RESEARCH ARTICLE


Effects of the Sea Breeze Circulation on Soil Temperature Over Kuwait Using in Situ Observations and the ECMWF Model



Hussain Alsarraf1, *, Matthew V.D. Broeke2, Hala Aljassar3
1 Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, American University of Kuwait, Salmiya, Kuwait
2 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
3 Department of Physics, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait


© 2019 Alsarraf et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences American University of kuwait Salmiya, Kuwait; Tel:+996 99663313; E-mails: dr.hussain.alsarraf@gmail.com and halsarraf@auk.edu.kw


Abstract

Background:

The mesoscale circulation over Kuwait is an important influence on changes in surface temperatures and soil temperatures.

Introduction:

This paper presents two common summertime atmospheric features over Kuwait linking wind circulation to soil temperatures.

Methods:

In this study, we use the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts ECMWF reanalysis ERA-Interim dataset to investigate effects of the synoptic scale and mesoscale circulations.

Results:

The results show that a large-scale pressure gradient in summer typically leads to northerly winds over Kuwait, while a weak synoptic-scale pressure gradient leads to light easterly humid winds from the Persian Gulf, consistent with a mesoscale circulation.

Conclusions:

The results demonstrate the significance of wind circulations in driving the Soil Temperature (SOILT). Using the Era-Interim/Land reanalysis dataset for August 2015 over Kuwait, the average SOILT on days of sea breeze is higher than the average SOILT on days dominated by a synoptic-scale pressure gradient.

Keywords: Synoptic scale forcing, Mesoscale circulation, Kuwait, Arabian Peninsula, Soil temperature, Shamal, ECWMF, AWOS, ERA-Interim.