Long-term characteristics and extreme parameters of currents and sea levels in the Bohai Sea based on 20-year numerical hindcast data

The Ocean model POM is used to simulate the currents and sea levels for the whole Bohai Sea continuously from 1985 to 2004. The wind forcing at the sea surface is from the hindcast of high-resolution wind fields by RAMS. Comparisons of currents and sea levels between simulations and station observations show good agreement in general. On this basis, tidal currents and long-term wind-driven currents are discussed. The sea-level characteristics such as highest and lowest astronomical tide are also given. Furthermore, current velocities at surface and bottom layers, high and low sea levels for 100-year return periods are studied in this paper. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015