Water circulation and characteristics of currents of different scales in the upper layer of the Black Sea from drifter data

The results of an analysis of data from the Black Sea drifter experiment carried out from September 1999 to September 2002 are described. Drifter trajectories confirm the existence of intensive mesoscale eddies both in the near-shore and in the deep-sea parts of the Black Sea. An estimate of the horizontal eddy diffusivity is obtained and the time scale of the exchange between the central and coastal zones of the sea is determined. The spatial distributions of the total kinetic energy of the currents, the kinetic energies of the mean and fuctuating components of the currents, and that of inertial oscillations are calculated. The values of these characteristics, referring both to the entire sea and to its selected parts (deep-sea area, continental slope, and shelf), are evaluated.