Numerical simulation of storm waves near the northeastern coast of the Black Sea

The results ofnumerical simulation of storm waves near the northeastern coast ofthe Black Sea using different wind forcing (CFSR reanalysis, GFS forecast, and WRF reanalysis and forecast) are presented. The wave modeling is based on the SWAN spectral wave model and the high-resolution unstructured grid for the Tsemes Bay. The quality estimates of wave simulation results for various wind forcing are provided by comparing the model results with the instrumental data on wind waves in the Tsemes Bay. It is shown that the forecast of the maximum wave height for some storms using the WRF wind forcing is more accurate than that based on the GFS forcing.     

Increase in Storm Activity in the Kara Sea from 1979 to 2019: Numerical Simulation Data

Doklady Earth Sciences - Wind wave modeling (WAVEWATCH III model) is used to analyze the storm activity in the Kara Sea for the period from 1979 to 2019. The NCEP/CFSR/CFSv2 reanalysis data used as...     

Wave Climate in the Caspian Sea Based on Wave Hindcast

The results of wind wave hindcast for the Caspian Sea for the period of 1979–2017 are presented. The WAVEWATCHIII wave model and wind forcing from the NCEP/CFSR reanalysis are used. The modeling is performed on the unstructured grid with the spacing to 1 km in the coastal zone. Mean and extreme values of wave height, length, and period are provided. It is shown that the maximum height of waves of 3% probability of exceedance is 11.7 m. The interannual variability of wave parameters is analyzed. No unambiguous trend towards increase or decrease in the storm activity was revealed over the hindcasting period.     

Possibilities of X-band nautical radars for monitoring of wind waves near the coast

We present the results of development and testing of a coastal X-band radar system for monitoring wind waves and currents at the Black Sea (near Gelendzhik) created on the basis of nautical radars. Radar measurements of wave heights were validated by data from a wave buoy and a moored acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). The conditions for successful radar measurements of waves in the coastal environment have been determined. It was shown that a radar with an aperture 1° could successfully measure wave heights at a distance of 1.2 km from the radar, when waves arrive at an angle of ±31° to the main sensing direction. In this case, for wave height measurements, the correlation coefficient between the radar and independent data is 0.82 and the standard deviation is 0.26 m.     

Simulation of the interannual and seasonal variability of the overflow transport through the Denmark Strait

The character of the water exchange in the Denmark Strait for the period of 1958–2006 is studied based on the results of the numerical experiments using the model of the ocean circulation developed at the Institute of Numerical Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences with a resolution of 0.25 degrees in latitude and longitude with 27 vertical levels. The calculations were performed for the North Atlantic area from 30° S, including the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea. The width of the Denmark Strait at 66° N is about 650 km, and the depth is approximately 550 m. The fields of the temperature, salinity, and density and the components of the current velocities were simulated. In this period, the average overflow of dense waters with the conventional potential density σ₀ > 27.80 to the North Atlantic through the Denmark Strait was 1.86 ± 0.96 Sv, and, for the nearbottom and intermediate waters with σ₀ > 27.50, it was 3.84 ± 1.31 Sv. The maximum values of the overflow transport through the strait were recorded in 1962, 1972, 1983, 1990, and 2000. Exactly these years showed the highest values of the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) index. This fact confirms the domination of the decadal variability of the hydrogeological processes in the North Atlantic. The model section of the current velocity through the strait showed the occurrence of at least four well marked jets that vertically occupy the entire sectional area from the surface to the bottom. The two jets divided by a northward jet at the strait’s middle move southward along the Greenland slope. The northward current along Iceland is also identified. This structure of the currents is also supported by the analysis of the observed variability of the absolute topography of the ocean’s surface.     

Coastal upwelling in the Gelendzhik area of the Black Sea: Effect of wind and dynamics

Long series data of a thermistor chain in the Black Sea coastal zone near Gelendzhik were analyzed. A thermistor chain installed 1 km offshore and at a depth of 22 m. There are full and incomplete upwelling events observed. The study of upwelling genesis based on: wind speed data from the NCEP/CFSR reanalysis and Gelendzhik weather station, velocity and direction of coastal currents measured by ADCP profiler moored on the bottom near the thermistor chain. Over the whole observation period (warm seasons of 2013–2015), more than 40 events of upwelling were registered four of them were full upwellings, when presence of under-thermocline water was observed near the sea surface. For every upwelling event, conditions prior to the changes in thermic structure, were analyzed. It is found that full upwelling generally occur under synergistic wind and current forcing. Fairly strong forcing of one of these factors is sufficient for partial upwelling to occur.