Air-sea interaction in the Central Mediterranean: are surge-generating winds changing ?

Paolo Pirazzoli (1) , A. Tomasin (2) , Albin Ullmann (3)

1 LGP - Laboratoire de géographie physique : Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels
2 Department of Applied Mathematics
3 CRC - Centre de Recherches de Climatologie

Hourly sea surges from the records of 9 French and 19 Italian tide-gauge stations have been computed and the wind directions corresponding to significant surge heights have been determined. The frequency of such surge-related wind directions tends to increase almost everywhere, while extreme wind speeds (that are most effective to produce high surges) tend generally to decrease; this may be a consequence of the northward displacement of storm trajectories on the European area. There is, however, an exception in the Gulf of Lions (the most westward area considered), where surge height may reach higher elevations, with a recent dangerous increase of southerlies

Mots clés: tide gauge; surge; wind; sea level; climate change; Mediterranean

Domaines: Climatologie; Milieux et Changements globaux; Océan, Atmosphère

Paolo Pirazzoli, A. Tomasin, Albin Ullmann. Air-sea interaction in the Central Mediterranean: are surge-generating winds changing ?. Bollettino Geofisico, 2009, 3 (4), pp.5-21. ⟨hal-00440443⟩