Multi-sensor survey of seasonal variability in coastal eddy and internal wave signatures in the north-eastern Black Sea

In this paper the remote sensing satellite sensor data (obtained by Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR), Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instruments) is used to study coastal dynamics of the north-eastern Black Sea. Occurrence, evolution and drift of small-scale eddies in coastal waters are investigated. Seasonal variability of their manifestations is established. Instances of surface manifestations of non-tidal internal waves (IW) are discovered. The main finding was that practically all cases of IW manifestations were observed in the vicinity of mesoscale sea eddy structures or hydrological fronts. The joint analysis of data from different sensors was performed to reveal specific conditions leading to the intensification of wave processes and to their manifestation in radar imagery as well as to determine possible sources of the IW generation.