This practice provides the first Baltic Sea Oxygen Maps and analyses the depletion in oxygen concentration in the entire Sea and specific areas.
Questions this practice may help answer
- What methodology can be used to for producing oxygen maps for a specific sea?
- What have been the oxygen concentrations in the years 2000 to 2006 for the entire Baltic Sea?
- How big has the depletion been in oxygen concentrations in specific parts of the Baltic Sea between 2000 and 2006?
Implementation Context
Oxygen depletion is a major environmental problem in the Baltic Sea and Kattegat and has been so for many decades. Although many institutions and scientists have spent considerable resources on monitoring and assessment of oxygen depletion, no harmonised Baltic Sea-wide maps showing the areas of concern have ever been produced. In this practice the first Baltic Sea Oxygen Maps have been created.
Aspects / Objectives
Present oxygen maps illustrating minimum oxygen concentrations in the bottom waters of the Baltic Sea and the transition area to the North Sea during the period 2000-2006.
Method
The methodology for producing oxygen maps for the Baltic Sea and Kattegat is combining dynamical 3D modelling with data assimilation. In this way both the actual oxygen status, as available from the sporadic profiling, and the dynamics between the profiling in space and time, as simulated by the model, are included in the description of the oxygen conditions in the area. Thus the strengths of both datasets are utilised.
Main Outputs / Results
- The report provides many maps showing the modelled distribution of minimum bottom oxygen concentrations in the years 2000 to 2006 for the entire Baltic Sea
- For the following areas in the Baltic Sea conclusions have been drawn considering oxygen depletion in the years 2000-2006:
- Skaggerrak
- Kattegat
- Belt Sea and The Sound
- Arkona Basin
- Bornholm Basin
- Bay of Gdansk
- Eastern Baltic Proper
- Western Gotland Basin
- Gulf of Riga
- Gulf of Finland
- Åland Sea
- Bothnian Sea
- Bothnian Bay
Transferability
This practice refers to a specific geographical area and the findings are therefore non-transferrable. However, the methodology used for producing oxygen maps for the Baltic Sea and Kattegat, combining dynamical 3D modelling with data assimilation, could also be used in other studies.
Costs / Funding Source
Interreg IIIB Baltic Sea Region
Responsible Entity
Ian Sehested Hansen
DHI Water – Environment –Health, Agern Allé 5, 2970 Hørsholm Denmark, phone: +45 4516 9200, Fax: +45 4516 9292 , e-mail: dhi
dhigroup.com (dhi[at]dhigroup[dot]com)