Modeling processes of the protrusion of near-coastal anticyclonic eddies through the Rim Current in the Black Sea

Abstract

The eddy-resolving (1/30)° version of the low-dissipative DieCAST [7] ocean circulation model is used for modeling processes of the protrusion of near-coastal anticyclonic eddies (NAEs) through the Rim Current (RC). Under mean climatic forcing, the model realistically reproduces the evolution of the Caucasian NAE (CNAE) from its generation, formation of an attached anticyclonic meander, protrusion through the RC, and, finally, to the formation of an isolated anticyclonic eddy and its dissipation within the Eastern Cyclonic Gyre of the Black Sea. The process of double protrusion of the CNAE and the Kizil-Yirmak NAE into the RC, their passages through the RC, and merging in the eastern part of the Black Sea is also considered. The modeled space-time parameters of NAE evolution agree well with satellite observations [15, 23].