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An atmospheric mesoscale numerical model has been developed and applied to the marine atmospheric boundary layer in the vicinity of sharp sea-surface temperature (SST) gradients. The Gulf Stream offshore of Each Central Florida near Cape Canaveral is the region of interest. The model equations which govern atmospheric behavior are based on the basic conservation laws of mass, momentum, and energy. A 'primitive' equation formulation is used to produce preliminary predictions of horizontal velocity, potential temperature, and water vapor. The hydrostatic approximation is applied to the vertical momentum conservation equation and the anelastic form of the continuity equation is used to approximate mass conservation. Surface fluxes of momentum, heat, and moisture are estimated using high-resolution SST data obtained in near-real time from the AVHRR IR instrument. Interaction of the boundary layer flow with the nearby Central Florida peninsula is simulated by inducing a diurnal sea breeze circulation across the coastline. It is found through a series of simulations that the distribution of sea-surface temperatures influences the boundary layer flow field - especially over the region of the Gulf Stream front and the low level convergence field, which may be an important factor for initiating convective precipitation over the land-water margin and Gulf Stream. The importance of the air-sea or air-land interfaces are thus fully recognized as being crucial to parameterize via remote sensing data in order to proceed with further model developments of the newly developed sea-breeze model. Further examination of methods for estimating surface temperatures of the water and land as well as inclusion of surface gravity wave forcing due to the diurnal sea breeze over the complex land-water margin in the Indian River Lagoon will need to be included in order to utilize the model for future application.
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