GRADIENT-EDDY WAVES IN THE BALTIC SEA

V. R. Fuks

Low-frequency disturbances in the variations of the level and currents of the Baltic Sea are not fully understood. Level isopleths with contour interval of 5—7 km and time step of about ten days were analyzed using satellite altimetric along-track measurements in the Baltic Sea in 2003. Analysis of the space—time variability of the Baltic Sea level on synoptic scales leads to a conclusion that this variability is determined by progressive standing waves of a few first modes. Comparing experimental altimetric data with general theoretical ideas of the dynamics of gradient-eddy waves in a continental basin, it may be concluded that the low-frequency dynamics of the Baltic Sea waters depends on these waves. This conclusion agrees with results from numerical experiments with a hydrodynamic model.