Sea currents monitoring in the coastal areas by the remote observation methods
Authors:   Krylov State Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia, Gorbatsky V. , Shpilev N. ,   Krylov State Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia, Lebedeva Ye. ,   Krylov State Research Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia
Published: March 2022

Object and purpose of research. The compare analysis carried out on the vorticies structure optical satellite pictures observation of the sea surface and the velocities field obtained by the ground HF Doppler radar. The purpose of this research is estimation of the possibility on fast monitoring feasibility assessment for the changes in littoral waters dynamics through joint application of satellite surveillance, radar probing of sea currents, wind data and numerical simulation of water circulation in the area under investigation. Materials and methods. The Sea surface observation data obtained by the satellites Sentinel 1 and 2 and by the coastal Doppler HF radar Sea Sonde in the South-east Black Sea area are analyzing. The additional data on the satellite observation of this area and on the wind condition is used from LANCE processing system [9, 10] and reanalysis NCEP/NCAR [11, 12]. The comparative analysis is carried out on the large vertical structures (LVS) establishing in the research coastal area. The numerical modeling of the water mass circulation in this area is carried out by the software package COHERENS (Belgian Institute of Natural Science) to investigate the role of the wind conditions at LVS appearance in the research area. Main results. The LVS in the vicinity of Sea coast line could be generated, as satellites observations demonstrated, by the vortices arrived along the coast line from the east-south direction in accordance with the Black Sea general circulation flow. Such vortices could be induced by the bottom roughness, rivers discharges and another local sources. Another LVS source could be connected with the wind impact in some affordable direction as demonstrated by the numerical modeling of the coastal water circulation. The continuous currents measurements at the Sea surface by Doppler HF coastal Radar supply the valuable data for further details on the space –time variation of LVS parameters and operational forecast of the hydrology regime in the aquatic areas. The operative numerical modelling of the wind impact to the surface currents structures formation provides the efficient estimation of the local large vorticity structure appearance in the research area. Conclusion. Satellite radar and optical observation provide the large scale control on the Sea surface dynamics conditions, but that is limited by relatively long interval between satellite tracks over the region of interest and do not acquire optical data at the cloud cover. The additional data could be operative obtain from the open internet resource in satellite optical, radar and meteorological data (LANCE, NCEP/NCAR), to get the more details development of the Sea surface dynamics. Sub-satellite Sea currents measurements by HF Doppler radar are useful for the reliable interpretation of satellite pictures and for the proper forecast of the aquatic area dynamics. Operative numerical modelling of the Sea coastal water circulation in accordance with variable meteo data combining with dynamic processes remote measurements could be efficient for the forecast of the environment parameters variation due the water mass transfer. In general the presented results demonstrates the combined application possibilities of the satellite observations, coastal Doppler radar measurements, internet data and operative numerical modelling for operational oceanographic and ecological monitoring of Sea coastal areas with heavy pollution load.