In this talk it will be described how we at IOW set up models for the Baltic Sea circulation. Our model is the General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM), a hydrostatic model with vertically adaptive coordinates and complex second-order turbulence closure models. These features allow to simulate the episodic inflows of salt water in to the Baltic Sea (MBIs, Major Baltic Inflows) as well as the long-term stratification with time scales of larger than 30 years. I will also show how the overturning circulation of the Baltic Sea can be expressed as diahaline circulation in salinity space. Since this is similar as in large ocean basins, we also use the Baltic Sea as model for larger scale processes.

In this talk it will be described how we at IOW set up models for the Baltic Sea circulation. Our model is the General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM), a hydrostatic model with vertically adaptive coordinates and complex second-order turbulence closure models. These features allow to simulate the episodic inflows of salt water in to the Baltic Sea (MBIs, Major Baltic Inflows) as well as the long-term stratification with time scales of larger than 30 years. I will also show how the overturning circulation of the Baltic Sea can be expressed as diahaline circulation in salinity space. Since this is similar as in large ocean basins, we also use the Baltic Sea as model for larger scale processes.