Surface drifters and model trajectories in the Baltic Sea

Results from recent deployments of surface drifters in the Baltic Sea are presented. For the first time ever, the realism of model-generated trajectories was assessed by a statistical comparison with trajectories of SVP drifters. The absolute dispersion (i.e. the distance from the initial point as a function of time) was found to be somewhat underestimated by the model trajectories. A severe underestimation of the relative dispersion (pair separation) was also noted, which may, to some extent, be due to the limited resolution of the model. However, the relative dispersion was also found to be very dependent on the initial separation of the model trajectory pairs. After filtering the inertial oscillations, a good agreement of the velocity auto-correlations between the drifters and model trajectories was found. A discussion on the impact of these results on future trajectory modelling in the Baltic Sea is also provided.