L7 
current of the German Bight consists of two components 
a geostrophic and a wind-generated portion., Concerning 
the spatial distribution of the aperiodic movement of 
water bodies, data by Goedecke (1939) and Kalle (1956) 
are available who deduct complicated pattern of resid- 
ual currents from the distribution of hydrographic and 
chemical parameters., Synoptical measurements and repre- 
sentations of the current system of the German Bight 
have not made been yet. Model investigations by Back- 
haus (1979) show that the topography in the German 
Bight has an essential influence on the system of re- 
sidual currents but that, furthermore, the part of 
currents due to horizontal density gradicnt must not 
be neglected. 
The last thorough hydrographic-chemical investigation 
of the Germen Bight had been made 20 years ago (Kalle, 
1956). More recent studies (Wegner, 1976) of the data 
of the German Bight which are available in the Deut- 
sches Ozeanographisches Datenzentrum (DOD) show that, 
in the mean, a persistent thermohaline discontinuity 
layer cannot be expected here in summer, either. In 
contrast, the hydrographic observations made during 
the JONSWAP Experiment 1969 (Becker, 1973), as well as 
the hitherto unpublished data of the six comprehensive 
hydrographic-ecological surveys of the German Bight 
between 1976 and 1979, show that persistent thermohaline 
stratification occurred during these years. 
A remote sensing programme (Becker, Huber and Krause, 
1979) carried out in the German Bight with the neces- 
sity for comprehensive "sea-truth" observations pro- 
vided the opportunity to study the question of the 
variability of hydrographic stratification using mod- 
ern measuring instruments.