Abrupt changes in wave climate of regional seas caused by large-scale atmospheric forcing and teleconnections

Author(s):  
Nadia Kudryavtseva

<p>Climate warming is expected to change the functioning of regional seas substantially. However, it is still an open question how the global climate processes will affect in the future the regional seas, their wave climate, changes in the storm surges and, consequently, the coastal erosion, flooding risks, and coastal communities. In this study, we perform a detailed analysis of the wave climate of the Baltic Sea and the Caspian Sea based on the multi-mission satellite altimetry data in 1990 – 2017. The dataset of significant wave heights (SWH) from ten satellites was cross-validated against regional in situ buoy and echosounder measurements. In the Caspian Sea, due to the limited availability of the in-situ measurements, the satellite data were validated with visual wave measurements. After correction for systematic differences, the visual observations showed excellent correspondence with monthly averaged satellite data with a typical root mean square difference of 0.06 m. Even though several satellite pairs (ENVISAT/JASON-1, SARAL/JASON-2, ERS-1/TOPEX) exhibit substantial mutual temporal drift, and calm wave conditions are ignored, the overall picture is very consistent. The averaged over the whole basin annual mean SWH in the Baltic Sea shows an increase of 0.005 m/yr but no significant trend is detected in the Caspian Sea.</p><p>Interestingly, in both Baltic and Caspian seas, changes in the average SWH exhibit a strong spatial pattern. In the Baltic Sea, a meridional pattern is detected: an increase in the central and western parts of the sea and a decrease in the eastern part. This pattern has a timescale of ~13 yr. We also found a faster-varying region in the Baltic Proper where trends in the wave heights experience abrupt changes with a timescale of 3 years and show a strong relation to changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation. In the Caspian Sea, the wave height decreased by 0.019 ± 0.007 m/yr in the eastern segment of the central basin and by 0.04 ± 0.04 m/yr in the western segment of the southern basin when the other parts showed an increase of wave heights. These changes can be explained by an increase in the frequency of westerly winds at the expense of southerly winds. Analysing the changes in the atmospheric forcing we found that there is a cyclic behaviour with a timescale of ~12 years which result in abrupt changes in the wave climate every 12 years, causing the trends in different regions to reverse its sign.</p><p>We demonstrate that the impact on the coast and coastal community is caused by a complex chain of events, starting from changes in the wind direction due to large-scale atmospheric variability and atmospheric teleconnections, which create abrupt shifts in the wave climate of regional seas. We discuss that regional seas have a different response to the changing climate compared to the open ocean condition, which can lead to accelerated coastal erosion and a higher risk of flooding.</p>

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Kudryavtseva ◽  
Tarmo Soomere

Abstract. The main properties of the climate of waves in the seasonally ice-covered Baltic Sea and its decadal changes since 1990 are estimated from satellite altimetry data. The data set of significant wave heights (SWH) from all existing ten satellites is cleaned and cross-validated against in situ buoy and echosounder measurements. Even though several satellite pairs (ENVISAT/JASON-1, SARAL/JASON-2, ERS-1/TOPEX) exhibit substantial mutual temporal drift, and calm situations are ignored, the overall picture is consistent. The annual mean SWH shows tentative increase 0.005 m/yr but higher quantiles behave in a cyclic manner with a timescale of 10–15 yr. Changes in the basin-wide average SWH have a strong meridional pattern: an increase in the central and western parts of the sea and decrease in the eastern part. This pattern is likely caused by a rotation of wind directions rather than by an increase in the wind speed.


Ocean Science ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Soomere ◽  
R. Weisse ◽  
A. Behrens

Abstract. The basic features of the wave climate in the Southwestern Baltic Sea (such as the average and typical wave conditions, frequency of occurrence of different wave parameters, variations in wave heights from weekly to decadal scales) are established based on waverider measurements at the Darss Sill in 1991–2010. The measured climate is compared with two numerical simulations with the WAM wave model driven by downscaled reanalysis of wind fields for 1958–2002 and by adjusted geostrophic winds for 1970–2007. The wave climate in this region is typical for semi-enclosed basins of the Baltic Sea. The maximum wave heights are about half of those in the Baltic Proper. The maximum recorded significant wave height HS =4.46 m occurred on 3 November 1995. The wave height exhibits no long-term trend but reveals modest interannual (about 12 % of the long-term mean of 0.76 m) and substantial seasonal variation. The wave periods are mostly concentrated in a narrow range of 2.6–4 s. Their distribution is almost constant over decades. The role of remote swell is very small.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Najafzadeh ◽  
Nadezhda Kudryavtseva ◽  
Tarmo Soomere

Abstract Wave heights in the Baltic Sea in 1992–2015 have predominantly increased in the sea's western parts. The linear trends in the winter wave heights exhibit a prominent meridional pattern. Using the technique of Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) applied to the multi-mission satellite altimetry data, we link a large part of this increase in the wave heights with the climatic indices of the Scandinavian mode, North Atlantic Oscillation, and Arctic Oscillation. The winter trends show a statistically significant negative correlation (correlation coefficient –0.47±0.19) with the Scandinavian pattern and a positive correlation with the North Atlantic Oscillation (0.31±0.22) and Arctic Oscillation (0.42±0.20). The meridional pattern is associated with more predominant north-westerly and westerly winds driven by the Scandinavian and North Atlantic Oscillation, respectively. All three climatic indices show a statistically significant time-variable correlation with Baltic Sea wave climate during the winter season. When the Scandinavian pattern's influence is strong, North Atlantic and Arctic Oscillations' effect is low and vice versa. The results are backed up by simulations using synthetic data that demonstrate that the percentage of variance retrieved using EOF analysis from the satellite-derived wave measurements is directly related to the percentage of noise in the data and the retrieved spatial patterns are insensitive to the level of noise.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Kudryavtseva ◽  
Tarmo Soomere

Abstract. The main properties of the climate of waves in the seasonally ice-covered Baltic Sea and its decadal changes since 1990 are estimated from satellite altimetry data. The data set of significant wave heights (SWHs) from all existing nine satellites, cleaned and cross-validated against in situ measurements, shows overall a very consistent picture. A comparison with visual observations shows a good correspondence with correlation coefficients of 0.6–0.8. The annual mean SWH reveals a tentative increase of 0.005 m yr−1, but higher quantiles behave in a cyclic manner with a timescale of 10–15 years. Changes in the basin-wide average SWH have a strong meridional pattern: an increase in the central and western parts of the sea and a decrease in the east. This pattern is likely caused by a rotation of wind directions rather than by an increase in the wind speed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 954
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Stramska ◽  
Paulina Aniskiewicz

Variability of sea level in the North and Baltic Seas, enforced by weather patterns, affects the intensity of water exchange between these seas. Transfer of salty water from the North Sea is very important for the hydrography of the Baltic Sea. The volume of inflowing salty water can occasionally increase remarkably. Such incidents, called the Major Baltic Inflows (MBIs), are unpredictable, of relatively short duration, and difficult to observe using in situ data. We have shown that remote sensing altimetry can be used as a complementary source of information about the MBI events. The advantage of using such data is that large-scale spatial information about SLA is available with daily resolution. We have described changes in SLA during several MBI events observed in 1993–2017. The net volume of water transported into the Baltic Sea varied between the events due to differences in atmospheric forcing. Based on SLA data, the largest inflow of water happened during the 2014 MBI. This is in agreement with previously published results, based on in situ data.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 2237-2270 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Soomere ◽  
R. Weisse ◽  
A. Behrens

Abstract. The basic features of the wave climate in the South-Eastern Baltic Sea are studied based on available long-term measurements and simulations. The analysis of average, typical and extreme wave conditions, frequency of occurrence of different wave parameters, variations in wave heights from weekly to decadal scales, etc., is performed based on waverider measurements at the Darss Sill since 1991. The measured climatology is compared against numerical simulations with the WAM wave model driven by downscaled reanalysis of wind fields for 1958–2002 and by adjusted geostrophic winds for 1970–2007. The wave climate in this region is typical for semi-enclosed basins of the Baltic Sea. The maximum wave heights are about half of those in the Baltic Proper. The overall reliably recorded maximum significant wave height HS =4.46 m occurred during a severe S-SW storm in 1993 when the 10-min average wind speed reached 28 m s−1. The long-term average significant wave height (0.75 m) shows modest interannual (about 12 % of the long-term mean) and substantial seasonal variation. The wave periods are mostly concentrated in a narrow range of 2.5–4 s and their distribution is almost constant over decades. The role of remote swell is very small. The annual wave properties show large interannual variability but no long-term trends in average and extreme wave heights can be observed.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. e0227714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanna Majaneva ◽  
Emil Fridolfsson ◽  
Michele Casini ◽  
Catherine Legrand ◽  
Elin Lindehoff ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-132
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Mills ◽  
Katarzyna Schaefer ◽  
Tomasz Wityk

Electrochemical Noise Measurement (ENM) and DC electrolytic resistance measurement (ERM) can be used to assess the level of protectiveness provided by an organic coating (paint or varnish) to the underlying metal. These techniques also have applicability to the thinner, transparent type of coatings used to protect archaeological artefacts. Two studies are presented here demonstrating how ERM and ENM techniques can be applied in artefact preservation. The similarity of the techniques, both of which are a measure of resistance, means results can be considered to be analogous. The first study investigated the use of ERM to determine the protection levels provided by typical coatings in order to develop a database of coating type and application for objects, for specific environments. The second study used ENM to evaluate coatings which had been applied to historic artefacts recovered from shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea and displayed inside the museum or kept in the museum store area. The studies showed the usefulness of both techniques for determining the level of protection of a coating and how a better performing coating can be specified if a pre-existing coating on an artefact has been found to be unsuitable.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document