8

1.3  Western  and  central  parts  of  the  southern  coast  of  the  Baltic  Sea

The  purpose  of  this  monograph  is  a  description  of  the  most  dangerous  storm  surges
observed  in  the  western  and  central  parts  of  the  southern  Baltic  Sea  (Fig.  1.1.).  The  area
covering  the  central  and  eastern  parts  of  the  German  Baltic  coast  is  represented  here  by  the
water  gauges  at  Wismar,  Warnemünde  and  Sassnitz,  and  the  western  part  of  the  Polish
coast  is  represented  by  the  water  gauges  at  Swinoujscie  and  Kotobrzeg.

Fig.  1.1.  Western  and  central  parts  of  the  southern  Baltic  Sea  coast
The  German  Baltic  Sea  coast,  located  at  the  western  edge  of  the  Baltic  length  axis,  is
threatened  by  relatively  high  storm  surges,  especially  during  northeasterly  storms  (Stigge,
1994),  due  to  the  shallow  basin  depths  and  a  highly  differentiated  coastline.
The  western  coastal  waters  of  Poland  are  shallow  along  the  entire  coastline.  Especially  in
Zatoka  Pomorska  (Pomeranian  Bight),  a  large  shoal  area  with  depths  below  20  m  extends
far  seaward  in  northerly  direction.  Shallow  waters  are  also  encountered  farther  to  the  west.
Sea  level  oscillations  of  a  remarkable  range  occur  frequently  at  the  coasts  of  such  shallow
waters.