[1] Measurements performed in winter 2002/2003 and spring 2003 off the east Adriatic coast showed that the East Adriatic Current (EAC) peaked in January/February (as expected from previous findings) and again in May (not expected). The first maximum corresponded with the considerable cross-shore variability of seawater properties, the colder, fresher water prevailing close to the coast, the warmer, saltier water dominating the open sea. The second maximum coincided with the massive intrusion of warm, saline water from the south Adriatic. Meteorological and hydrologic forcing was anomalous over the measurement interval: during winter 2002/2003 the cooling and river outflows were strong, during spring 2003 the pronounced warming coincided with exceptional dryness. In order to interpret the two EAC maxima a simple numerical model reproducing response of the Adriatic-Mediterranean system to the wintertime forcing was developed. It was found that the first maximum could be related to the coastal freshwater input and offshore evaporation in the Adriatic area, and that the second maximum was probably due to the wintertime surface cooling of the Adriatic while warmer conditions prevailed above the Mediterranean. The resulting horizontal density gradients supported two different circulation systems, one within the Adriatic, the other between the Adriatic and east Mediterranean, and they differed not only in spatial but also in temporal scales, therefore supporting the occurrence of two distinctive EAC maxima.Citation: Orlić, M., et al. (2006), Wintertime buoyancy forcing, changing seawater properties, and two different circulation systems produced in the Adriatic,

Abstract. Currents recorded at two stations positioned at the Adriatic shelf break between 17 February and 6 March 1989 were considered. They provided the first evidence of current variability related to the Adriatic-wide seiches. Current spectra were dominated by a peak at 21.1 h -a well-known period of the fundamental Adriatic mode. Amplitudes of oscillations were considerable, occasionally greater than 30 cm/s. Both along-and cross-basin currents were recorded, thus signalling the importance of rotational effects. Comparison of the current data with the sea-level measurements performed simultaneously along the east Adriatic coast showed that the 21-h currents flowing in the Adriatic preceded sea levels by a quarter of a cycle, as would be expected from a simple model of bay seiches. Sea-level amplitudes reached 40 cm in the North Adriatic, thus marking the event as one of the strongest on record. Seiching was triggered by a suddenly changing sirocco wind, as is usually the case in the Adriatic. The most important features of the seiche event were reproduced with a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the Adriatic Sea, forced by the sea-level residuals measured at Otranto and the air pressure and wind data recorded at Lastovo. The model showed that the seiche-related currents were relatively strong in the area where the current measurements were performed and further north -between Zadar and Ancona.

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Diurnal coastal upwelling was previously observed when sea breezes were exceptionally strong, or when the process occurred close to critical latitudes (30°N, 30°S) where local inertial oscillations may be resonantly excited. Our data collected in the Adriatic show that the pronounced diurnal upwelling is also possible under milder wind‐forcing and outside critical latitudes. It is found that the thermocline recorded in the summer of 2006 at the south coast of the island of Lastovo was subject to diurnal variability with a maximum range of about 30 m, and that the corresponding currents measured off the west coast of the island pointed to internal waves propagating around the island in a clockwise direction. We suggest that the summertime stratification occasionally promotes coastal waves that revolve daily around the island, creating the conditions needed for resonant excitation by sea breezes. Numerical modeling reveals that the 24‐h waves are trapped around the island due to the influence of both the Coriolis force and bottom slope, and that the 12‐h waves radiate away from the island. The biogeochemical data show that the diurnal upwelling may stimulate primary production in the area but may also adversely affect benthic organisms.

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Satellite Derived Bathymetry (SDB) method uses satellite or other remote multispectral imagery for depth determination in very shallow coastal areas with clear waters. Commonly, SDB survey method can be used when planning hydrographic surveying of marine areas not surveyed or areas with old bathymetric data. This method has become widely used in the past few years. SDB is a survey method founded on analytical modelling of light penetration through the water column in visible and infrared bands. In this article, SDB method was applied by using freeof-charge Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 satellite images to get the bathymetric data in the area of Hramina Bay in the Central Adriatic. SDB processing procedures and algorithms were described. Processed satellite data was uploaded on geodetic software and ENC S-57 format. The bathymetric map of Hramina Bay obtained by the SDB method was compared with the approach usage band Electronic Nautical Chart (ENC) HR400512 with satisfying positional and vertical accuracy.

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