Абстракт
Two remote sensing methods, satellite altimetry and 4D-Var assimilation of satellite imagery, are used to compute surface velocity fields in the Black Sea region.
Surface currents derived from the two methods are compared for several cases with intense mesoscale and large-scale dynamics during low wind conditions. Comparison
shows that the obtained results coincide well quantitatively and qualitatively. However, satellite imagery provides more reasonable results on the spatial variability
of coastal dynamics than altimetry data. In particular, this is related to the reconstruction of eddy coastal dynamics, such as Black Sea near-shore anticyclones.
Current streamlines in these eddies are not closed near the coast in altimetry data, which we relate to the extrapolation during mapping procedure in the absence of
coastal along-track measurements. On the other hand, in offshore areas, imagery-derived currents can be underestimated due to the absence of thermal contrasts and
smoothing during the procedure of the 4D-Var assimilation. Wind drift currents are another source of inconsistency, as their impact is directly observed in satellite
imagery but absent in altimetry data. The advantage of the 4D-Var method for reconstructing coastal dynamics is used to compute surface currents in the Marmara Sea
on the base of 250 m resolution Modis optical data. The results reveal the very complex dynamics of the basin, with a large number of mesoscale and sub-mesoscale
eddies. 4D-Var assimilation of Modis imagery is used to obtain information about dynamic characteristics of these small eddies with radiuses of 4-10 km.
Ключевые слова
CROSS-CORRELATION TECHNIQUE, OCEAN SURFACE CURRENTS, MARMARA SEA, INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY, OPTICAL-FLOW, TIDE GAUGES, LEVEL, CIRCULATION, EDDIES, MODEL