Variability of the Baltic Sea Level and Floods in the Gulf of
Finland

E. A. Kulikov and I. P. Medvedev

Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Nakhimovskii 36, Moscow, 117997 Russia

e-mail: KulikovE@ocean.ru

Received July 9, 2012

Abstract—The statistical analysis of the long-term data on the variability of the Baltic Sea level has revealed
the complicated character of the wave field structure. The wave field formed by the variable winds and the dis-
turbances of the atmospheric pressure in the Baltic Sea is a superposition of standing oscillations with random
phases. The cross spectral analysis of the synchronous observation series of the level in the Gulf of Finland has
shown that the nodal lines of the standing dilatational waves are clearly traced with frequencies corresponding
to the distance from the nodal line to the top of the gulf (a quarter of the wave length). Several areas of the water
basin with clearly expressed resonant properties may be distinguished: the Gulfs of Finland, Riga, and Bothnia,
Neva Bay, etc. The estimations of the statistical correlation of the sea level oscillations with the variation of the
wind and atmospheric pressure indicate the dominant role of the zonal wind component during the formation
of the floods in the Gulf of Finland. The probable reason for the extreme floods in St. Petersburg may be the
resonance rocking of the eigenmode oscillations corresponding to the basic fundamental seiche mode of the
Gulf of Finland with a period of 27 h when the repeated atmospheric disturbances in the Baltic Sea occur with
a period of 1–2 days.

DOI: 10.1134/S0001437013020094

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