Marine Dynamics
The Marine Dynamics group studies sea level fluctuations, wind-generated waves, hydrography and currents. Research within the group combines marine observations with models and statistical methods to investigate physical processes and interaction mechanisms from the small to the regional scale. The group is also responsible for the development and maintenance of the Finnish Meteorological Institute's operational marine models, and participates in the production of common European maritime services.
Our development of numerical models focuses on the physics of seasonally ice-covered seas. Our primary research interest is in the Baltic Sea, but we also aim to model regions of the Arctic. More generally, we are concerned with improving the representation of dynamics in marine models, with a goal of integrating ice, wave and hydrodynamic models into a system that better describes the interactions between ice, waves and turbulent mixing close to the sea surface. Our group also studies changes in the mean sea level and in sea level extrema along the coast of Finland, based on observational data and sea level scenarios. We produce probability forecasts for sea level and work on the development of statistical forecasting methods. Our results are used, for example, in determining the lowest recommended construction heights along the coast of Finland, as a basis for flood maps, in planning adaption to climate change, and as support for the safe operation of nuclear power plants.
7.6.2023