## 7 Results
The model has been widely used to reproduce with and predict with success the three-dimensional circulation patterns induced by wind, tides and thermohaline forcing, at both coastal and shelf scale in the Mediterranean basin [44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49]. A simulation run was carried out considering the main meteo-marine forcing affecting the local circulation as the heat flows to the surface, the direct wind action and thermohaline forcing. Atmospheric and oceanographic data needed as model surface and boundary conditions were provided by the operational meteorological prediction system SKIRON [50] and by the European Earth Observation Programme Copernicus, respectively. The same model parameters and simulation setup used in [43] was adopted, unless the model domain that, in this application, included the Naples Gulf and the surrounding coastal and shelf areas. In Figure 11, upper panels, the surface current fields obtained from simulation results between the 0 and 3 m depths, corresponding to the model first vertical layer, are reported for the interested domain at the time between the 20:00 and 21:00 UTC on 22 September 2010. In both panels the flow pattern is characterized by the presence of an intense coastal flow directed northwestward with maximum current speeds higher than 0.3 m/s. In the nearby Gulf of Naples, an HF radar system is operationally providing the water current at the surface but limited to the bay area [23; 51]. A comparison between the measurements derived with the Doppler Centroid Anomaly from SAR and the measurements of the HF radar system available in the bay is reported in [52], and shows reasonable agreement although the limitation of covered area. Figure 11: Ocean model results: surface current fields (upper panels) and intensities of the radial components (lower panels), computed for the 0 to 3 m surface water layer depth for the interested domain at the time 22/09/2010, 20:00 and 21:00 UTC. On the other hand, several studies based on the use of oceanographic models have been carried out to reproduce the water circulation in both the Gulf of Naples and the surrounding coastal zone [23; 27]. In particular, in [27] a similar modeling application was carried out applying an ocean model to investigate the water circulation in both the shelf and coastal area. Even if in the two applications the temporal coverages differ, there is an evidence that in [27] results obtained for both Spring and Autumn periods reproduce exactly the same hydrodynamic patterns reported in Figure 11. In particular in [27], both the model results and the analysis of the geostrophic currents depicted a northward flow leaning on the shelf break that interacting with the coast geometry generates cyclonic circulation patterns on the adjacent coastal area (see Figure 3, 13 and 14 in [27]). The obtained results are in line with previous studies in the area indicating the northward coastal flow as a typical circulation structure characterizing the area [27]. Changes in the flow directions are detected near the coastlines and on the leeside of the main Capes and Islands. Specifically, the interaction between the coastal flow, the coastline geometry and the wind action give rise to an edge separating the main external flow from the circulation cells in the shallow water part of the domain, north to the Gulf. Similarly, in Figure 10B, inversions of the signal direction are detected for the same areas, thus confirming the presence of potential oceanographic heterogeneities as fronts or edges. Considering the wind role in modulating the pattern flow in this area, in the off-shore part of the domain, due to the higher water depths, the Coriolis force allows a direct contribution of the wind action to the main northwestward flow. In the shallow part of the domain, the off-shore wind direction and the complicated coastal geometry generate highly variable oceanographic structures that cannot be accurately solved by the adopted numerical model application.