The major Baltic inflow in January 2003 and preconditioning by smaller inflows in summer/autumn 2002: a model study

Abstract

Using the results of the Rossby Centre Ocean model (RCO) the Baltic inflows in summer/autumn 2002 and January 2003 have been studied. The model results were extracted from a long simulation with observed atmospheric forcing starting in May 1980. In RCO a bottom boundary layer model was embedded. Both the smaller inflows and the major inflow in January 2003 are simulated in good agreement with observations. We found that a total of 222 km³ water entered the Baltic in January; the salinity of 94 km³ was greater than 17 PSU. In August/September 2002 the outflow through the Sound and inflow across the Darss Sill were simulated. The net inflow volume amounted to about 50 km³.