Observational and numerical study of the combined effect of slope winds and sea breezes in the North-East coast of Spain
The combined influence of slope winds and sea breezes on local wind dynamics is studied in the Llobregat river delta, located in the North-East Iberian Peninsula, where the proximity of the Garraf mountains favours the coexistence of these two thermally-driven wind systems. Observational data are co...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:upcommonspor::7954d4bdb7baa0bdcf48d60445262cb0 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/462329 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2026.106495 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Thermally-driven winds Slope wind Sea breeze Atmospheric boundary layer Meteorological mast OpenFOAM Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Aeronàutica i espai |
| Sumario: | The combined influence of slope winds and sea breezes on local wind dynamics is studied in the Llobregat river delta, located in the North-East Iberian Peninsula, where the proximity of the Garraf mountains favours the coexistence of these two thermally-driven wind systems. Observational data are collected from a meteorological mast over a full year and filters are applied to identify days with sea breeze characteristics. One spring day is selected to set up and validate numerical simulations using the open-source computational fluid dynamics software OpenFOAM. A simple two-dimensional computational domain is used, where the terrain temperature and roughness data are the input to the model, and a slope angle is applied to replicate the topography of the study region. Numerical results show good agreement with observations and correctly reproduce the main features of slope flows and sea breezes, both when they start independently and when, along the day, these regimes interact and/or merge. The sea breeze circulation is strengthened by the coupling with the slope flow, which can have an effect on wind energy production, pollutant dispersion, and the advance of potential fires. |
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