State and Evolution of the Baltic Sea, 1952-2005 A Detailed 50-Year Survey of Meteorology and Climate, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Marine Environment

by Feistel, Rainer; Nausch, Gü; nther; Wasmund, Norbert

• ISBN13: 9780471979685
• ISBN10: 0471979686
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-25
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience

Summary

Based on a fifty-year study conducted by the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, this book brings together a comprehensive summary of their observations and findings. Written by well-known experts, this revealing book concentrates on long-term changes in the Baltic Seawhich can be extrapolated to shed light on the environmental problems of other shelf seas, brackish seas, and large estuariesthereby contributing to our understanding of water exchange processes, eutrophication, and climatic impacts at the forefront of international concern.

Author Biography

Rainer Feistel, PhD, is a physicist and oceanographer at IOW inWarnemünde, Germany, and is the author of four previous books.

Günther Nausch, PhD, is a senior marine chemist at IOW, where he works on nutrient cycles and long-term trend observations in the Baltic Sea.

Norbert Wasmund, PhD, is a senior marine biologist at IOW, where he specializes in phytoplankton research and is responsible for biological monitoring.

Table of Contents

Introduction

General oceanography of the Baltic Sea

Specific natural conditions and their consequences

Estuarine circulation

Long term exchange

Short term barotropic exchange

Stratification and mixing in the channels

Quantifying the stochastic salt exchange associated with the barotropic water exchange

Wind driven currents

Ekman current and transport

Upwelling and coastal jets

Surface waves, tides, seiches, surges

Surface gravity waves

Seiches and wind stau

Tides

Kelvin waves, topographic waves and eddies

Kelvin waves

Coastal trapped waves and continental shelf waves

Eddies

Internal waves, turbulence, diapycnical mixing

Introduction

Vertical mixing in the interior

References

The history of long-term observations in Warnem8nde

Introduction

Ship-borne measurements at fixed stations

Basic oceanographic instrumentation for ship-borne measurements

Oceanographic observations in the 1950s and 1960s

International cooperation 1969-2005

Activities in the frame of BMP, 1979-2005

Buoy stations and measuring platforms

The first buoy stations

MARNET stations

Current meter stations in the central Baltic Sea

Parameters measured

Data quality

References110

Weather of the Baltic Sea

Introduction

Extreme weather conditions

Hurricanes, gales

Storm surges

Special weather situations

Baltic cyclones

Land and sea breeze

Warnemnder wind

General Vb- and Omega-weather types

Greenhouse effect

Acknowledgment

References

Baltic climate change

Introduction

Seasonal cycles

Climatic trends

Climatic variability

Year-to-year fluctuations

Decadal scale changes

Possible trigger mechanisms

Conclusions and outlook

References

Current Observations in the western Baltic Sea

Introduction

Great Belt and Fehmarnbelt

Great Belt

Fehmarnbelt

Arkona Sea West and Drogden Sill

Darss Sill

Drogden Sill

From Kriegers Flak to Hiddensee

Around Rgen

West off Hiddensee

Wittow

Kap Arkona

Tromper Wiek

From Landtief A to Jan Heweliusz

Oderbank

Conclusions

Acknowledgement

References

Sea state and tides

Sea state

History of observation and research

Observation and measurement

Sea state characteristics and wave generating factors

Wind sea characteristics

Wave height frequency distribution

Wave spectra

Wave generating and wave modifying factors (wind, fetch, wind duration, water depth)

Special phenomena (air-sea temperature, currents, crossing seas)

Calculation and forecast of the sea state

Empirical wave parameter calculation

Empirical wave spectra

Numerical models

Wave climatology

Open sea wave climate

Wave climate of the coastal zone

Extreme wave conditions

Tides

History of tidal research in the Baltic Sea

Theory of tides in the Baltic Sea and a proper model concept

Modelling of co-oscillating and direct tides

Reference

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