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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
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COASTAL METEOROLOGY

A REVIEW OF THE STATE OF THE SCIENCE

Panel on Coastal Meteorology

Committee on Meteorological Analysis, Prediction, and Research

Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1992

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Support for this project was provided jointly by the Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Army Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Waterways Experiment Station), the U.S. Coast Guard (R&D Center), and the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-90-J-4138.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-68266

International Standard Book Number 0-309-04687-4

Copyright 1992 by the National Academy of Sciences

S534

First Printing, June 1992

Second Printing, August 1992

Copies of this report are available from:
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS,
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20418

Printed in the United States of America

Cover photo: The United States at night: From 250 miles above the earth, lights of cities and towns outline densely populated coasts. Complex weather created by adjoining water and land surfaces affects over 100 million people in the United States. Photo courtesy of the Air Force Global Weather Central and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
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PANEL ON COSTAL METEOROLOGY

RICHARD ROTUNNO (Chair),

National Center for Atmospheric Research

JUDITH A. CURRY,

Pennsylvania State University

CHRISTOPHER W. FAIRALL,

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

CARL A. FRIEHE,

University of California, Irvine

WALTER A. LYONS,

Colorado State University

JAMES E. OVERLAND,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

ROGER A. PIELKE,

Colorado State University

DAVID P. ROGERS,

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

STEVEN A. STAGE,

Florida State University

Panel Consultants

GARY L. GEERNAERT,

Office of Naval Research

JOHN W. NIELSEN,

Texas A&M University

Staff

WILLIAM A. SPRIGG, Staff Director

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
×

COMMITTEE ON METEOROLOGICAL ANALYSIS, PREDICTION, AND RESEARCH

PETER V. HOBBS (Chair),

University of Washington

JAMES A. COAKLEY,

Oregon State University

DENNIS G. DEAVEN,

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

FRANCO EINAUDI,

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

J. MICHAEL FRITSCH,

Pennsylvania State University

EARL E. GOSSARD,

University of Colorado

VIJAY K. GUPTA,

University of Colorado

DONALD R. JOHNSON,

University of Wisconsin, Madison

THOMAS W. SCHLATTER,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

ROBERT J. SERAFIN,

National Center for Atmospheric Research

LEONARD SNELLMAN, retired

WARREN H. WHITE,

Washington University

Staff

WILLIAM A. SPRIGG, Staff Director

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
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BOARD ON ATMOSPHERIC AND CLIMATE

JOHN A. DUTTON (Chair),

Pennsylvania State University

JON F. BARTHOLIC,

Michigan State University

E. ANN BERMAN,

Tri-Space, Inc.

RAFAEL L. BRAS,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MOUSTAFA T. CHAHINE,

California Institute of Technology

ROBERT A. DUCE,

Texas A&M University

THOMAS E. GRAEDEL,

AT&T Bell Laboratories

DAVID D. HOUGHTON,

University of Wisconsin, Madison

EUGENIA KALNAY,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RICHARD S. LINDZEN,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

SYUKURO MANABE,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

GERALD R. NORTH,

Texas A&M University

JAMES J. O'BRIEN,

Florida State University

JOANNE SIMPSON,

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Ex Officio Members

ERIC J. BARRON,

Pennsylvania State University

PETER V. HOBBS,

University of Washington

CHARLES E. KOLB,

Aerodyne Research, Inc.

DONALD J. WILLIAMS,

The Johns Hopkins University

Staff

WILLIAM A. SPRIGG, Staff Director

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
×

COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES

M. GORDON WOLMAN (Chair),

The Johns Hopkins University

ROBERT C. BEARDSLEY,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

B. CLARK BURCHFIEL,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PETER S. EAGLESON,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

HELEN M. INGRAM,

University of Arizona

GENE E. LIKENS,

New York Botanical Garden

SYUKURO MANABE,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

JACK E. OLIVER,

Cornell University

PHILIP A. PALMER,

E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company

FRANK L. PARKER,

Vanderbilt University/Clemson University

DUNCAN T. PATTEN,

Arizona State University

MAXINE L. SAVITZ,

Allied Signal Aerospace Company

LARRY L. SMARR,

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

STEVEN M. STANLEY,

The Johns Hopkins University

SIR CRISPIN TICKELL,

Radcliffe Observatory

KARL K. TUREKIAN,

Yale University

IRVIN L. WHITE,

Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories

Staff

STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director

STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director

JANICE E. MEHLER, Assistant Executive Director

JEANETTE SPOON, Administrative Officer

CARLITA PERRY, Administrative Assistant

ROBIN LEWIS, Senior Project Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
×

Preface

The unique weather and climate of the coastal zone, where the very different properties of land and sea meet, strongly affect pollutant circulation, storm characteristics, air and sea current patterns, and local temperatures. Nearly half the U.S. population currently lives in coastal areas,1 and this number is expected to grow in the next 20 years from about 110 million to more than 127 million people. A better understanding of coastal meteorology would thus be of considerable benefit to the nation, since it affects air pollution and disaster preparedness; ocean pollution and safeguarding near-shore ecosystems; offshore oil exploration and drilling; military and merchant ship operations; and a host of other activities affecting commerce, industry, transportation, health, safety, recreation, and national defense.

As a result of progress in several areas of meteorological research, as well as the development of new technologies, opportunities now exist for significant advances in both basic understanding and forecasting of a wide variety of important coastal meteorological phenomena. In recent years new in situ and remote sensing measuring techniques have become available that can be used to study and monitor coastal phenomena in considerable detail. Numerical models are now available with sufficiently small grid spacings to resolve many coastal meteorological events. Widespread availability of small but powerful computer workstations will permit both

1  

Department of Commerce (1990), Fifty Years of Population Change Along the Nation's Coasts, 1960-2010, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C., 41 pp.

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
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research studies and operational forecasting of important weather phenomena along coastlines, many of which depend on specific aspects of local geography and topology.

This report reviews the progress that has been made in recent years by the small research community engaged in studies of coastal meteorology. It is intended to guide researchers into those areas in which their efforts might be most productive. It should also alert policy makers, local and federal authorities, and private organizations to the new tools that are available for improving the safety and efficiency of operating in and managing coastal regions.

Following a general introduction to the subject, this report reviews recent progress and current understanding of coastal meteorological phenomena, including land and sea breezes, coastal fronts, orographic effects, land-falling hurricanes, air quality, and coastal effects in the polar regions. Gaps in knowledge are identified, and recommendations for advancing basic understanding and applications are given at the end of each chapter. Final chapters address educational and human resource issues and highlight the new observational and modeling tools that can be brought to bear on coastal meteorological research and operations.

On behalf of the Committee on Meteorological Analysis, Prediction, and Research, I wish to thank the panel members, particularly the panel's chairman, Richard Rotunno, for the outstanding job they have done in producing a report of value to both scientists and policy makers. Thanks are extended to Alan Weinstein of the Office of Naval Research for having the foresight to suggest this study and for recognizing the broad applications and interests in coastal meteorology among several federal agencies. Early collaboration with the Committee on the Coastal Ocean of the National Research Council's Ocean Studies Board in helping to form the panel is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are also extended to John S. Perry and Kenneth Bergman for initial staff support of the study and to William A. Sprigg for helping to guide the report to its completion.

Peter V. Hobbs, Chairman

Committee on Meteorological Analysis, Prediction, and Research

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1992. Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1991.
×

COASTAL METEOROLOGY

A REVIEW OF THE STATE OF THE SCIENCE

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Coastal Meteorology: A Review of the State of the Science Get This Book
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Almost half the U.S. population lives along the coast. In another 20 years this population is expected to more than double in size. The unique weather and climate of the coastal zone, circulating pollutants, altering storms, changing temperature, and moving coastal currents affect air pollution and disaster preparedness, ocean pollution, and safeguarding near-shore ecosystems. Activities in commerce, industry, transportation, freshwater supply, safety, recreation, and national defense also are affected.

The research community engaged in studies of coastal meteorology in recent years has made significant advancements in describing and predicting atmospheric properties along coasts. Coastal Meteorology reviews this progress and recommends research that would increase the value and application of what is known today.

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