Abstract

The multi-mission altimeter data for the Sea Level Anomaly (SLA), processed and distributed by Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service, and the meteorological reanalisys of ECMWF ERA-Interim data are used to compare the seasonal variability of the Black Sea circulation and the atmosphere circulation above the basin. The seasonal averaged maps of the SLA, geostrophic current anomaly, mean sea level pressure, the wind velocity and curl reveal an accordance between the rotation of the atmosphere and sea circulation in the Eastern Black Sea area. The winter positive wind curl area, centered over the inner part of the basin, explains the winter intensification of the Rim Current. The summer configuration of wind curl could explain the spring-summer intensification of the Batumy anticyclonic eddy and the negative SLA near the Caucasus coast.