The Gulf of Patras is a shallow embayment (of 80 m mean depth), in western Greece, leading to the Ionian Sea on the west, and, through the straits of Rio-Antirio, to the Gulf of Corinth, on the east. In the present study, the three-dimensional modelling system [1] was applied to investigate the tide- and wind-driven circulation in the complex bathymetry of the natural basin of the Gulf of Patras. Numerical simulations have been conducted for different scenarios for wind speed and direction, and the results of the circulation forced by a uniform wind stress corresponding to a wind speed of 4 m/s and two different directions are reported. In addition, tidal records measured at both ends of the Gulf were used as forcing in order to simulate the tidal circulation. The numerical study corroborated that the tidal currents at the Rio-Antirio straits are stronger than those induced by the mean wind and are among the strongest tidal currents to be found in Greek waters. Comparisons between the three-dimensional model predictions and available field measurements have shown reasonable agreement both qualitatively and quantitatively.
