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Modification of closure depths by synchronisation of severe seas and high water levels

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Abstract

The closure depth indicates the depth down to which storm waves maintain a universal shape of the coastal profile. It is thus a key parameter of the coastal zones for a variety of engineering and ecosystem applications. Its values are commonly estimated with respect to the long-term mean water level. The present study re-evaluates closure depths for microtidal water bodies where the wave loads are highly correlated with the course of the water level. The test area is the eastern Baltic Sea. The closure depth is calculated for the eastern Baltic Sea coast with a resolution of 5.5 km and the vicinity of Tallinn Bay with a resolution of 0.5 km. While the classic values of closure depth are extracted from statistics of the roughest seas, the present analysis is based on single values of a proxy of the instantaneous closure depth. These values are evaluated from numerically simulated time series of wave properties and water levels. The water level-adjusted closure depths are almost equal to the classic values at the coasts of Lithuania but are up to 10% smaller at the Baltic Proper coasts of Latvia and Estonia. The difference is up to 20% in bayheads of the Gulf of Finland.

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Acknowledgements

This study was initiated by the Small Grants Scheme Project “Effects of climate changes on biodiversity in the coastal shelves of the Baltic Sea” 2015–2016 (EEA grant No. 2/EEZLV02/14/GS/022) financed by European Economic Area Financial Instrument 2009–2014 Programme “National Climate Policy”. The research was partially supported by the institutional support of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (IUT33-3) and by the project “Sebastian Checkpoints – Lot 3 Baltic” of the call MARE/2014/09. Also acknowledged are constructive assessments by J. Deng and J. Harff.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cybernetics at Tallinn University of Technology, Akadeemia tee 21, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Tarmo Soomere, Rain Männikus, Katri Pindsoo, Nadezhda Kudryavtseva & Maris Eelsalu

  2. Estonian Academy of Sciences, Kohtu 6, 10130, Tallinn, Estonia

    Tarmo Soomere

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  1. Tarmo Soomere
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Correspondence to Tarmo Soomere.

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Soomere, T., Männikus, R., Pindsoo, K. et al. Modification of closure depths by synchronisation of severe seas and high water levels. Geo-Mar Lett 37, 35–46 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-016-0471-5

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