−1</sup>). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c789c1cf8cde451b8ec0152266945aec |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2674-0494 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Meteorology |
| spelling | doaj-art-c789c1cf8cde451b8ec0152266945aec2025-08-20T01:49:01ZengMDPI AGMeteorology2674-04942025-01-0141210.3390/meteorology4010002Semiarid Coastal Ecosystems—Atmospheric Interactions: A Seasonal Analysis of Turbulence and StabilityLidia Irene Benítez-Valenzuela0Zulia M. Sánchez-Mejía1Enrico A. Yepez2Departamento de Ciencias de Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Ciudad Obregón 85000, MexicoDepartamento de Ciencias de Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Ciudad Obregón 85000, MexicoDepartamento de Ciencias de Agua y Medio Ambiente, Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Ciudad Obregón 85000, MexicoCoastal lagoons play an essential role in the energy balance and heat exchange to the atmosphere. Furthermore, at mesoscale Monsoon systems and at local scales, sea breeze influences surface processes; however, there is a lack of information on such processes in arid and semiarid regions. We aimed to characterize the atmospheric conditions during sea and land breeze in different seasons and analyze at different temporal scales the variation of atmospheric stability, turbulent fluxes, lifting condensation level, and atmospheric boundary layer height. The study site is a subtropical semiarid coastal lagoon, Estero El Soldado, located in Northwestern Mexico (27°57.248′ N, 110°58.350′ W). Measurements were performed from January 2019 to September 2020 with an Eddy Covariance system (EC) and micrometeorological instruments over the water surface. Results show that there is a strong seasonality that enhances sea–land breeze dominance; sea breeze was 83% more frequent during the Monsoon, and the land breeze was 55% more frequent in the Post-Monsoon. Specific humidity (23.32 ± 3.84 g kg<sup>−1</sup>, <i>q</i>), potential temperature (307 ± 2.98 K, θ<sub>p</sub>), latent heat (135 W m<sup>−2</sup>, LE), and turbulent kinetic energy (0.81 m<sup>2</sup> s<sup>−2</sup>, TKE) were significantly higher during the Monsoon season at sea breeze events. Atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and lifting condensation level (LCL) were higher in the Pre-Monsoon season (3250 ± 71 m and 1142 ± 565 m, respectively). During the Monsoon, surface conditions lead to lower LCL (~800 m) due to the amount of water vapor (<i>q</i> = 23.3 g kg<sup>−1</sup>).https://www.mdpi.com/2674-0494/4/1/2MexFluxeddy covarianceatmospheric sounding |
| spellingShingle | Lidia Irene Benítez-Valenzuela Zulia M. Sánchez-Mejía Enrico A. Yepez Semiarid Coastal Ecosystems—Atmospheric Interactions: A Seasonal Analysis of Turbulence and Stability Meteorology MexFlux eddy covariance atmospheric sounding |
| title | Semiarid Coastal Ecosystems—Atmospheric Interactions: A Seasonal Analysis of Turbulence and Stability |
| title_full | Semiarid Coastal Ecosystems—Atmospheric Interactions: A Seasonal Analysis of Turbulence and Stability |
| title_fullStr | Semiarid Coastal Ecosystems—Atmospheric Interactions: A Seasonal Analysis of Turbulence and Stability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Semiarid Coastal Ecosystems—Atmospheric Interactions: A Seasonal Analysis of Turbulence and Stability |
| title_short | Semiarid Coastal Ecosystems—Atmospheric Interactions: A Seasonal Analysis of Turbulence and Stability |
| title_sort | semiarid coastal ecosystems atmospheric interactions a seasonal analysis of turbulence and stability |
| topic | MexFlux eddy covariance atmospheric sounding |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2674-0494/4/1/2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lidiairenebenitezvalenzuela semiaridcoastalecosystemsatmosphericinteractionsaseasonalanalysisofturbulenceandstability AT zuliamsanchezmejia semiaridcoastalecosystemsatmosphericinteractionsaseasonalanalysisofturbulenceandstability AT enricoayepez semiaridcoastalecosystemsatmosphericinteractionsaseasonalanalysisofturbulenceandstability |