The results of wave simulation in the Black Sea using the SWAN spectral wave model and wind forcing data from the NCEP/CFSR reanalyze are presented in this paper. The calculations were done using the special unstructured mesh with spatial resolution of 10 km in the open sea and 200 m in the Tsemes Bay. The assessment of the wave simulation accuracy was performed on the basis of the satellite altimetry data and direct wave measurements in the shallow water. When comparing the calculated significant wave height with observational data the correlation equaled 0.8, while the root mean square error equaled 0.3. The comparison of simulation results and satellite data also showed good correlation. KEYWORDS: Black Sea; Tsemes Bay; wind waves; wave modeling; SWAN; unstructured mesh; satellite altimetry.

Abstract. The Arctic marine climate system is changing rapidly, which is seen in the warming of the ocean and atmosphere, decline of sea ice cover, increase in river discharge, acidification of the ocean, and changes in marine ecosystems. Socio-economic activities in the coastal and marine Arctic are simultaneously changing. This calls for the establishment of a marine Arctic component of the Pan-Eurasian Experiment (MA-PEEX). There is a need for more in situ observations on the marine atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean, but increasing the amount of such observations is a pronounced technological and logistical challenge. The SMEAR (Station for Measuring Ecosystem–Atmosphere Relations) concept can be applied in coastal and archipelago stations, but in the Arctic Ocean it will probably be more cost-effective to further develop a strongly distributed marine observation network based on autonomous buoys, moorings, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These have to be supported by research vessel and aircraft campaigns, as well as various coastal observations, including community-based ones. Major manned drifting stations may occasionally be comparable to terrestrial SMEAR flagship stations. To best utilize the observations, atmosphere–ocean reanalyses need to be further developed. To well integrate MA-PEEX with the existing terrestrial–atmospheric PEEX, focus is needed on the river discharge and associated fluxes, coastal processes, and atmospheric transports in and out of the marine Arctic. More observations and research are also needed on the specific socio-economic challenges and opportunities in the marine and coastal Arctic, and on their interaction with changes in the climate and environmental system. MA-PEEX will promote international collaboration; sustainable marine meteorological, sea ice, and oceanographic observations; advanced data management; and multidisciplinary research on the marine Arctic and its interaction with the Eurasian continent.

The Lena, Kolyma, and Indigirka rivers are among the largest rivers that inflow to the Arctic Ocean. Their discharges form a freshened surface water mass over a wide area in the Laptev and East-Siberian seas and govern many local physical, geochemical, and biological processes. In this study we report coastal upwelling events that are regularly manifested on satellite imagery by increased sea surface turbidity and decreased sea surface temperature at certain areas adjacent to the Lena Delta in the Laptev Sea and the Kolyma and Indigirka deltas in the East-Siberian Sea. These events are formed under strong easterly and southeasterly wind forcing and are estimated to occur during up to 10%-30% of ice-free periods at the study region. Coastal upwelling events induce intense mixing of the Lena, Kolyma, and Indigirka plumes with subjacent saline sea. These plumes are significantly transformed and diluted while spreading over the upwelling areas; therefore, their salinity and depths abruptly increase, while stratification abruptly decreases in the vicinity of their sources. This feature strongly affects the structure of the freshened surface layer during ice-free periods and, therefore, influences circulation, ice formation, and many other processes at the Laptev and East-Siberian seas.Remote Sens. 2020, 12, 844 2 of 25 seas and are among the largest freshwater reservoirs in the Arctic Ocean [17][18][19][20]. Spreading and transformation of these river plumes determine vertical stratification and, therefore, strongly affect circulation and ice formation in the Laptev and East-Siberian seas, as well as many other physical, geochemical, and biological processes [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32].In this study we focus on upwelling events which regularly occur at coastal areas adjacent to the deltas of the Lena, Kolyma, and Indigirka rivers. Surface manifestations of these upwelling events are visible on ocean color satellite imagery due to elevated turbidity and on sea surface temperature (SST) satellite imagery due to reduced temperature. However, correct identification of the origin of SST and turbidity features observed on satellite imagery is not a straightforward task. SST features in the study region are formed as a result of interaction between water masses with different temperature, namely, warm river plumes and cold saline sea water, and are associated with spreading of river plumes, mixing of surface layer with subjacent sea, and ice melting. Areas of elevated sea surface turbidity in coastal and shelf regions are commonly associated with four different processes: spreading of turbid river plumes, coastal erosion, resuspension of bottom sediments penetrated to sea surface, and algal blooms [33]. The first three processes are common features of the Laptev and East-Siberian seas [25,27,34,35], while algal blooms do not occur in these seas [32,[36][37][38]. Turbid regions associated with river plumes are adjacent to river estuaries and deltas. Spatial and temporal variability of these regions is def...