Mathematics of Planet Earth

ERC NUMERIWAVES Seminar

New analytical and numerical methods in wave propagation

Tarmo SOOMERE, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia, Institute of Cybernetics at TUT, Head of Wave Engineering Laboratory, Estonian Academy of Sciences

CHANGING WAVE CLIMATE IN THE BALTIC SEA BASIN

Climate changes usually involve alteration of the wind properties and therefore inherently lead to modifications to the surface wave fields, with possibly drastic impact on sedimentary coasts and the entire ecosystem. I make an attempt to consolidate results from a number of recent studies into wave properties of the Baltic Sea, incl. long-term instrumental measurements, numerical reconstructions of wave field and re-analysis of historical visually observed wave data since the mid-1940s.

Additionally to a comprehensive description of the basic features of wave climate in this basin, this pool of data reveals strikingly rich patterns of spatio-temporal variations, mostly on a decadal scale, in the wave heights and propagation directions in various part of the Baltic Sea. The changes were synchronous in the northern and southern parts of the sea until about 1970 but have been in counterphase since then. As the Baltic Sea has a strongly elongated shape, a crucial role in these variations play changes in the wind direction possibly associated with a relocation of trajectories of storm cyclones. The overall wave intensity in the entire Baltic Sea as well as in its particular regions mostly exhibits aperiodic changes and reveals no clear trend. The annual mean wave height was much higher in the middle of the 20th century than today, decreased substantially in the 1950s and reached the today’s level in the mid-1960s.

October 18, 2013 – 10:30 h

  At BCAM – Mazarredo 14 – 48009 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain

http://www.bcamath.org/projects/NUMERIWAVES/

http://www.bcamath.org/en/seminars/erc-numeriwavesseminar20131018ts/archives