Beschreibung: The Baltic Sea Science Congress was held at Rostock University, Germany, from 19 to 22 March 2007. In the session entitled"Upwelling events, coastal offshore exchange, links to biogeochemical processes" 20 presentations were given,including 7 talks and 13 posters related to the theme of the session.This paper summarises new findings of the upwelling-related studies reported in the session. It deals with investigationsbased on the use of in situ and remote sensing measurements as well as numerical modelling tools. The biogeochemicalimplications of upwelling are also discussed.Our knowledge of the fine structure and dynamic considerations of upwelling has increased in recent decades with the advent ofhigh-resolution modern measurement techniques and modelling studies. The forcing and the overall structure, duration and intensity ofupwelling events are understood quite well. However, the quantification of related transports and the contribution to the overall mixingof upwelling requires further research. Furthermore, our knowledge of the links between upwelling and biogeochemical processes is stillincomplete. Numerical modelling has advanced to the extent that horizontal resolutions of c. 0.5 nautical miles can now be applied,which allows the complete spectrum of meso-scale features to be described. Even the development of filaments can be describedrealistically in comparison with high-resolution satellite data.But the effect of upwelling at a basin scale and possible changes under changing climatic conditions remain open questions.

Beschreibung: Observed basic meteorological quantities, heat and radiation fluxes from three different measurement stations in the Baltic Sea are compared with model data of the coupled sea-ice-ocean model BSIOM in order to evaluate the atmospheric forcing, corresponding surface fluxes and the sea surface response. Observational data were made available from the BASIS winter campaigns in 1998 and 2001 as well as from the r/v "Alkor" cruise in June 2001. Simulated fluxes were calculated from prescribed atmospheric forcing provided from the SMHI meteorological database and modelled sea surface temperatures. The comparison of these fluxes with observations demonstrates a strong correlation, even though mean differences in sensible heat fluxes range from 4 to 12 W m-2 in winter and -25 W m-2 in the June experiment. Differences in latent heat fluxes range from -10 to 23 W m-2. The short-wave radiation flux used as model forcing is on average 15 W m-2 less than the corresponding observations for the winter experiments and 40 W m-2 for the June experiment. Differences in net long-wave radiation fluxes range from -5 to 12 W m-2 in winter and -62 W m-2 for the June experiment. The correspondence between measured and calculated momentum fluxes is very high, which confirms the usability of our model component for calculating surface winds and wind stresses from the atmospheric surface pressure.

Beschreibung: The thermal stratification of the upper water layers in the Baltic Sea varies seasonally in response to the annual cycle of solar heating and wind-induced mixing. In winter, the stratification down to the halocline is almost completely eroded by convection and strong wind mixing. Monthly averaged temperature profiles obtained from the ICES hydrographic database were used to study the long-term variability (1950 to 2005) of winter water mass formation in different deep basins of the Baltic Sea east of the island of Bornholm. Besides strong interannual variability of deep winter water temperatures, the last two decades show a positive trend (increase of 1-1.5°C). Correlations of winter surface temperatures to temperatures of the winter water body located directly above or within the top of the halocline were strongly positive until the autumn months. Such a close coupling allows sea surface temperatures in winter to be used to forecast the seasonal development of the thermal signature in deeper layers with a high degree of confidence. The most significant impact of winter sea surface temperatures on the thermal signature in this depth range can be assigned to February/March. Stronger solar heating during spring and summer results in thermal stratification of the water column leading to a complete decoupling of surface and deep winter water temperatures. Based on laboratory experiments, temperature-dependent relationships were utilised to analyse interannual variations of biological processes with special emphasis on the upper trophic levels (e.g., stage-specific developmental rates of zooplankton and survival rates of fish eggs).