Variability in the saline water exchange between the Baltic and the Gulf of Gdańsk by the σ-coordinate model

A three-dimensional baroclinic σ–coordinate model was applied to study the circulation and thermohaline variability in the coastal zone in the south-eastern Baltic Sea. The model is based on the Princeton Ocean Model code of Blumberg & Mellor (1987), known as POM, and has the horizontal resolution of ∼5 km and 24 σ-levels in the vertical. The hydrodynamic conditions and variability of water and salt exchange between the Gulf of Gdańsk and the Baltic Proper, and the renewal of water masses in the Gulf of Gdańsk due to atmospheric forcing are analyzed. The numerical simulations were performed with real atmospheric forcings as well as with homogeneous (spatially uniform) wind fields over the whole Baltic Sea. The numerical simulations showed that the atmospheric forcing (winds) can play a significant role in shaping the renewal of bottom saline waters in the Gulf of Gdańsk. Two regions of inflow/outflow of saline waters responsible for the salinity regime were located. The overall water exchange between the Gulf and the Baltic Proper as well as the exchange of saline bottom waters appear to be strongly dependent on wind conditions. The net flux of water of salinity >9 PSU is of the order of 48 000–100000 m3 s−1. SE, E, S and NE winds were found to exert the greatest influence on salinity conditions in the Gulf of Gdańsk. Estimates of saline (salinity >9 PSU) water residence time based on the model simulation yielded values from 46 days for SE winds to 153 days for NW winds.