EGU21-892
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-892
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Modelling the water exchange of a fjord system on the Swedish west coast

Sandra-Esther Brunnabend1, Lars Axell1, Maximo Garcia-Jove2, and Lars Arneborg1
Sandra-Esther Brunnabend et al.
  • 1Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Research Department, Norrköping, Sweden (sandra-esther.brunnabend@smhi.se)
  • 2Coastal Ocean Observing and Forecast System Balearic Islands, Modelling and Forecasting Facility, Palma de Mallorca,Spain

The water exchange between the Orust-Tjörn fjord system (located on the Swedish west coast) and the Skagerrak depends on different factors such as winds, tides, the water mass properties and circulation in the Skagerrak, as well as the density gradients between the southern and northern openings of the fjord system. These processes are not yet well understood as observations in the area are spatially and temporally sparse and the existing regional ocean models for the North Sea and Baltic Sea area have a too coarse resolution to sufficiently resolve the complex structures of the fjord system, such as the narrow and shallow channels that connect the different fjords in the system.

Therefore, we model the water exchange between the Orust-Tjörn fjord system and the Skagerrak using a NEMO3.6 model setup that has a horizontal resolution of 50 m. As validation, modelled temperature, salinity, velocity and sea surface height are compared with in-situ measurements. A detailed analysis of the modelled water flows in and out of the fjord system as well as between the different fjords will be presented. In addition, the different drivers of the modelled water exchange and their influence on the water properties above and below the sill depths in the fjords are investigated.

How to cite: Brunnabend, S.-E., Axell, L., Garcia-Jove, M., and Arneborg, L.: Modelling the water exchange of a fjord system on the Swedish west coast, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-892, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-892, 2021.

Corresponding displays formerly uploaded have been withdrawn.