Estuarine and coastal ocean processes (ECOP)

The working group Estuarine and Coastal Ocean Processes (ECOP) investigates the physical processes that govern circulation, mixing, transport, and sediment dynamics in estuaries, coastal seas, and shelf regions. These processes control the functioning of coastal (eco)systems and their response to natural variability and human impacts.

Our research combines theory, numerical modelling, and observations to understand how momentum, heat, salt, sediments, and tracers are transported and transformed in coastal environments. A particular focus lies on turbulence and mixing processes in stratified coastal waters, the dynamics of estuarine circulation, Lagrangian transport pathways, and feedbacks between hydrodynamics and sediments.

To study these processes, ECOP develops and applies state-of-the-art ocean models. The General Ocean Turbulence Model (GOTM) is a one-dimensional water-column model with a library of turbulence closure models which has been integrated into many ocean models for the parameterisation of turbulence and mixing. The group further plays a leading role in the development of numerical methods and turbulence closures used in the General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM) and related modelling frameworks. These developments ensure physically consistent representations of mixing, stratification, and transport in coastal ocean models.

Research within ECOP spans a wide range of coastal systems including tidal estuaries, lagoons, fjords, and marginal seas such as the Baltic Sea. Our work addresses both fundamental process understanding and applied questions related to environmental change and human activities in coastal waters.

Key research themes include:

• turbulence and mixing processes in stratified coastal and estuarine waters
• estuarine circulation and exchange flows
• Lagrangian transport and connectivity in coastal seas
• development of numerical methods and turbulence parameterisations for ocean models
• hydrodynamic–sediment interactions and coastal sediment transport
• coastal sea level variability and extreme events
• environmental impacts of human activities in coastal waters

Through collaborations within IOW and with national and international partners, ECOP contributes to the understanding and prediction of coastal ocean dynamics and their role within the Earth system.