Difference Between Land Breeze And Sea Breeze

During the day, the sun warms up the land or sand as well as water. But the sand absorbs the sun’s heat at a faster pace than water. Thus, sand gets hotter than the water or the sea. This leads to a land breeze and the sea breeze that occur near the water bodies. Breeze refers to the moderate or mild wind. The convection phenomenon is involved in the land breeze and the sea breeze. We can thus categorize the breeze into two types, land breeze, and sea breeze. When the breeze flows from the land towards the sea, it is a land breeze. When the breeze flows from the sea towards the land, it is the sea breeze. Both these breezes have some similarities. However, in this article, let us also study the difference between land breeze and sea breeze.

What is Land Breeze?

The land heats up at a faster pace and so does it cool also. Hence, after the sunset land or sand cools down before the water. At this time, the land air is cooler than the sea air thereby creating a low pressure over the sea. Thus, the land air flows towards the sea. As the name suggests, Land breeze refers to the breeze or wind blowing from the land towards the sea. It is also known as Offshore breeze. It usually occurs during the night or early morning when the land air is cooler than the sea air.

What is Sea Breeze?

During the day time, when the sun is up, the land air heats up faster whereas the sea air heats slowly. Thus, at this time, the sea air is cooler and heavy and it flows towards the land. As the name suggests, Sea breeze refers to the breeze or wind blowing from the sea towards the land. It usually occurs during the summer days. It is also known as Onshore breeze.

Difference Between Land Breeze and Sea Breeze

The important difference between land breeze and sea breeze

Parameter	Land Breeze	Sea Breeze
Meaning	The wind blowing from land towards the sea is Land breeze.	The wind blowing from the sea towards the land is Sea breeze.
Time	It occurs during the nights or early mornings.	It occurs during the day.
Season	It occurs during the winter or autumn season.	It occurs during the summer or spring season.
Depth	It is shallow.	It is deep.
Speed	Its pace ranges from 5 to 8 knots.	Its pace ranges from 10 to 20 knots.
Air temperature	It remains the same during the land breeze.	It tends to decrease during sea breeze.
Wind type	Usually, dry winds blow.	The wind contains more amount of moisture as it blows from the sea.

After studying the difference between land breeze and sea breeze, let us understand some more details.

Some facts:

• Land breeze and sea breeze both occur near coastal areas.
• They both have an impact on the humidity levels, atmospheric temperature, and precipitation rates.
• The land breeze is usually slower than the sea breeze and are generally weak.
• Due to the breeze, the places near the sea or coastal areas do not have a lot of variation in the temperature. Whereas the inland places have a major temperature change.

FAQs about Land breeze and Sea breeze:

 Q.1. What is the reason for the occurrence of land breeze and sea breeze?

Answer. The land and water have different heat absorption and heat retention capacity. Thus, this makes the air above them lighter or heavy. The heavy and cooler ait flows towards the lighter and hotter air which in turn gives rise to the breeze. Hence, it is the reason for the occurrence of the land breeze and the sea breeze.

Q.2. Which type of breeze is helpful for glider pilots?

Answer. The sea breeze is strong enough and thus glider pilots take advantage of it to steer in higher altitudes.

Q.3. Why is the climate of places near the sea have a humid climate?

Answer. The places or cities near the sea or around coastal regions generally have a humid and wet climate due to the effect of the sea breeze. For example, a city like Mumbai has a lot of humidity and moisture in the air as it is situated near the sea.