Sea BreezeSumba, Indonesia

6 lA-40-59
Flight 61A; 10.5S, 119.5E, 00:20:49 GMT, 5 Nov 1985

Sea breezes occur along nearly every coast of the world, whether it be an island or a major land mass. An island must be of sufficient size, though, to establish daytime convection over land and to initiate the onshore flow of air from the sea.
    Sea breeze wind regimes have been studied for many years, but their offshore extent and variation in width along a coast was unknown until such details were photographed from manned spacecraft. An excellent example of the variable width and effects of sea breezes lay in front of the Challenger crew as they orbited past the Indonesian island of Sumba. Variations in the offshore extent of the sea breeze are shown in the looping lines of cumulus clouds that follow the shoreline projections and indentations.

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