Nordseezustand 2003 
209 
List of Figures 
Atmospheric Physics 
Fig. 2-1: NAO Index 2003. Ik: Ponta Delgada & Akureyri (Loewe and Koslowski 1998), Ipf6(lk): 
low-pass filtered (6 month), cruuea: Gibraltar & Southwest Island (www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~ti- 
mo/projpages/nao_update.htm). hurrell: Ponta Delgada & Stykkisholmur (www.cgd. 
ucar.edu/cas/jhurrell/indices.data.html#naostatmon). cpccdb: Amplitude of NAO pattern 
from rotated principal component analysis of 700 hPa height anomalies (www.cpc.ncep. 
n oaa. gov/ data/teledoc/nao. html) 25 
Fig. 2-2: NAO phase portrait as percent frequency distribution of monthly dynamic NAO states 
since 1879. Contours 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% are lines of equal relative state density (i.e. rel. #of 
states per square-bin, 0.6 x 0.6). The sequences of 12 yellow and 12 blue circles (1,2,..., 8, 9, 
O, N, D) show the temporal evolution in 2003 of raw (yellow) and low-pass filtered (6 month, 
blue) monthly mean states, respectively. 26 
Fig. 2-3: Sea level pressure (hPa) for Dec, 21 2003 (Flurricane »Jan«) and grid (1 -16) for wea 
thertyping scheme (cf. AnhangA, S. 185) 28 
Fig. 2-4: Percent frequency distribution of daily circulation states for the period 1971 - 2000 to 
gether with classification criteria (cf. AnhangA.3, S. 188) 29 
Fig. 2-5: Air circulation around high (A) and low pressure systems (C) 30 
Fig. 2-6: Seasonal sea level pressure distributions (hPa); JFM = January, February, March etc. 35 
Fig. 2-7: Seasonal 50%-probability ellipses for the »North Sea Wind« (1 =winter=JFM, 2=spring, 
etc.) 37 
Fig. 2-8: Progressive daily vectors of the »North Sea Wind«. Markers indicate the first day in a 
month. The distance between two arbitrary markers divided by the time interval in days 
yields the mean vector wind (e. g. about 6.5 m/s in January 2003) 38 
Fig. 2-9: Seasonal cycle in 2003 of monthly averaged daily global radiation totals at Norderney 
together with intramonthly extremes, 1971 -2000 base period monthly means, and 95%- 
band (climatology ± 1.96 standard deviations). 1 Idem 2 is equivalent to a radiation flux den 
sity of 1 16 Wm 2 40 
Fig. 2-10: Monthly air surface temperatures at Norderney for 2002 and 2003 together with 
1971 - 2000 base period means, and 95%-band (climatology ± 1.96 standard deviations). . 
41 
Physical Oceanography 
Fig. 3-1: Seasonal surface drculation of the North Sea in 2003 (JFM =January-February-March, 
AMJ ...). Vector mean currents from >BSFIcmod<. Stability (%, colored) is the ratio of vector 
mean current to mean magnitude 47 
Fig. 3-2: Volume transport through the Strait of Dover in 2003 (BSFIcmod); 1 Sv= 10 6 m 3 /s.. .48 
Fig. 3-3: Volume transport through the Kattegat in 2003 (BSFIcmod); 1 Sv=10 6 m 3 /s 49 
Fig. 3-4: Classification scheme for daily residual currents in the German Bight. 50 
Fig. 3-5: Frequency and duration of main circulation types 52 
Fig. 3-6: Seasonal frequencies of circulation patterns in the German Bight for2002 and 2003.. 
52 
Fig. 3-7: Seasonal geographical distributions of windsea and swell in 2003; JFM = January, Fe 
bruary, March etc. 55