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The original method is presented for parameterization of surface wind-driven currents in the Black Sea using drifters, altimetry, and wind data. Buoys velocities for the cases with small time variability of the altimetry-derived geostrophic currents were parameterized as a function of the amplitude coefficient b and rotation angle a between wind and residual current direction at drifter drogue depth ∼ 15 m. The results show that the variability of a and b for different cases is very high: angle a changes from 10 to 90° to the right, amplitude coefficient b varies from 0.01 to 0.03. At the same time, it is shown that amplitude coefficient b and rotation angle a on 15 m depth are not independent parameters and there is a robust dependence between them. Using quasi-Ekman theory and the revealed dependence, we can determine parameterization for wind-driven currents exactly on the surface. As a result, we found that wind-driven currents at z = 0 m are directed on b = 13° to the right of wind direction with amplitudes equal to k = 2.8 % of wind velocity. It is important that these parameters did not depend on Ekman layer depth and can be used under different ocean conditions. This parameterization is used to compute the total surface currents and determine the trajectories of oil slick propagation observed on satellite images. Comparison shows that the presented method can be successfully used to predict floating objects trajectories basing on the satellite data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the Russian-Ukrainian program 'The Black Sea as a Simulation Model of the Ocean,' the monitoring of the marine environment is considered using modern measuring systems. On the basis of historical and contemporary observation data, we estimate the spatial and temporal scales of dominant processes in the Black Sea. We describe the main measuring systems used to monitor the structure and variability of the hydrophysical fields. Examples characterizing the specific features of the Black Sea processes are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined measurements of satellite altimeters make it possible to determine anomalies of the sea level of the Black Sea on a regular grid with a high spatial resolution 1/8°. In this work arrays of total geostrophic velocities of currents in the Black Sea basin are retrieved and compared with drifter measurements of current velocities for 1999-2007. The comparison is performed both for the whole array of drifter measurements (∼110000 measurements) and individually for each drifter. To retrieve the velocities, two different arrays of mean dynamic topography (MDT) are used: synthetic and climatic mean dynamic topography. The comparison results demonstrate that using synthetic MDT is preferable for calculating geostrophic velocities. Velocities calculated by from satellite altimetry data agree with velocities obtained by in-situ data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The near-surface circulation in the Black Sea is studied with the data of 54 satellite-tracked drifters in the period 1999–2003. The drifter trajectories confirm the prevalence of the Rim Current trapped on the continental slope (between water depths of 400 and 1800m) along the periphery of the basin where sub-inertial speeds can reach 1m/s. Some drifters were found to complete an entire basin loop with the Rim Current in 90–180 days. Meanders and loops in the tracks prove the existence of mostly anticyclonic circulation features inshore of the Rim Current, including strong signatures of the Batumi and Sevastopol eddies. They also reveal the presence of cyclonic and anticyclonic currents in most areas of the Black Sea. Pseudo-Eulerian statistics (averaged in 50-km bins), that is, mean currents and the corresponding velocity variances, show a strong and highly fluctuating signature of the Rim Current and the enhanced variability associated with the Batumi and Sevastopol eddies. The latter is also collocated with the branching of the Rim Current southwest of the Crimean Peninsula. It is shown that the kinetic energy is mainly in the mean for the Rim Current and in the velocity fluctuations elsewhere. Seasonal variability is also explored. The Rim Current tends to form a stronger single loop trapped on the continental slope in winter/spring, whereas in summer/fall the mean circulation is more meandering, recirculation cells appear in the central areas and the bifurcation southwest of Crimea is enhanced. There is some evidence of the reversal of sense of rotation of the currents in the Batumi Eddy region, changing from mainly anticyclonic in summer/fall to cyclonic in winter/spring. Mean residence times were calculated in the 50-km bins, with values ranging from a few days in the central basin to 8 days in the northwestern coastal area. Globally, the kinetic energy levels were found higher in winter–spring and lower in summer–fall, with a significant maximum in March. Single-particle Lagrangian statistics were computed for the entire basin, for the two extended seasons, and in selected local areas. Velocity variance, diffusivity and Lagrangian integral time scales are generally larger in the zonal direction. Globally, the velocity variance is 174 and 127cm2/s2 in the zonal and meridional directions, respectively, after the removal of the pseudo-Eulerian mean circulation. For the zonal direction, a diffusivity value of 4.5×107 cm2/s and Lagrangian integral time and space scales of 3 days and 34km were found. For the meridional direction, these statistics amount to 4.5×107 cm2/s, 1.2 days and 12.2km. Seasonal and geographical variations of these Lagrangian statistics were also assessed, showing variations between 1.9 (0.9) 107 and 8.3 (2.0) 107 cm2/s for the diffusivity in the zonal (meridional) direction. Integral time and space scales vary between 1 and 4.7 days, and 8.8 and 58km, respectively. Seasonal differences are significant only in the zonal direction, where the diffusivity increases from 3.1×107 to 5.9×107 cm2/s and the integral scales vary from 2.1 days (24km) to 3.8 days (44km) from summer/fall to winter/spring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]