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Ann. Geophys., 25, 835-846, 2007
www.ann-geophys.net/25/835/2007/
© European Geosciences Union 2007
Response of the Adriatic Sea to the atmospheric anomaly in 2003
B. Grbec1, I. Vilibić1, A. Bajić2, M. Morović1, G. Bec Paklar1, F. Matić1, and V. Dadić1
1Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, Croatia
2Meteorological and Hydrological Service, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract. Unusual weather conditions over the southern Europe and
the Mediterranean area in 2003 significantly impacted the oceanographic
properties of the Adriatic Sea. To document these changes, both in the
atmosphere and the sea, anomalies from the normal climate were calculated.
The winter 2003 was extremely cold, whereas the spring/summer period was
extremely warm. The air temperature in June was more than 3 standard
deviations above the average. On the other hand, precipitation and river
runoff were extremely low between February and August. The response of the sea
was remarkable, especially in surface salinity during spring and summer,
with values at least one standard deviation above the average. Analysis of
thermohaline properties in the middle Adriatic showed the importance of two
phenomena responsible for the occurrence of exceptionally high salinity: (1)
enhanced inflow of saline Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) in the
Adriatic, and (2) extremely low precipitation and river runoff, accompanied
with strong evaporation. Two large-scale atmospheric indices: NAOI (North
Atlantic Oscillation Index) and MOI (Mediterranean Oscillation Index),
although generally correlated to the Adriatic climate, failed to describe
anomalies in 2003. The air pressure gradients used for the definition of
both indices significantly decreased in 2003 due to the presence of the high
pressure areas over most of Europe and the northern Atlantic, and were
actually responsible for the observed anomalies above and in the Adriatic.
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