Coastal currents Submesoscale eddies Baltic Sea Remote sensing MODIS SAR CODAR

This paper presents an overview of the sub-mesoscale eddies observed in the coastal zone of the south-eastern Baltic near the shores of the Sambian Peninsula and the Curonian Spit based on CODAR (high-frequency coast-based radar) measurements and analysis of MODIS and ASAR satellite images for the period 30 March 2000– 31 December 2011. It was found that when winds are predominantly SW, S or W, a wake eddy of varying size (up to 25 km in diameter) forms off Cape Taran and can cover the area between the shoreline and the 65 m isobath. Its longest lifetime, observed using MODIS images, was 6 days. Another location where coastal submesoscale eddies (up to 10–15 km in diameter) of varying form regularly appear is the coastal slope near the southern and central part of the Curonian Spit.