Regional differences in winter sea level variations in the Baltic Sea for the past 200 yr

The objective of this paper is to analyse water level variations of the Baltic Sea on the Latvian coast. This is important because the Baltic Sea exhibits a number of remarkable phenomena. One of them is the sea level variations due to winds, complicated by the shape of the gulfs and islands. Under this influence the range of the sea level variations can reach 3 m on the coasts of gulfs. However, the tidal variations of the Baltic Sea range in the order of centimetres only. In the frame of this study, using hourly time series of the sea level records from 7 Latvian coastal hydrologic stations and employing spectral analysis, it has become feasible to identify diurnal and semi-diurnal tide existence both in the Gulf of Riga and in the Baltic Sea at the Latvian coast. Totally 4 main tidal constituents (O1, K1, M2, S2) have been identified. Additionally, nontidal frequency of 5 cycles per day has been detected in the sea level time series of the stations located in the Gulf of Riga.

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SEA LEVEL VARIATIONS IN THE GULF OF BOTHNIA

Hydrology Research ◽

10.2166/nh.1973.0004 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 41-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

EUGENIE LISITZIN

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Sea Level ◽

Water Volume ◽

Tide Gauges ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Land Uplift ◽

Gulf Of Bothnia ◽

Sea Level Variations ◽

The Baltic

An attempt is made to compute the sea level variations in the Gulf of Bothnia, which is isolated by islands and thresholds from the Baltic Sea proper. Observations from tide gauges during the 30-year period 1931–1960 were used. The effect of land uplift was taken into consideration. The maximum annual deviation in water volume from the long-term mean corresponded to 20.74 km3..

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Sea Level Dynamics and Coastal Erosion in the Baltic Sea Region

10.5194/esd-2021-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ralf Weisse ◽

Inga Dailidiene ◽

Birgit Hünicke ◽

Kimmo Kahma ◽

Kristine Madsen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Sea Level ◽

Coastal Erosion ◽

Data Availability ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Mean Sea Level ◽

The Past ◽

Coastline Change ◽

Baltic Sea Region ◽

The Baltic

Abstract. There are a large number of geophysical processes affecting sea level dynamics and coastal erosion in the Baltic Sea region. These processes operate on a large range of spatial and temporal scales and are observed in many other coastal regions worldwide. Together with the outstanding number of long data records, this makes the Baltic Sea a unique laboratory for advancing our knowledge on interactions between processes steering sea level and erosion in a climate change context. Processes contributing to sea level dynamics and coastal erosion in the Baltic Sea include the still ongoing visco-elastic response of the Earth to the last deglaciation, contributions from global and North Atlantic mean sea level changes, or from wind waves affecting erosion and sediment transport along the subsiding southern Baltic Sea coast. Other examples are storm surges, seiches, or meteotsunamis contributing primarily to sea level extremes. All such processes have undergone considerable variations and changes in the past. For example, over the past about 50 years, the Baltic absolute (geocentric) mean sea level rose at a rate slightly larger than the global average. In the northern parts, due to vertical land movements, relative sea level decreased. Sea level extremes are strongly linked to variability and changes in the large-scale atmospheric circulation. Patterns and mechanisms contributing to erosion and accretion strongly depend on hydrodynamic conditions and their variability. For large parts of the sedimentary shores of the Baltic Sea, the wave climate and the angle at which the waves approach the nearshore are the dominant factors, and coastline changes are highly sensitive to even small variations in these driving forces. Consequently, processes contributing to Baltic sea level dynamics and coastline change are expected to vary and to change in the future leaving their imprint on future Baltic sea level and coastline change and variability. Because of the large number of contributing processes, their relevance for understanding global figures, and the outstanding data availability, we argue that global sea level research and research on coastline changes may greatly benefit from research undertaken in the Baltic Sea.

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Characteristics and Long-Term Variability of Occurrences of Storm Surges in the Baltic Sea

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos12121679 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 1679

Author(s):

Tomasz Wolski ◽

Bernard Wiśniewski

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Sea Level ◽

Storm Surges ◽

Coastal Zones ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Sea Levels ◽

The Past ◽

Pressure Area ◽

The Baltic

Understanding the characteristics of storm surges is especially important in the context of ongoing climate changes, which often lead to catastrophic events in the coastal zones of seas and oceans. For this reason, this paper presents the characteristics of the Baltic Sea storm surges and trends in their occurrences through the past 60 years. The study material was based on hourly sea level readings, spanning the years 1961–2020, retrieved from 45 Baltic Sea tide gauges, as well as air pressure and wind field data. Owing to the analysis and visualization of storm situations, two main types of storm surges were identified and characterized: a surge driven by wind and a surge driven by subpressure associated with an active low pressure area. This paper also discusses a third, mixed type of storm surge. Further analyses have indicated that through the past 60 years in the Baltic Sea, the duration of high sea level has increased by 1/3, the average number of storm surges has increased from 3.1 to 5.5 per year, and the maximum annual sea levels have increased—with a trend value of 0.28 cm/year. These processes, also observed in other marine basins, provide strong evidence for contemporary climate change.

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Referees comments on "Contribution of atmospheric circulation to recent off-shore sea-level variations in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea"

10.5194/esd-2017-23-rc2 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Anonymous

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Sea Level ◽

Atmospheric Circulation ◽

North Sea ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

The North ◽

The North Sea ◽

Sea Level Variations ◽

The Baltic

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Sea level dynamics and coastal erosion in the Baltic Sea region

Earth System Dynamics ◽

10.5194/esd-12-871-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 871-898

Author(s):

Ralf Weisse ◽

Inga Dailidienė ◽

Birgit Hünicke ◽

Kimmo Kahma ◽

Kristine Madsen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Sea Level ◽

Coastal Erosion ◽

Data Availability ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Mean Sea Level ◽

The Past ◽

Coastline Change ◽

Baltic Sea Region ◽

The Baltic

Abstract. There are a large number of geophysical processes affecting sea level dynamics and coastal erosion in the Baltic Sea region. These processes operate on a large range of spatial and temporal scales and are observed in many other coastal regions worldwide. This, along with the outstanding number of long data records, makes the Baltic Sea a unique laboratory for advancing our knowledge on interactions between processes steering sea level and erosion in a climate change context. Processes contributing to sea level dynamics and coastal erosion in the Baltic Sea include the still ongoing viscoelastic response of the Earth to the last deglaciation, contributions from global and North Atlantic mean sea level changes, or contributions from wind waves affecting erosion and sediment transport along the subsiding southern Baltic Sea coast. Other examples are storm surges, seiches, or meteotsunamis which primarily contribute to sea level extremes. Such processes have undergone considerable variation and change in the past. For example, over approximately the past 50 years, the Baltic absolute (geocentric) mean sea level has risen at a rate slightly larger than the global average. In the northern parts of the Baltic Sea, due to vertical land movements, relative mean sea level has decreased. Sea level extremes are strongly linked to variability and changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation. The patterns and mechanisms contributing to erosion and accretion strongly depend on hydrodynamic conditions and their variability. For large parts of the sedimentary shores of the Baltic Sea, the wave climate and the angle at which the waves approach the nearshore region are the dominant factors, and coastline changes are highly sensitive to even small variations in these driving forces. Consequently, processes contributing to Baltic sea level dynamics and coastline change are expected to vary and to change in the future, leaving their imprint on future Baltic sea level and coastline change and variability. Because of the large number of contributing processes, their relevance for understanding global figures, and the outstanding data availability, global sea level research and research on coastline changes may greatly benefit from research undertaken in the Baltic Sea.

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