Copernicus Sea Level Space Observations: A Basis for Assessing Mitigation and Developing Adaptation Strategies to Sea Level Rise

Legeais, Jean-François; Meyssignac, Benoît; Faugère, Yannice; Guérou, Adrien; Ablain, M.; Pujol, Marie–Isabelle; Dufau, Claire; Dibarboure, Gérald

doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.704721

Cited by 27 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The products include sea level anomaly sampled at 1 Hz as well as the WTC derived from the MWR on board the altimetry satellites. These along‐track products serve as the basis data for the AVISO+ GMSL data record (Ablain et al., 2019; Guérou et al., 2022) and for the computation of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) satellite sea level gridded product dedicated to climate change studies (Legeais et al., 2021).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing the Uncertainty in the Satellite Altimetry Estimates of Global Mean Sea Level Trends Using Highly Stable Water Vapor Climate Data Records

Barnoud

Picard²,

Meyssignac

et al. 2023

JGR Oceans

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The global mean sea level (GMSL) has risen by 3.3 ± 0.2 mm.yr−1 (68% confidence level) over 1993–2021. The wet troposphere correction (WTC) used to compute the altimetry‐based mean sea level data is known to be a large source of error in the GMSL long‐term stability. The WTC is derived from the microwave radiometers (MWR) on board the altimetry missions. In order to improve the long‐term estimates of the GMSL, we propose an alternative WTC computation based on highly stable climate data records (CDRs) of water vapor derived from independent MWR measurements on board meteorological satellites. A polynomial model is applied to convert water vapor to WTC. The CDR‐derived WTC enables reducing the low frequency uncertainty of the WTC applied to the altimetry data, hence reducing the uncertainty of the GMSL trend estimate. Furthermore, over 2016–2021, the comparison of MWR‐based with CDR‐based WTC shows a likely drift of the Jason‐3 MWR WTC on the order of −0.5 mm.yr−1 that would lead to an overestimation of the GMSL trend from 2016.

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Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing the Uncertainty in the Satellite Altimetry Estimates of Global Mean Sea Level Trends Using Highly Stable Water Vapor Climate Data Records

Barnoud

Picard²,

Meyssignac

et al. 2023

JGR Oceans

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“…European Copernicus Services also provide sea level data, with a free and open access policy (Melet et al, 2021). Altimeter sea level products are operationally produced and distributed by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) and by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) (Legeais et al, 2021), and used to produce Ocean Monitoring Indicators 1 , such as observed mean SLR for the global ocean and regional EU seas, as well as regional sea level trends. In addition, the CMEMS provides tide gauge data, ocean and wave forecasts and reanalyses (Irazoqui Apecechea et al, 2023).…”

Section: The European Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Satellite altimeters allow to measure the geocentric sea level, which is the sea level with respect to the centre of mass of the Earth. Since 1993, sea level has been monitored routinely on a daily basis with a resolution of ¼°x ¼° from 82°S to 82°N (e.g., (Legeais et al, 2021). Although sea level dynamics is highly heterogeneous, the time and space samplings are enough to resolve effectively the GMSL dynamics on a weekly basis (Fox-Kemper et al, 2021a;Henry et al, 2014;Scharffenberg and Stammer, 2019).…”

Section: Satellite Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sea Level Rise in Europe: Observations and projections

Melet,

van de Wal,

Amores

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Abstract. Sea level rise (SLR) is a major concern for Europe, where 30 million people live in the historical 1-in-100-year event flood coastal plains. The latest IPCC assessment reports provide a literature review on past and projected SLR, and their key findings are synthesized here with a focus on Europe. The present paper complements IPCC reports and contributes to the Knowledge Hub on SLR European Assessment Report. Here, the state of knowledge of observed and 21st century projected SLR and changes in extreme sea levels (ESLs) are documented with more regional information for European basins as scoped with stakeholders. In Europe, satellite altimetry shows that absolute sea level trends are on average slightly above the global mean rate, with only a few areas showing no change or a slight decrease such as central parts of the Mediterranean Sea. The spatial pattern of absolute SLR in European Seas is largely influenced by internal climate modes, especially the North Atlantic Oscillation, which varies on year-to-year to decadal timescales. In terms of relative sea level rise (RSLR), vertical land motions due to human induced subsidence and glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) are important for many coastal European regions, leading to lower or even negative RSLR in the Baltic Sea, and to large rates of RSLR for subsiding coastlines. Projected 21st century local SLR for Europe is broadly in-line with projections of GMSLR rise in most places. Some European coasts are projected to experience a relative SLR by 2100 below the projected GMSLR, such as the Norwegian coast, the southern Baltic Sea, the northern part of the UK and Ireland. A relative sea level fall is projected for the northern Baltic Sea. RSLR along other EU coasts is projected to be slightly above the GMSLR, for instance the Atlantic coasts of Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Higher-resolution regionalized projections are needed to better resolve dynamic sea level changes especially in semi-enclosed basins, such as the Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea and Black Sea. In addition to ocean dynamics, GIA and Greenland ice mass loss and associated Earth gravity, rotation and deformation effects are important drivers of spatial variations of projected European RSLR. High-end estimates of SLR in Europe are particularly sensitive to uncertainties arising from the estimates of the Antarctic ice mass loss. Regarding ESLs, the frequency of occurrence of the historical centennial event (HCE) level is projected to be amplified for most EU coasts, except along the northern Baltic Sea coasts where a decreasing probability is projected because of relative sea level fall induced by GIA. The largest HCE amplification factors are projected for the southern European Seas (Mediterranean and Iberian Peninsula coasts), while the smallest amplification factors are projected in macro-tidal regions exposed to storms and induced large surges such as the south-eastern North Sea. Finally, an emphasis is given on processes that are especially important for specific regions, such as waves, tides in the north-eastern Atlantic; vertical land motion for the European Arctic and Baltic Sea; seiches, meteo-tsunamis and medicanes in the Mediterranean Sea; non-linear interactions between drivers of coastal sea level extremes in the shallow North Sea.

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“…We compute the GMSL time series from the vDT2021 sea level product operationally generated by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). This dataset is dedicated to the sea level stability for climate studies (Legeais et al, 2021). It provides daily sea level anomalies grids at a 1/4 degree spatial resolution from January 1993 until August 2021, based at any time on a reference altimeter mission (TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason-2, Jason-3 and Sentinel-6 Michaël Freilich), plus a complementary mission (ERS-1,2, Envisat, Cryosat or SARAL/AltiKa depending on the time frame) to increase the spatial coverage.…”

Section: Altimetry-based Gmtsl Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the global mean ocean mass budget over 2005–2020

Barnoud

Pfeffer²,

Cazenave³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Abstract. We investigate the continuity and stability of GRACE and GRACE Follow-On satellite gravimetric missions by assessing the ocean mass budget at global scale over 2005–2020, focusing on the last years of the record (2015–2020) when GRACE and GRACE Follow-On faced instrumental problems. For that purpose, we compare the global mean ocean mass estimates from GRACE and GRACE Follow-On to the sum of its contributions from Greenland, Antarctica, land glaciers and terrestrial water storage estimated with independent observations. A significant residual trend of -1.60 ± 0.36 mm/yr over 2015–2018 is observed. We also compare the gravimetry-based global mean ocean mass with the altimetry-based global mean sea level corrected for the thermosteric contribution. We estimate and correct for the drift of the wet tropospheric correction of the Jason-3 altimetry mission computed from the on-board radiometer. It accounts for about 40 % of the budget residual trend beyond 2015. After correction, the remaining residual trend amounts to -0.90 ± 0.78 mm/yr over 2015–2018 and -0.96 ± 0.48 mm/yr over 2015–2020. GRACE and GRACE Follow-On data might be responsible for part of the observed non-closure of the ocean mass budgets since 2015. However, we show that significant interannual variability is not well accounted for by the data used for the other components of the budget, including the thermosteric sea level and the terrestrial water storage. Besides, missing contributions from the evolution of the deep ocean or the atmospheric water vapour may also contribute.

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Copernicus Sea Level Space Observations: A Basis for Assessing Mitigation and Developing Adaptation Strategies to Sea Level Rise

Cited by 27 publications

References 49 publications

Reducing the Uncertainty in the Satellite Altimetry Estimates of Global Mean Sea Level Trends Using Highly Stable Water Vapor Climate Data Records

Reducing the Uncertainty in the Satellite Altimetry Estimates of Global Mean Sea Level Trends Using Highly Stable Water Vapor Climate Data Records

Sea Level Rise in Europe: Observations and projections

Revisiting the global mean ocean mass budget over 2005–2020

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