The information on wave spectral shapes that is required for designing marine structures is presented based on wave data collected from January 2011 to December 2015 in the coastal waters of the eastern Arabian Sea. The variations in the high-frequency tail of the wave spectrum in different months are presented. The slope of the high-frequency tail of the monthly average wave spectra is high during the Indian summer monsoon period (June–September) compared to other months.

The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) was established in order to better understand the complex interdisciplinary processes of northern seas and the Arctic coasts in a changing environment. Particular focus is given to the heavily used German Bight in the North Sea. The automated observing and modelling system is designed to monitor real-time conditions, to provide short-term forecasts and data products, and to assess the impact of anthropogenically induced change.

In the interest of global ocean change, weekly water samples were collected at a coastal site in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (2007–2015). Seawater pH declined faster than expected from anthropogenic carbon dioxide increase. Total alkalinity increased, but the driver could not be identified, and it may be linked to changes in freshwater chemistry of watersheds. This is the first coastal acidification time-series providing multiyear data at high temporal resolution.

Underwater gliders are useful platforms for monitoring the world oceans at a high resolution. An experimental pH sensor was attached to an underwater glider in the Mediterranean Sea, which is an important carbon sink region. Comparing measurements from the glider with those obtained from a ship indicated that there were issues with the experimental pH sensor. Correcting for these issues enabled us to look at pH variability in the area related to biomass abundance and physical water properties.

The Black Sea dynamics impact on the local sea level rise. In recent decades, the increase of the wind curl induced the intensification of the cyclonic circulation and divergence in the basin center. As a result, the sea level rise in the coastal areas is 1.5–2 times higher than in the basin center. Additional heterogeneity of sea level trends is related to the changes of the mesoscale dynamics. The large-scale dynamic sea level and its rise can be estimated using atmospheric reanalysis data.

A Lagrangian method is developed to track, document and analyze the origin and history of water masses in ocean features. Simulating synthetic tracers in the altimetry-derived velocity field, we identify and track the mesoscale eddies which have been sampled in the cruises after the Fukushima accident and estimate their risk of being contaminated by radionuclides. The simulated results are shown to be in a good qualitative correspondence with in situ measurements.

This study shows how intense rainfall at the steep and narrow catchment area of the northeastern part of the Black Sea can cause flash-flooding events and significantly influence coastal water quality. They change the point-source spread of continental discharge, dominated by several large rivers, to the line-source discharge from numerous small rivers located along the coast and induce intense alongshore transport of suspended and dissolved constituents discharged with river waters.

The paper analyzes sea surface height anomalies (SSHAs) observed in the Indian Ocean south of Australia by combining several known methods for phase speed determination. The observed speeds and the meridional variations of the amplitudes of these signals are compared with two theoretical expressions for the phase speed and meridional amplitude structure of Rossby waves. The paper concludes that both the meridional structure of the SSHAs and their phase speeds fit those of trapped Rossby waves.

We conduct direct microstructure measurements that cover the SCS to explore the features of the turbulent mixing. Our results indicate that strong turbulent mixing was observed in the region to the west of the Luzon Strait where the diapycnal diffusivity is almost an order of magnitude higher than the values of the central and southern SCS. The energetic internal waves and internal tides generated near the Luzon Strait are expected to make a dominant contribution to creating this mixing patten.