Coherent current oscillations and water exchange in the straits of the Gulf of Riga

The water exchange processes through the Irbe and Virtsu (Suur) Straits were investigated in 1993–1997 within the framework of a five-year study programme – the Gulf of Riga Project. Simultaneous current measurement data from autonomous mooring stations in both straits were available for the analysis in two periods. In addition to the dominant signals – inertial oscillations in the Virtsu Strait and diurnal oscillations in the Irbe Strait – low-frequency oscillations were found in both straits. During the experiment in July–August 1994, 12–14-day oscillations were observed in both straits: the maximum phase lag in the Virtsu Strait was 1 day. The other important low-frequency periodic component in both straits was 88 hours. In this case, the phase lag in the Virtsu Strait was about 20 hours. In the 1995 experiment in the Irbe Strait, 42-hour oscillations were observed with a phase lag of 10–12 hours. The amplitude was about 30 cm s−1 in both straits. As in Lilover et al. (1998), where the flow regime in the Irbe Strait was observed, we can interpret these oscillations as being wind-generated. The present work shows the existence of these disturbances also in the Virtsu Strait. The 88-hour oscillations observed in July–August 1994 can be interpreted as the first mode of the basin’s eigenoscillations according to the concept of Otsmann et al. (1997) of a basin with two separate outlets. The lowest frequency oscillation with the period of 12–14 days seemed to propagate to the Gulf of Riga from the Baltic Proper, but the generating force could not be established because there was no noticeable variability between depressions and anticyclones during that period. Based on the current measurements, two types of water exchange through the Irbe strait were established: the outflow over the whole cross-section of the strait, and a bidirectional flow with an inflow near the southern shore and increasing inflow in the near-bottom layers and an outflow in the northern part of the strait.