The White Sea: Available Data and Numerical Models

Abstract

The White Sea is a small shallow semi-closed sea in the North-West of Russia. It is strongly affected by induced tides, so the tidal motion dominates in the sea. Sea ice is seasonal and the water salinity is less than in the neighbouring Barents sea due to strong river discharge. We review the sources of in-situ and satellite data that are available for the sea, and describe those few numerical models, together with the challenges that are faced. We focus on the large-scale circulation and thermohaline fields, but also cover sea ice, river runoff, and pelagic biogeochemical data.

Keywords

• data
• numerical modelling
• simulation
• White Sea
• Arctic