Circulation of the Baltic Sea and its connection to the Pan-Arctic region - a large scale and high-resolution modeling approach

Abstract

The Baltic Sea has traditionally been considered as a semi-enclosed marginal sea with little or no influence on the adjacent oceans. We employ an eddy-permitting, coupled ice-ocean model of the Pan-Arctic region to study the Baltic Sea, especially its circulation and property exchanges with the North Sea and other regions. Using this high-resolution and large scale model we focus here on the freshwater export from the Baltic Sea and its transport by the Norwegian Coastal Current (NCC) into the Norwegian and Barents Sea. We hypothesize that the freshwater outflow from the Baltic Sea plays a significant role in modification of Atlantic Water properties along its northern pathway from the North Atlantic, through the Nordic Seas, and into the Arctic Ocean. Recommendations are made for more realistic model representation of the Baltic Sea circulation to advance understanding of this region's influence on the large-scale northern polar ocean circulation and climate change.