Karsten Lettmann

Distribution and characteristics of marine habitats in a subpolar bay based on hydroacoustics and bed shear stress estimates - Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica

Marine habitats worldwide are increasingly pressurized by climate change, especially along the Antarctic Peninsula. Well-studied areas in front of rapidly retreating tidewater glaciers like Potter Cove are representative for similar coastal environments and, therefore, shed light on habitat formation and development on not only a local but also regional scale. The objective of this study was to provide insights into habitat distribution in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica, and to evaluate the associated environmental processes. Furthermore, an assessment concerning the future development of the habitats is provided. To describe the seafloor habitats in Potter Cove, an acoustic seabed discrimination system (RoxAnn) was used in combination with underwater video images and sediment samples. Due to the absence of wave and current measurements in the study area, bed shear stress estimates served to delineate zones prone to sediment erosion. On the basis of the investigations, two habitat classes were identified in Potter Cove, namely soft-sediment and stone habitats that, besides influences from sediment supply and coastal morphology, are controlled by sediment erosion. A future expansion of the stone habitat is predicted if recent environmental change trends continue. Possible implications for the Potter Cove environment, and other coastal ecosystems under similar pressure, include changes in biomass and species composition.

East Frisian Wadden Sea hydrodynamics and wave effects in an unstructured-grid model

An unstructured-grid model (FVCOM) coupled to a surface wave model (FVCOM-SWAVE) with two different setups is used to investigate the hydrodynamic and wave energy conditions during a moderate wind and a storm situation in the southern North Sea. One setup covers the whole North Sea with moderately increased grid resolution at the coast, whereas the other is a very high-resolution Wadden Sea setup that is one-way coupled to the coarser North Sea model. The results of both model setups are validated, compared to each other and analysed with a focus on longshore currents and wave energy. The numerical results show that during storm conditions, strong wave-induced longshore currents occur in front of the East Frisian Wadden Sea islands with current speeds up to 1 m/s. The model setup with the higher resolution around the islands shows even stronger currents than the coarser setup. The wave-current interaction also influences the surface elevation by raising the water level in the tidal basins. The calculated wave energies show large differences between moderate wind and storm conditions with time-averaged values up to 200 kW/m.

On the variability of the Charnock constant and the functional dependence of the drag coefficient on wind speed: Part II-Observations

An analytical expression for the 10 m drag law in terms of the 10 m wind speed at the maximum in the 10 m drag coefficient, and the Charnock constant is presented, which is based on the results obtained from a model of the air-sea interface derived in Bye et al. (2010). This drag law is almost independent of wave age and over the mid-range of wind speeds (5−17 ms−1) is very similar to the drag law based on observed data presented in Foreman and Emeis (2010). The linear fit of the observed data which incorporates a constant into the traditional definition of the drag coefficient is shown to arise to first-order as a consequence of the momentum exchange across the air-sea boundary layer brought about by wave generation and spray production which are explicitly represented in the theoretical model.

Numerical study on wave dynamics and wave-induced bed erosion characteristics in Potter Cove, Antarctica

Wave generation, propagation, and transformation from deep ocean over complex bathymetric terrains to coastal waters around Potter Cove (King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) have been simulated for an austral summer month using the Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) wave model. This study aims to examine and understand the wave patterns, energy fluxes, and dissipations in Potter Cove. Bed shear stress due to waves is also calculated to provide a general insight on the bed sediment erosion characteristics in Potter Cove.A nesting approach has been implemented from an oceanic scale to a high-resolution coastal scale around Potter Cove. The results of the simulations were compared with buoy observations obtained from the National Data Buoy Center, the WAVEWATCH III model results, and GlobWave altimeter data. The quality of the modelling results has been assessed using two statistical parameters, namely the Willmott’s index of agreement D and the bias index. Under various wave conditions, the significant wave heights at the inner cove were found to be about 40–50 % smaller than the ones near the mouth of Potter Cove. The wave power in Potter Cove is generally low. The spatial distributions of the wave-induced bed shear stress and active energy dissipation were found to be following the pattern of the bathymetry, and waves were identified as a potential major driving force for bed sediment erosion in Potter Cove, especially in shallow water regions. This study also gives some results on global ocean applications of SWAN.