On the Formation of Storm Surges in the Azov Sea

Abstract

One of the natural hazards associated with the marine environment in the Sea of Azov is storm surges. At present, due to the small number of natural observations on the Azov Sea level, numerical models are used to study surges. The ADCIRC model was chosen to calculate the level fluctuations. This model uses a non-structural computational grid with variable spacing and permits the preservation of fine details of the coastline, channel in river deltas, small islands and shallow shores. The step of the computational grid of the studied sea varies from 50 m to 5 km. Input data for the model were wind and atmospheric pressure fields from the NCEP/CFCR re-analysis, covering the period 1979–2010. To take into account the effect of ice on the formation of surges, the sea concentration ice was set with a daily interval from the OSI-SAF database. The calculated sea level fluctuations were compared to the natural measurements, and a good agreement was found. The largest number of storm surges is observed for the autumn–winter period. Storm surges develop actively from November to February. The number of surges significantly declines during the Spring–Summer period. No inter-annual trend in the occurrence of storm surges in the Azov Sea was identified for the study period. The maximum number of surges was observed in the Taganrog Bay.