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Mesoscale Wind Field Modifications over the Baltic Sea

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Abstract

For two consecutive days during spring 1997, the windfield over the Baltic Sea has been studied. Thestrength of the geostrophic wind speed is the majordifference in synoptic conditions between these twodays. During both days, the mesoscale wind field overmost of the Baltic Sea is quite heterogeneous; themodifications primarily being caused by the land-seacontrasts. On the day with the weaker wind speed,sea-breeze circulations develop. As a consequence, thewind direction at lower levels is more or lessopposite to the geostrophic over large areas of theBaltic Sea and the surface wind speed decreases withoffshore distance. Wind speed maxima caused by the seabreezes are found along the east coasts in the studiedarea. For the other day, the slow growth of a stableinternal boundary layer over the sea also gives asurface wind speed decrease with offshore distancefrom the coast.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences – Meteorology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, S-752 36, Uppsala, Sweden

    Birgitta Källstrand, Hans Bergström & Ann-Sofi Smedman

  2. Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics Department, VEA-125, Risø National Laboratory, P.O. Box 49, DK4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Jørgen Højstrup

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  1. Birgitta Källstrand
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  2. Hans Bergström
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  3. Jørgen Højstrup
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  4. Ann-Sofi Smedman
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Källstrand, B., Bergström, H., Højstrup, J. et al. Mesoscale Wind Field Modifications over the Baltic Sea. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 95, 161–188 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002619611328

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