A fully coupled high-resolution 3-dimensional biogeochemical-physical ocean model including an empirical wave model was used to investigate the long-term average (1970-2007) distributions and transports of resuspended matter and other types of suspended organic matter in the Baltic Sea. Modelled bottom types were compared to observations and the results showed that the model successfully managed to capture the horizontal, as well as the vertical, distribution of the different bottom types: accumulation, transport and erosion bottoms. The model also captured well the nutrient element contents in the sediments. On average the largest contribution of resuspended organic carbon to the transport of total organic carbon is found at erosion and transport bottoms. Although the relative transport of resuspended organic carbon at deeper accumulation bottoms in general is low (< 10% of total), the central parts of the sub-basins act on average as sinks that import organic matter while the more shallow areas and the coastal regions acts as sources of organic carbon in the water column. This indicates that the particulate organic matter produced in erosion and transport areas might be kept in suspension long enough to be transported and settle in less energetic areas, i.e. on accumulation bottoms. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The new approach to model the oxygen dependent phosphate release by implementing formulations of the oxygen penetration depths (OPD) and mineral bound inorganic phosphorus pools to the Swedish Coastal and Ocean Biogeochemical model (SCOBI) is described. The phosphorus dynamics and the oxygen concentrations in the Baltic proper sediment are studied during the period 1980-2008 using SCOBI coupled to the 3D-Rossby Centre Ocean model. Model data are compared to observations from monitoring stations and experiments. The impact from oxygen consumption on the determination of the OPD is found to be largest in the coastal zones where also the largest OPD are found. In the deep water the low oxygen concentrations mainly determine the OPD. Highest modelled release rate of phosphate from the sediment is about 59 x 10(3) t P year(-1) and is found on anoxic sediment at depths between 60-150 m, corresponding to 17% of the Baltic proper total area. The deposition of organic and inorganic phosphorus on sediments with oxic bottom water is larger than the release of phosphorus, about 43 x 10(3) t P year(-1). For anoxic bottoms the release of total phosphorus during the investigated period is larger than the deposition, about 19 x 10(3) t P year(-1). In total the net Baltic proper sediment sink is about 23.7 x 10(3) t P year(-1). The estimated phosphorus sink efficiency of the entire Baltic Sea is on average about 83% during the period. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Climate change is likely to have large effects on the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Simulations indicate 2-4 degrees C warming and 50-80 % decrease in ice cover by 2100. Precipitation may increase similar to 30 % in the north, causing increased land runoff of allochthonous organic matter (AOM) and organic pollutants and decreased salinity. Coupled physical-biogeochemical models indicate that, in the south, bottom-water anoxia may spread, reducing cod recruitment and increasing sediment phosphorus release, thus promoting cyanobacterial blooms. In the north, heterotrophic bacteria will be favored by AOM, while phytoplankton production may be reduced. Extra trophic levels in the food web may increase energy losses and consequently reduce fish production. Future management of the Baltic Sea must consider the effects of climate change on the ecosystem dynamics and functions, as well as the effects of anthropogenic nutrient and pollutant load. Monitoring should have a holistic approach, encompassing both autotrophic (phytoplankton) and heterotrophic (e.g., bacterial) processes.
European climate is heavily influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). However, the spatial structure of the NAO is varying with time, affecting its regional importance. By analyzing an 850-year global climate model simulation of the last millennium it is shown that the variations in the spatial structure of the NAO can be linked to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). The AMO changes the zonal position of the NAO centers of action, moving them closer to Europe or North America. During AMO+ states, the Icelandic Low moves further towards North America while the Azores High moves further towards Europe and vice versa for AMO- states. The results of a regional downscaling for the East Atlantic/European domain show that AMO-induced changes in the spatial structure of the NAO reduce or enhance its influence on regional climate variables of the Baltic Sea such as sea surface temperature, ice extent, or river runoff.
In this review paper, state-of-the-art observational and numerical modeling methods for small scale turbulence and mixing with applications to coastal oceans are presented in one context. Unresolved dynamics and remaining problems of field observations and numerical simulations are reviewed on the basis of the approach that modern process-oriented studies should be based on both observations and models. First of all, the basic dynamics of surface and bottom boundary layers as well as intermediate stratified regimes including the interaction of turbulence and internal waves are briefly discussed. Then, an overview is given on just established or recently emerging mechanical, acoustic and optical observational techniques. Microstructure shear probes although developed already in the 1970s have only recently become reliable commercial products. Specifically under surface waves turbulence measurements are difficult due to the necessary decomposition of waves and turbulence. The methods to apply Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) for estimations of Reynolds stresses, turbulence kinetic energy and dissipation rates are under further development. Finally, applications of well-established turbulence resolving particle image velocimetry (PIV) to the dynamics of the bottom boundary layer are presented. As counterpart to the field methods the state-of-the-art in numerical modeling in coastal seas is presented. This includes the application of the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method to shallow water Langmuir Circulation (LC) and to stratified flow over a topographic obstacle. Furthermore, statistical turbulence closure methods as well as empirical turbulence parameterizations and their applicability to coastal ocean turbulence and mixing are discussed. Specific problems related to the combined wave-current bottom boundary layer are discussed. Finally, two coastal modeling sensitivity studies are presented as applications, a two-dimensional study of upwelling and downwelling and a three-dimensional study for a marginal sea scenario (Baltic Sea). It is concluded that the discussed methods need further refinements specifically to account for the complex dynamics associated with the presence of surface and internal waves. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Hypoxia, a growing worldwide problem, has been intermittently present in the modern Baltic Sea since its formation ca. 8000 cal. yr BP. However, both the spatial extent and intensity of hypoxia have increased with anthropogenic eutrophication due to nutrient inputs. Physical processes, which control stratification and the renewal of oxygen in bottom waters, are important constraints on the formation and maintenance of hypoxia. Climate controlled inflows of saline water from the North Sea through the Danish Straits is a critical controlling factor governing the spatial extent and duration of hypoxia. Hypoxia regulates the biogeochemical cycles of both phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in the water column and sediments. Significant amounts of P are currently released from sediments, an order of magnitude larger than anthropogenic inputs. The Baltic Sea is unique for coastal marine ecosystems experiencing N losses in hypoxic waters below the halocline. Although benthic communities in the Baltic Sea are naturally constrained by salinity gradients, hypoxia has resulted in habitat loss over vast areas and the elimination of benthic fauna, and has severely disrupted benthic food webs. Nutrient load reductions are needed to reduce the extent, severity, and effects of hypoxia.
The method introduced in this study for future projection of coastline changes hits the vital need of communicating the potential climate change impact on the coast in the 21th century. A quantitative method called the Dynamic Equilibrium Shore Model (DESM) has been developed to hindcast historical sediment mass budgets and to reconstruct a paleo Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The forward mode of the DESM model relies on paleo-scenarios reconstructed by the DESM model assuming stationary wind-wave climate. A linear relationship between the sea level, coastline changes and sediment budget is formulated and proven by the least square regression method. In addition to its forward prediction of coastline changes, this linear relationship can also estimate the sediment budget by using the information on the coastline and relative sea level changes. Wind climate change is examined based on regional climate model data. Our projections for the end of the 21st century suggest that the wind and wave climates in the southern Baltic Sea may not change compared to present conditions and that the investigated coastline along the Pomeranian Bay may retreat from 10 to 100 m depending on the location and on the sea level rise which was assumed to be in the range of 0.12 to 0.24 m.
Den regionala kopplade atmosfär-is-havsmodellen RCA4-NEMO som utvecklats vid SMHI, utvärderas baserat på en ERA40-återanalys. Utvecklingen av den regionala klimatmodellen fortsätter men en första utvärdering presenteras här för att informera om aktuell status.RCA4-NEMO i aktuell status innehåller två modellkomponenter. Den regionala atmosfärsmodellen RCA4 täcker hela Europa och är tvåvägskopplad till en is-hav-modell för Nordsjön och Östersjön baserat på NEMO. Den används för tillfället för nedskalning av CMIP5-scenarier för detta århundrade för Nordsjön och Östersjön. Som en del av utvärderingen av RCA4-NEMO presenteras en analys och diskussion av hindcast-körning 1970-1999. Modellresulaten jämförs med observationsdata. Temperatur nära ytan och värmeflödet är förhållandevis bra vid en jämförelse med in-situ-mätningar och skattningar baserade på satellitdata. Salthalt och färskvattenutbyte är dock mindre bra. Momentumflödet från atmosfär till hav identifieras som en kritisk process i kopplingen mellan modellerna. Med undantag för färskvattensutbytet mellan atmosfär och hav är de klimatologiska egenskaperna nära ytan och motsvarande flöden jämförbara med klimatologiska observationer för perioden 1970-1999.
The physical state of the Baltic Sea in possible future climates is approached by numerical model experiments with a regional coupled ocean-atmosphere model driven by different global simulations. Scenarios and recent climate simulations are compared to estimate changes. The sea surface is clearly warmer by 2.9degreesC in the ensemble mean. The horizontal pattern of average annual mean warming can largely be explained in terms of ice-cover reduction. The transfer of heat from the atmosphere to the Baltic Sea shows a changed seasonal cycle: a reduced heat loss in fall, increased heat uptake in spring, and reduced heat uptake in summer. The interannual variability of surface temperature is generally increased. This is associated with a smoothed frequency distribution in northern basins. The overall heat budget shows increased solar radiation to the sea surface, which is balanced by changes of the other heat flux components.
A regional coupled ocean-atmosphere-ice general circulation model for northern Europe is introduced for climate study purposes. The Baltic Sea is interactively coupled. The coupled model is validated in a 5-year hind-cast experiment with a focus on surface quantities and atmosphere-ocean heat fluxes. The coupled sea surface temperature matches observations well. The system is free of drift, does not need flux corrections and is suitable for multi-year climate runs. With flux forcing from the atmospheric model the regional ocean model gives sea surface temperatures statistically equivalent to the uncoupled ocean model forced by observations. Other oceanic surface quantities do not reach this quality in combination with the current atmosphere model. A strong dependence of sea ice extent on details of the atmospheric radiation scheme is found. Our standard scheme leads to an overestimation of ice, most likely due to a negative bias of long-wave radiation. There is indication that a latent heat flux bias in fall contributes to the ice problem. Other atmosphere-ocean heat fluxes are generally realistic in the long term mean.
The relative importance of regional processes inside the Arctic climate system and the large scale atmospheric circulation for Arctic interannual climate variability has been estimated with the help of a regional Arctic coupled ocean-ice-atmosphere model. The study focuses on sea ice and surface climate during the 1980s and 1990s. Simulations agree reasonably well with observations. Correlations between the winter North Atlantic Oscillation index and the summer Arctic sea ice thickness and summer sea ice extent are found. Spread of sea ice extent within an ensemble of model runs can be associated with a surface pressure gradient between the Nordic Seas and the Kara Sea. Trends in the sea ice thickness field are widely significant and can formally be attributed to large scale forcing outside the Arctic model domain. Concerning predictability, results indicate that the variability generated by the external forcing is more important in most regions than the internally generated variability. However, both are in the same order of magnitude. Local areas such as the Northern Greenland coast together with Fram Straits and parts of the Greenland Sea show a strong importance of internally generated variability, which is associated with wind direction variability due to interaction with atmospheric dynamics on the Greenland ice sheet. High predictability of sea ice extent is supported by north-easterly winds from the Arctic Ocean to Scandinavia.
A study of the water-mass circulation of the Baltic has been undertaken by making use of a three dimensional Baltic Sea model simulation. The saline water from the North Atlantic is traced through the Danish Sounds into the Baltic where it upwells and mixes with the fresh water inflow from the rivers forming a Baltic haline conveyor belt. The mixing of the saline water from the Great Belt and Oresund with the fresh water is investigated making use of overturning stream functions and Lagrangian trajectories. The overturning stream function was calculated as a function of four different vertical coordinates (depth, salinity, temperature and density) in order to understand the path of the water and where it upwells and mixes. Evidence of a fictive depth overturning cell similar to the Deacon Cell in the Southern Ocean was found in the Baltic proper corresponding to the gyre circulation around Gotland, which vanishes when the overturning stream function is projected on density layers. A Lagrangian trajectory study was performed to obtain a better view of the circulation and mixing of the saline and fresh waters. The residence time of the water masses in the Baltic is calculated to be 26-29 years and the Lagrangian dispersion reaches basin saturation after 5 years.
We quantified horizontal transport patterns and the net exchange of nutrients between shallow regions and the open sea in the Baltic proper. A coupled biogeochemical-physical circulation model was used for transient simulations 1961-2100. The model was driven by regional downscaling of the IPCC climate change scenario A1B from two global General Circulation Models in combination with two nutrient load scenarios. Modeled nutrient transports followed mainly the large-scale internal water circulation and showed only small circulation changes in the future projections. The internal nutrient cycling and exchanges between shallow and deeper waters became intensified, and the internal removal of phosphorus became weaker in the warmer future climate. These effects counteracted the impact from nutrient load reductions according to the Baltic Sea Action Plan. The net effect of climate change and nutrient reductions was an increased net import of dissolved inorganic phosphorus to shallow areas in the Baltic proper.
The impact of dense saltwater inflows on the phosphorus dynamics in the Baltic Sea is studied from tracer experiments with a three-dimensional physical model. Model simulations showed that the coasts of the North West Gotland Basin and the Gulf of Finland, the Estonian coast in the East Gotland Basin are regions where tracers from below the halocline are primarily lifted up above the halocline. After 1 yr tracers are accumulated at the surface along the Swedish east coast and at the western and southern sides of Gotland. Elevated concentrations are also found east and southeast of Gotland, in the northern Bornholm Basin and in the central parts of the East Gotland Basin. The annual supplies of phosphorus from the deeper waters to the productive surface layers are estimated to be of the same order of magnitude as the waterborne inputs of phosphorus to the entire Baltic Sea. The model results suggest that regionally the impact of these nutrients may be quite large, and the largest regional increases in surface concentrations are found after large inflows. However, the overall direct impact of major Baltic inflows on the annual uplift of nutrients from below the halocline to the surface waters is small because vertical transports are comparably large also during periods without major inflows. Our model results suggest that phosphorus released from the sediments between 60 and 100 m depth in the East Gotland Basin contributes to the eutrophication, especially in the coastal regions of the eastern Baltic Proper.
The objectives of the project ECOSUPPORT (Advanced modeling tool for scenarios of the Baltic Sea ECOsystem to SUPPORT decision making) are to calculate the combined effects of changing climate and changing human activity (e.g. changing nutrient loads) on the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Three state-of-the-art coupled physical-biogeochemical models (BALTSEM, ERGOM, and RCO-SCOBI) are used to calculate changing concentrations of nitrate, ammonium, phosphate, diatoms, flagellates, cyanobacteria, zooplankton, detritus, and oxygen in the Baltic Sea. The models are structurally different in that ERGOM and RCO-SCOBI are 3D circulation models with uniform high horizontal resolution while BALTSEM resolves the Baltic Sea spatially in 13 sub-basins. This report summarises first results of the quality assessment and model intercomparison within ECOSUPPORT. Results from hindcast simulations are compared with observations for the period 1970-2005. We found that all three investigated models are able to reproduce the observed variability of biogeochemical cycles well. Uncertainties are primarily related to differences in the bioavailable fractions of nutrient loadings from land and parameterizations of key processes like sediment fluxes that are presently not well known. Avsikten med projektet ECOSUPPORT (Advanced modeling tool for scenarios of the Baltic Sea ECOsystem to SUPPORT decision making) är att undersöka hur klimatförändringar tillsammans med mänsklig aktivitet (förändrad närsaltstillförsel) påverkar Östersjöns ekosystem. Tre kopplade fysiska-biogeokemiska modeller (BALTSEM, ERGOM, and RCO-SCOBI) används för att beräkna hur koncentrationer av nitrat, ammonium, fosfat, diatoméer, flagellater, cyanobakterier, djurplankton, detritus och löst syrgas i Östersjön förändras. Modellerna skiljer sig strukturellt åt genom att ERGOM och RCO-SCOBI är tredimensionella modeller med hög horisontell upplösning medan BALTSEM delar upp östersjön rumsligt i 13 delbassänger. Denna rapport sammanfattar resultaten från en första modelljämförelse och kvalitetsbedömning där modellresultat för tidsperioden 1970-2005 jämförs med observationer från samma period. Alla tre modellerna visar att de kan återskapa den observerade biogeokemiska variabiliteten väl. Osäkerheter är huvudsakligen relaterade till skillnader i andelen av näringstillförseln från land som antas vara biologiskt tillgänglig och till beskrivningarna av viktiga processer, som t.ex. flöden från sedimenten, där kunskapen för närvarande är bristfällig.
Three state-of-the-art coupled physical–biogeochemical models, the BAltic sea Long-Term large-Scale Eutrophication Model (BALTSEM), the Ecological Regional Ocean Model (ERGOM), and the Swedish Coastal and Ocean Biogeochemical model coupled to the Rossby Centre Ocean circulation model (RCO–SCOBI), are used to calculate changing nutrient and oxygen dynamics in the Baltic Sea. The models are different in that ERGOM and RCO–SCOBI are three-dimensional (3D) circulation models while BALTSEM resolves the Baltic Sea into 13 dynamically interconnected and horizontally integrated sub-basins. The aim is to assess the simulated long-term dynamics and to discuss the response of the coupled physical–biogeochemical models to changing physical conditions and nutrient loadings during the period 1970–2005. We compared the long-term seasonal and annual statistics of inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, and oxygen from hindcast simulations with those estimated from observations. We also studied the extension of hypoxic bottom areas covered by waters with O2 b2 ml O2 l −1 and cod reproductive volumes comprising waters with salinity N11 and O2 N2 ml O2 l −1 . The models reproduce much of the nutrient biogeochemical cycling in the Baltic proper. However, biases are larger in the Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay. No model shows outstanding performance in all aspects but instead the ensemble mean results are better than or as good as the results of any of the individual models. Uncertainties are primarily related to differences in the bioavailable fractions of nutrient loadings from land and parameterizations of key processes like sediment fluxes that are presently not well known. Also the uncertainty related to the initialization of the models in the early 1960s influence the modeled biogeochemical cycles during the investigated period. ©
Följande statusrapport för Nordsjön, Skagerrak, Kattegatt och Östersjön har genomförts av SMHI Sverige, IMR Norge, NERI Danmark, SPBIO Ryssland, och SYKE Finland som del av projektet “A Baltic and NORth sea Model eutrophication Assessment in a future cLimate” (ABNORMAL), vilket finansierats av the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Sea and Air Group (NMR-HLG). De tidigare NMR-HLG projekten NO COMMENTS och BANSAI fokuserades på etablering och underhållsstöd till operationella modeller samt utvecklingen av metoder för deras användning till utvärdering av eutrofieringstillstånd. Inom ABNORMAL har frågorna vidare fokuserats på användningen av ekologiska modeller för att utvärdera eutrofieringstillståndet in framtida klimat. Viktigaste rönet från studien är det föreslagna sättet att sammanföra observationer med resultat från en ensemble av ekologiska modeller för att utvärdera eutrofieringstillståndet i dagens klimat under fem olika år (2001-2005). Tröskelvärden och metoder från Oslo and Paris Commissionen (OSPAR) och Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) används och möjliga förbättringar av metoder diskuteras kort. Bedömningen av eutrofieringstillståndet visar att Kattegatt, de danska sunden, Finska viken, Gotlandsbassängen, samt största delarna av Arkonabassängen, Bornholmsbassängen och Egentliga Östersjön kan klassificeras som problemområden. Huvuddelen av Nordsjön och Skagerrak är icke-problem områden medan huvuddelarna av Bottenhavet, Bottenviken, Riga Bukten och hela sydöstra kontinentalkusten av Nordsjön kan klassificeras som potentiella problemområden.
An ensemble of models has been used to assess eutrophication in the North Sea and Baltic Sea in the present and the future climate, using a method suggested in Almroth and Skogen (2010). In the control run, the assessment of eutrophication status according to the integration of the categorized assessment parameters indicates that the Kattegat, the Danish Straits, the Gulf of Finland, the Gotland Basin as well as main parts of the Arkona Basin, the Bornholm Basin, and the Baltic proper may be classified as problem areas. The main part of the North Sea and also the Skagerrak are non-problem areas while the main parts of the Gulf of Bothnia, Gulf of Riga and the entire southeastern continental coast of the North Sea may be classified as potential problem areas (Fig. 16).The temperature increase by itself will worsen the oxygen condition throughout the area and on top of this; elevated nutrient levels in the whole Baltic will amplify this effect due to elevated primary production. Therefore declining oxygen condition and increasing phytoplankton biomasses will be the main problem causing the areas to be classified as problem areas. In the Western Gotland Basin low oxygen seems to be the sole reason for this classification. In the North Sea, the classification as potential problem areas are due to high nitrate and N:P ratio. In the future climate scenarios most of the previous potential problem areas in the Baltic Sea have become problem areas, except for the Bothnian Bay where the situation remain fairly unchanged. Also in the North Sea there seems to be no obvious changes in the projected future climate. Comparing the ECHAM5 driven changes to simulations using the HadCM3 forcing show that; all changes except the surface layer winterDIN in the future climate have the same sign and that; the overall eutrophication status assessment is robust and insensitive to the choice of future scenario.
In a warming future climate, the sea ice cover is expected to decrease, with very likely large consequences for the marine ecosystem. We investigated the impact of future sea ice retreat on the Baltic Sea biogeochemistry at the end of the century, using an ensemble of regionalized global climate simulations. We found that the spring bloom will start by up to one month earlier and winds and wave-induced resuspension will increase, causing an increased transport of nutrients from the productive coastal zone into the deeper areas. The internal nutrient fluxes do not necessarily increase because they also depend on oxygen and temperature conditions of the bottom water. Winter mixing increases in areas having reduced ice cover and in areas having reduced stratification due to increased freshwater supply. The reduced sea ice cover therefore partly counteracts eutrophication because increased vertical mixing improves oxygen conditions in lower layers. Citation: Eilola, K., S. Martensson, and H. E. M. Meier (2013), Modeling the impact of reduced sea ice cover in future climate on the Baltic Sea biogeochemistry, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 149-154, doi:10.1029/2012GL054375.
In this report we present budgets of oxygen and phosphorus for the deeper layers of the Baltic proper. The budgets give calculations of sedimentation, erosion and horizontal and vertical transports based on model simulations. The fluxes of oxygen and phosphorus as well as trends in contents have been computed.
Oxygen and phosphorus dynamics and cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea are discussed using results from the Swedish Coastal and Ocean Biogeochemical model (SCOBI) coupled to the Rossby Centre Ocean model (RCO). The high-resolution circulation model is used to simulate the time period from 1902 to 1998 using reconstructed physical forcing and climatological nutrient loads of the late 20th century. The analysis of the results covers the last 30 years of the simulation period. The results emphasize the importance of internal phosphorus and oxygen dynamics, the variability of physical conditions and the natural long-term variability of phosphorus supplies from land on the phosphorus content in the Baltic Sea. These mechanisms play an important role on the variability of available surface layer phosphorus in late winter in the Baltic Sea. The content of cyanobacteria increases with the availability of phosphorus in the surface layers of the Baltic proper and the probability for large cyanobacteria blooms in the model is rapidly increased at higher concentrations of excess dissolved inorganic phosphorus in late winter. The natural increase of phosphorus supplies from land due to increased river runoff since the early 1970s may to a large degree explain the increased phosphorus content in the Baltic proper. Another significant fraction of the increase is explained by the release of phosphorus from increased anoxic areas during the period. These results refer to the long-term variability of the phosphorus cycle. In accordance to earlier publications is the short-term (i.e. interannual) variability of the phosphorus content in the Baltic proper mainly explained by oxygen dependent sediment fluxes. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The fate of terrestrial organic matter brought to the coastal seas by rivers and its role in the global carbon cycle are still not very well known. Here the degradation rate of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOCter) is studied in the Baltic Sea, a subarctic semienclosed sea, by releasing it as a tracer in a 3-D circulation model and applying linear decay constants. A good agreement with available observational data is obtained by parameterizing the degradation in two rather different ways: one by applying a decay time on the order of 10years to the whole pool of DOCter and one by dividing the DOCter into onerefractory pool and one pool subject to a decay time on the order of 1year. The choice ofparameterization has asignificant effect on where in the Baltic Sea the removal takes place, which can be of importance whenmodeling the full carbon cycle and the CO2 exchange with the atmosphere. In both cases the biogeochemical decayoperates on time scales less than the water residence time. Therefore, only a minor fraction of the DOCter reaches the North Sea, whereas approximately 80% is removed by internal sinks within the Baltic Sea. This further implies that DOCter mineralization is an important link in land-sea-atmosphere cycling of carbon in coastal and shelf seas that are heavily influenced by riverine DOC.
This article compares interactively coupled atmosphere-ocean hindcast simulations with stand-alone runs of the atmosphere and ocean models using the recently developed regional ocean-atmosphere model NEMO-Nordic for the North Sea and Baltic Sea. In the interactively coupled run, the ocean and the atmosphere components were allowed to exchange mass, momentum and heat every 3 h. Our results show that interactive coupling significantly improves simulated winter sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the Baltic Sea. The ocean and atmosphere stand-alone runs, respectively, resulted in too low sea surface and air temperatures over the Baltic Sea. These two runs suffer from too cold prescribed ERA40 SSTs, which lower air temperatures and weaken winds in the atmosphere only run. In the ocean-only run, the weaker winds additionally lower the vertical mixing thereby lowering the upward transport of warmer subpycnocline waters. By contrast, in the interactively coupled run, the ocean-atmosphere heat exchange evolved freely and demonstrated good skills in reproducing observed surface temperatures. Despite the strong impact on oceanic and atmospheric variables in the coupling area, no far reaching influence on atmospheric variables over land can be identified. In perturbation experiments, the different dynamics of the two coupling techniques is investigated in more detail by implementing strong positive winter temperature anomalies in the ocean model. Here, interactive coupling results in a substantially higher preservation of heat anomalies because the atmosphere also warmed which damped the ocean to atmosphere heat transfer. In the passively coupled set-up, this atmospheric feedback is missing, which resulted in an unrealistically high oceanic heat loss. The main added value of interactive air-sea coupling is twofold: (1) the elimination of any boundary condition at the air-sea interface and (2) the more realistic dynamical response to perturbations in the ocean-atmosphere heat balance, which will be essential in climate warming scenarios.
A comprehensive reconstruction of the Baltic Sea state from 1850 to 2006 is presented: driving forces are reconstructed and the evolution of the hydrography and biogeochemical cycles is simulated using the model BALTSEM. Driven by high resolution atmospheric forcing fields (HiResAFF), BALTSEM reproduces dynamics of salinity, temperature, and maximum ice extent. Nutrient loads have been increasing with a noteworthy acceleration from the 1950s until peak values around 1980 followed by a decrease continuing up to present. BALTSEM shows a delayed response to the massive load increase with most eutrophic conditions occurring only at the end of the simulation. This is accompanied by an intensification of the pelagic cycling driven by a shift from spring to summer primary production. The simulation indicates that no improvement in water quality of the Baltic Sea compared to its present state can be expected from the decrease in nutrient loads in recent decades.
Global climate change is expected to have an effect on the physical and ecological characteristics of the Baltic Sea. Estimates of future climate on the regional scale can be obtained by using either statistical or dynamical downscaling methods of global AOGCM scenario results. In this paper, we use 2 different coupled ice-ocean models of the Baltic Sea to simulate present and future ice conditions around 100 years from present. Two 10-year time slice experiments have been performed using the results of atmospheric climate model simulations as forcing, one representing pre-industrial climate conditions (control simulation), and the other global warming with a 150% increase in CO2 greenhouse gas concentration (scenario simulation). Present-day climatological ice conditions and interannual variability are realistically reproduced by the models. The simulated range of the maximum annual ice extent in the Baltic in both models together is 180 to 420.10(3) km(2) in the control simulation and 45 to 270.10(3) km(2) in the scenario simulation. The range of the maximum annual ice thickness is from 32 to 96 cm and from 11 to 60 cm in the control and scenario simulations, respectively. In contrast to earlier estimates, sea ice is still formed every winter in the Northern Bothnian Bay and in the most Eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland. Overall, the simulated changes of quantities such as ice extent and ice thickness, as well as their interannual variations are relatively similar in both models, which is remarkable, because the 2 coupled ice-ocean model systems have been. developed independently. This increases the reliability of future projections of ice conditions in the Baltic Sea.
Compared to other phytoplankton groups, nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria generally prefer high water temperatures for growth and are therefore expected to benefit from global warming. We use a coupled biological-physical model with an advanced cyanobacteria life cycle model to compare the abundance of cyanobacteria in the Baltic Sea during two different time periods (1969-1998; 2069-2098). For the latter, we find prolonged growth and a more than twofold increase in the climatologically (30 years) averaged cyanobacteria biomass and nitrogen fixation. Additional sensitivity experiments indicate that the biological-physical feedback mechanism through light absorption becomes more important with global warming. In general, we find a nonlinear response of cyanobacteria to changes in the atmospheric forcing fields as a result of life-cycle related feedback mechanisms. Overall, the sensitivity of the cyanobacteria-driven system suggests that biological-physical and life-cycle related feedback mechanisms are important and must therefore be included in future projection studies.