Storm surges in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea

Abstract

The characteristics of storm surges in different regions of the Gulf of Finland in the second half of the XX and the beginning of the XXI centuries were investigated on the basis of tide gauge measurements of sea level, instrumental observations of the wind and data from the reanalysis of meteorological fields. A criterion for identifying storm surges, taking into account spatial changes in their intensity, is proposed. The results indicate that depending on the year and the location of the station, the number of storm surges varies in the Gulf of Finland in a wide range: from 0 - 1 to 16 - 52 cases per year. The average duration of storm surges varies from 6.7 to 9.0 hours, and the maximum reaches 26 to 96 hours. Shown that in recent decades, in most regions, there has been a tendency towards a decrease in the number of storm surges, their dispersion and sea level maximum. The distributions of the probabilities of wind and atmospheric pressure during storm surges are given. Estimates of two-dimensional probability densities indicate that during storm surges, winds blowing from the west and southwest with speeds of 4-13 m / s are most likely. At the northern coast and at the top of the bay, the most probable values of atmospheric pressure during storm surges are 995 hPa. On the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, atmospheric pressure values of 1005 - 1015 hPa are most likely. The results obtained indicate that the atmospheric pressure over the Gulf of Finland during storm surges is not very low. This is due to the fact that the trajectories of the centers of cyclones causing storm surges pass north of the Gulf of Finland. Analysis of meteorological information also showed the presence of significant negative trends in interannual variations in the dispersion of the horizontal atmospheric pressure gradient, average values and maximums of wind speed. It is concluded that the revealed changes in the characteristics of storm surges are associated with a decrease in the intensity of cyclogenesis in the atmosphere over the Baltic Sea in recent decades.