numerical modeling of water exchange through the kerch strait for various types of the atmospheric impact

Water exchange through the Kerch Strait plays a fundamental role in formation of the hydrological, hydrochemical and hydrobiological regimes in the adjacent sea areas. This article examines features of water exchange through the Kerch Strait for various types of the atmospheric impact. The numerical hydrodynamic model ADCIRC was used. The results of numerical modeling of currents and sea level in the Azov – Black Sea basin on the non-uniform computational grid concentrated in the strait were used as the input data. The authors identified the ranges of wind directions at which water exchange through the strait is the most intense; and revealed the relationship between the maximum values of forward and reverse water flux with wind speed. The characteristics of free oscillations in the strait that occur after the wind stops were studied. Simulations show that the wind field generated by an atmospheric cyclone intensifies the total water exchange through the strait when of the cyclone passage speed decreases. The results of calculating water flow in the strait for real synoptic situations are consistent with the estimates obtained by other authors from the field data. The data from the WRF mesoscale meteorological model were used as atmospheric forcing. It was shown that the maximum water flux during storm period is 11000-16000 m3/s at the mean currents velocity ~ 0.6-0.9 m/s.