The Water Cycle of the Baltic Sea Region From GRACE/GRACE-FO Missions and ERA5 Data

Boulahia, Ahmed Kamel; García-García, David; Vigo, M. Isabel; Trottini, Mario; Sayol, Juan Manuel

doi:10.3389/feart.2022.879148

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 60 publications

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“…( 1 ), the total volume change in the entire Baltic Sea was estimated to amount about 198 . For comparison, the mean climatological annual freshwater surplus (sum of river run-off, precipitation, and evaporation) in the Baltic Sea is about 480 28 , 29 . The total volume change can be separated between the Belt Sea and the Sound Sea (see Methods) and then amounts to 169 and 29 , respectively, giving a ratio of 8:1.4, which is close to the previously estimated ratio of 8:2 30 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observation of a moderate major Baltic Sea inflow in December 2023

Purkiani,

Jochumsen,

Fischer

2024

Sci Rep

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Just before Christmas 2023, the low-pressure system storm “Zoltan” struck Germany, resulting in widespread damage and two consecutive large storm surges on the North Sea coast in the night from Thursday 21 December 2023 to Friday 22 December 2023. Storm Zoltan brought heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and winds ranging between 90 and 115 $$\mathrm {km\,h^{-1}}$$ km h - 1 , with gusts reaching up to 140 $$\mathrm {km\,h^{-1}}$$ km h - 1 along the coast which caused severe damage, particularly in northern Germany. Characteristics of the inflowing water at the Fehmarn Belt buoy (FEB), Darss Sill station (DAR) and the Arkona Basin buoy (ARK), including salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and ocean currents properties, were analysed to understand the impact of storm Zoltan in the western Baltic Sea. In addition to the damage along its path, following the onset of strong westerly winds associated with storm Zoltan, a large volume of water, containing saline (17–22 psu), cold (5–6 °C), and oxygen-rich 7–8 ($$\,\mathrm { ml\,l^{-1}}$$ ml l - 1 ) water from the Kattegat and the North Sea reached into the western Baltic Sea. The sea level at Landsort Norra increased by +57 cm over a period of 14 days, from 15 December to 29 December 2023. This resulted in a total volume change of 198 $$\mathrm {km^3}$$ km 3 in the entire Baltic Sea, with 169 $$\mathrm {km^3}$$ km 3 and 29 $$\mathrm {km^3}$$ km 3 provided via the Belt Sea and the Sound Sea, respectively. Observations at the DAR indicated a significant inflow between 19 December 2023 and 1 January 2024 with salinity above 13 psu, temperature below 5.5 °C and dissolved oxygen of about 7.5–8 $$\mathrm { ml\,l^{-1}}$$ ml l - 1 . While the maximum salinity of the bottom layer at the DAR was about 17 psu, the ARK exhibited significantly higher salinities, reaching up to 22 psu at the bottom layer. During the main inflow period, 75 $$\mathrm {km^3}$$ km 3 of highly saline water entered the western Baltic Sea. This corresponds to an average salt transport of 1.75 Gt into the western Baltic Sea (1.39 Gt from the Belt Sea and 0.36 Gt from the Sound Sea), representing more than 20% of the total annual salt import into the Baltic Sea), which places the event in the moderate range of major Baltic inflows. This event brought an amount of about 0.8 $$\mathrm {10^6}$$ 10 6 t oxygen into the Baltic Sea. This was the strongest inflow into the Baltic Sea since 2016.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observation of a moderate major Baltic Sea inflow in December 2023

Purkiani,

Jochumsen,

Fischer

2024

Sci Rep

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Sea surface circulation in the Baltic Sea: decomposed components and pattern recognition

Barzandeh,

Maljutenko,

Rikka

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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By decomposing the total sea surface current into its geostrophic and ageostrophic components, we examined the contribution of each to the long-term variability of the total sea surface current. Our findings demonstrate the importance of geostrophic currents in Baltic Sea gyre formations. Additionally, ageostrophic currents contribute significantly to the flow across the region. Quantifying the difference between total sea surface current fields has revealed two dominant general sea surface circulation patterns in the Baltic Sea, whose characteristics correspond to the monthly mean climatology of sea surface current fields in May and December. Subsequently, a machine learning technique was employed to effectively detect the types of sea surface circulation patterns using wind vectors and sea level anomaly fields. This underscored the combined influence of sea level anomaly-driven and wind-driven components in shaping surface current vectors in the Baltic Sea, consistent with geostrophic and ageostrophic decompositions.

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Long-Term Sea Level Periodicities over the European Seas from Altimetry and Tide Gauge Data

Zid,

Vigo,

Vargas-Alemañy

et al. 2024

Remote Sensing

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This study investigates the long-term temporal patterns of sea level changes by analyzing monthly tide gauge data from 1950 to 2022 (42 to 72 years) along the European coastline and monthly altimetry data from 1992 to 2024 in the surrounding European seas. The primary focus is on signals with periods longer than 5 years. The application of wavelet-based approaches and multiresolution analysis has enabled the isolation of signals with periods of approximately 8 and 16 years. However, the latter has only been observed in tide gauge data, as the altimetry time series is not sufficiently long. The same analysis was applied to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) indices, which enabled the detection of the same signals. The reported multiyear signals of sea level are correlated with NAO and AMO indices, particularly during the period spanning from 1975 to 2010.

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The Water Cycle of the Baltic Sea Region From GRACE/GRACE-FO Missions and ERA5 Data

Cited by 5 publications

References 60 publications

Observation of a moderate major Baltic Sea inflow in December 2023

Observation of a moderate major Baltic Sea inflow in December 2023

Sea surface circulation in the Baltic Sea: decomposed components and pattern recognition

Long-Term Sea Level Periodicities over the European Seas from Altimetry and Tide Gauge Data

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